John Quenneville Signs Tryout In Switzerland
One of the head-scratching choices by the Seattle Kraken at last month’s expansion draft came from the Chicago Blackhawks. Instead of taking RFA Nikita Zadorov, who was flipped by the Blackhawks for a third-round pick a few days after the draft, or Adam Gaudette, who accepted his $997K qualifying offer, the Kraken basically decided to forfeit the pick. They selected minor league forward John Quenneville, who was a Group VI unrestricted free agent and quite a bit removed from his first-round draft pedigree.
The Kraken never signed Quenneville, and now the 25-year-old forward is looking for work overseas. He has signed a tryout with the ZSC Lions to help them with their Champions League games later this month. Whether it goes beyond that remains to be seen, but it seems obvious that Quenneville won’t be helping the Kraken anytime soon.
A talented junior player, Quenneville was originally picked 30th overall by the New Jersey Devils in 2014. He made his NHL debut during the 2016-17 season, but has just 44 games under his belt overall. With just two points in 16 AHL games for the Rockford IceHogs in 2020-21, his status has never been further from the NHL. Now he’ll try to get that career back on track overseas, playing for one of the most popular and successful teams in Europe.
Arbitration Breakdown: Jakub Vrana
While most of the players who had early arbitration dates have settled in recent days, that hasn’t been the case yet for the Red Wings and Jakub Vrana. They have until the start of the hearing on Wednesday to reach an agreement; once the hearing starts, they will have to go through the process and wait for the award.
Filings
Team: $3.65MM
Player: $5.7MM
Midpoint: $4.675MM
(via Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman)
The Numbers
It was a tale of two seasons for Vrana. He spent the majority of the year with Washington and while his numbers weren’t underwhelming with them, he did take a step back from his career-best 52 points in 2019-20. But his fortunes changed upon being traded to Detroit. The 25-year-old took off, notching eight goals and three assists in 11 games and in the process, brought his per-game averages close to what they were the year before. Overall, the platform year was decent.
Of course, 11 games is a particularly small sample size which adds a wrinkle to these talks. Vrana logged considerably more minutes with the Red Wings than he ever had a chance to with the Capitals but it’s hard to make any substantive conclusions based on his performance over the span of a few weeks when they were playing out the stretch.
Vrana’s track record isn’t the deepest either as only his last three seasons have yielded above-average production and two of those came in shortened years. While that shouldn’t hurt him much in a hearing, it’s worth noting that over his five-year career, he has played in fewer than 300 regular season contests which is a bit on the low side for a fifth-year player in the top six.
2020-21 Stats: 50 GP, 19-17-36, +10 rating, 10 PIMS, 100 shots, 15:00 ATOI
Career Stats: 295 GP, 84-84-168, +37 rating, 69 PIMS, 613 shots, 13:49 ATOI
Potential Comparables
Comparable contracts are restricted to those signed within restricted free agency which means UFA deals and entry-level pacts are ineligible to be used. The contracts below fit within those parameters. Player salaries (or current-year equivalents) also fall within the parameters of the submitted numbers by both sides. Career stats listed are as of the time of signing.
Oliver Bjorkstrand (Blue Jackets) – Similar to Vrana, Bjorkstrand signed his contract after three seasons of top-six performance with a limited track record before that. The situation is a little different in that Bjorkstrand’s platform year was by far his best. That likely sets this one at the high end of what Vrana could realistically command in a hearing.
Contract (2021): Five years, $5.4MM AAV, 6.63 CH%
Platform Stats: 49 GP, 21-15-36, +8 rating, 12 PIMS, 162 shots, 17:56 ATOI
Career Stats: 246 GP, 65-68-133, +30 rating, 35 PIMS, 566 shots, 14:28 ATOI
Boone Jenner (Blue Jackets) – Now let’s look at the other end of the spectrum. While Jenner has settled into more of a checking role in recent years, his current four-year deal was signed post-bridge like Vrana is currently in. In terms of a role, both players were in and out of the middle six at times and the career point totals are similar although Vrana has played fewer games. This choice was a guess at what comparable Detroit was using for their number.
Contract (2018): Four years, $3.75MM AAV, 4.72 CH%
Platform Stats: 75 GP, 13-19-32, +1 rating, 39 PIMS, 187 shots, 16:28 ATOI
Career Stats: 342 GP, 86-75-161, +1 rating, 225 PIMS, 833 shots, 16:01 ATOI
Conor Garland (Canucks) – Let’s look at a recent deal handed out to a top-six winger post-bridge deal. Garland doesn’t have close to as long of a track record as Vrana but their production over the past two seasons is fairly close and the fact the platforms are directly comparable certainly helps. Recent performance counts for a lot in this process so this is one that Vrana’s camp will want to use.
Contract (2021): Five years, $4.95MM AAV, 6.07 CH%
Platform Stats: 49 GP, 12-27-39, -3 rating, 26 PIMS, 135 shots, 17:55 ATOI
Career Stats: 164 GP, 47-49-96, -1 rating, 58 PIMS, 411 shots, 14:53 ATOI
Kevin Labanc (Sharks) – One year after signing a highly team-friendly deal, Labanc inked a four-year deal that raised some eyebrows but there are some comparables here. The roles were largely the same (mostly top six but dropped down at times), three years of top-six production, and a contract signed post-bridge.
Contract (2020): Four years, $4.725MM AAV, 5.80 CH%
Platform Stats: 70 GP, 14-19-33, -33 rating, 38 PIMS, 176 shots, 16:04 ATOI
Career Stats: 284 GP, 50-99-149, -31 rating, 128 PIMS, 532 shots, 14:33 ATOI
Elias Lindholm (Flames) – While it took Lindholm a bit of time to become a legitimate top-six piece, the Flames signed him after acquiring him from Carolina to this current deal (one that has worked out quite well so far). Vrana’s best statistical seasons were better than Lindholm’s but the latter had the longer track record.
Contract (2018): Six years, $4.85MM AAV, 6.10 CH%
Platform Stats: 81 GP, 16-28-44, -8 rating, 18 PIMS, 153 shots, 17:54 ATOI
Career Stats: 374 GP, 64-124-188, -70 rating, 76 PIMS, 720 shots, 17:09 ATOI
Projection
Worth noting is that Detroit gets to elect the term of the contract since Vrana was the one to file. With the winger being two years from UFA eligibility, it stands to reason that the Red Wings will elect the one-year term while Vrana’s camp likely filed a two-year proposal.
The comparable contracts seem to be more in Vrana’s favor with the deals hovering around the $5MM and 6.0 CH% range. That should be the point where a long-term checks in which would put it a little below the $5.7MM AAV (6.99 CH%) of the player he was traded for in Anthony Mantha. I’d peg a long-term deal that buys out at least two UFA years a little above Garland’s deal which would put the AAV around $5.05MM (6.2 CH%) and a little above the midpoint of the two filings. If they wind up settling for a one-year pact that would keep Vrana RFA-eligible next summer, that could move the needle a little below the midpoint in the $4.6MM range. Either way, he’s looking at a nice raise for next season compared to the $3MM salary he had in 2020-21.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images. Contract information courtesy of CapFriendly.
Latest On Kirill Kaprizov
Earlier this offseason, there were reports that CSKA Moscow was interested in bringing back Wild winger Kirill Kaprizov to the KHL if things didn’t go well in terms of negotiating a new contract with Minnesota. While it was widely viewed as posturing, it appears the threat could be a real one as Daily Faceoff’s Frank Seravalli reports (Twitter link) that CSKA has an agreement in place with the 24-year-old that would be announced on September 1st if an NHL deal can’t be reached by then. He adds that the value of the one-year contract would be in the eight-figure ($USD) range.
It’s worth noting that the KHL threat is the only leverage that Kaprizov has in negotiations. He doesn’t have enough service time to be eligible for an offer sheet nor was he arbitration-eligible. This basically was the only card that his camp can play.
Minnesota’s long-stated intention has been to lock up the Calder Trophy winner to a max-term deal or close to it but that type of term isn’t necessarily ideal for Kaprizov’s camp. Even if the Upper Limit of the salary cap only rises marginally over the next few years, that’s still a bit more money available then than there is now with the potential for more years to be in a cap environment where the escrow owed to owners has been paid off. From his standpoint, then, a short-term contract that takes him to UFA eligibility would be preferable though that clearly wouldn’t work for the Wild.
The end result would appear to be something in the middle as Seravalli notes that a medium-term deal is something that Minnesota is open to working out. Such a contract would buy out a year or two of UFA eligibility while still giving Kaprizov a shot at hitting the open market with a shot at a max-term deal in a financial landscape that projects to be considerably better than it is now.
With more than $19MM in cap room per CapFriendly, Wild GM Bill Guerin can easily afford the substantial raise that is coming Kaprizov’s way and the decision to take Kevin Fiala to arbitration sets up the potential for a cheaper short-term agreement there which would give them even more flexibility heading into next season. Of course, that flexibility will be short-lived with the buyout penalties for Ryan Suter and Zach Parise increasing sharply for 2022-23 through 2024-25.
Tampa Bay Lightning Avoid Arbitration With Ross Colton
7:00 PM: The Lightning have officially announced the contract.
1:30 PM: The Tampa Bay Lightning have locked up the player who clinched their recent Stanley Cup, signing Ross Colton to a two-year contract. The deal is worth $1MM in 2021-22 and $1.25MM in 2022-23, according to Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet. Colton was scheduled for an arbitration hearing on August 16 that will no longer be required.
Colton, 24, scored the Cup-winning goal for the Lightning a month ago, tapping home a backdoor pass from David Savard. The young forward is another example of Tampa Bay’s strong development system, going from a fourth-round pick in the 2016 draft to a regular in the NHL lineup this season. In 30 regular season games as a rookie, Colton managed to score nine goals and 12 points. That goal pace likely won’t continue right away, but just the fact that the team has turned another mid-round pick into an NHL player is a win for the organization.
He didn’t really come out of nowhere though, as Colton found success in each of his years at the University of Vermont before starring for the Syracuse Crunch. In 2019-20 he registered 42 points in 62 games for Syracuse, throwing himself into the mix for a call-up if the Lightning ever needed a versatile player. The fact is that Colton has made himself a valuable player by being able to play center or the wing, score with the top-six, or check with the bottom-six.
Given the fact that Tampa Bay has been forced to watch Tyler Johnson, Yanni Gourde, Barclay Goodrow and Blake Coleman leave this summer, there should be even more minutes on the table for Colton this season. While it’s not certain how things shake out, he should get quite the opportunity with the defending champs.
For the Lightning, they have now finished their restricted free agent negotiations and can focus on preparing for the regular season. The team is technically over the salary cap right now, but can move Brent Seabrook‘s contract to long-term injured reserve when necessary. It appears as though the offseason work is done, but never count out GM Julien BriseBois.
Free Agent Profile: Sami Vatanen
Few defensemen have seen their stock drop as significantly as Sami Vatanen’s has the last couple of years. Two seasons ago, he was a fixture in New Jersey’s top four. Even in 2020-21, he had plenty of playing time but had a soft free agent market to the point where he had to take more than a 50% pay cut to simply stick with the Devils.
Last season certainly only made things worse. Vatanen was dropped to a spot on the third pairing for New Jersey and didn’t fare particularly well. Widely speculated as a surefire trade candidate at the deadline, the Devils couldn’t find a taker and simply wound up waiving him where Dallas scooped him up. His role didn’t really change and neither did his performance, sending him to the open market coming off the worst season of his career.
Nevertheless, there is still enough upside with Vatanen that landed him on our Top 50 UFA list for the second year in a row, albeit at a much lower spot this time around. The 30-year-old saw his production fall off a cliff last season but before that, he had averaged 28 points per game over the previous six seasons. Sure, his days of being a 30-plus-point blueliner are probably done but something in the high teens/early 20’s is still a possibility; he did that as recently as 2019-20.
Vatanen is also a right-shot defender which is something that many teams are often coveting, particularly at the trade deadline. He’s someone that can still play on the second power play unit if needed and log 15 or more minutes at five-on-five. That’s not an exciting profile compared to the player he was but he can still fill a useful role.
Stats
2020-21: 39 GP, 2-4-6, +3 rating, 20 PIMS, 55 shots, 52.3 CF%, 17:01 ATOI
Career: 473 GP, 47-153-200, -5 rating, 212 PIMS, 860 shots, 49.9 CF%, 20:48 ATOI
Potential Suitors
Given that he can’t be commanding a sizable salary based on the year he had, he’s someone that a contending team may be looking to add for cheap now. Conversely, a rebuilding team could view Vatanen as someone that can hold a spot to allow a prospect to develop a little longer in the minors before looking to move him down the stretch.
In the East, the Blue Jackets don’t have much in the way of proven right-shot defensive depth with long-time fixtures Seth Jones and David Savard departing over the last few months. They’re not looking to win now but Vatanen’s presence could allow someone like Andrew Peeke to spend a bit more time in the AHL. Savard’s new team in Montreal still could use a right-shot defender with Chris Wideman currently projecting to be on their third pairing despite not being in the NHL the last two seasons. Pittsburgh could use Vatanen in the role vacated by Cody Ceci who signed in Edmonton but Vatanen’s price tag would need to come pretty close to the minimum which he may not be willing to do at the moment.
Arizona’s defensive makeover still needs another couple of players and for all of the contracts the Coyotes have taken on, they still have plenty of cap space. Calgary only has two proven righties on the back end if they don’t want to shift one of Juuso Valimaki or Oliver Kylington to their off-side and could fit Vatanen in on the third pairing. Vatanen’s original team in Anaheim added some low-cost depth blueliners to contend for a roster spot but he’d still represent an upgrade on those players if they wanted to try to rebuild his value and flip him later on.
Projected Contract
Vatanen ranked 43rd on our Top 50 UFA list with a projected one-year, $1.5MM deal. At this point, it stands to reason that he’d have taken an offer like that had it been there so he may have to take a further pay cut once again. If he can bounce back offensively, his next contract, whatever it winds up being, has the potential to be a team-friendly one.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Vancouver Canucks Sign Olli Juolevi
It wasn’t so long ago that Olli Juolevi was the fifth-overall pick in the NHL draft. Now, after finally showing he can play at the NHL level, he has signed a one-year contract worth the league minimum of $750K with the Vancouver Canucks. Canucks GM Jim Benning released a short statement on the deal:
Last season was an important step in Olli’s development as an everyday NHL defenceman. We’re glad to have him signed and look forward to his game progressing further next season.
Now 23, Juolevi actually made his NHL debut in last year’s bubble playoffs, playing one game on the Canucks’ run. This year he suited up 23 times for the team, recording two goals and three points in limited minutes. He hasn’t developed as quickly as the Canucks hoped—especially compared to some of the defensemen taken after him in 2016, like Mikhail Sergachev and Charlie McAvoy—but there’s still hope that Juolevi can be a valuable member of the Canucks blueline moving forward.
There will be plenty of competition this time around, after the Canucks brought in Brad Hunt and Luke Schenn as veteran depth options, but there is still a path to playing time for Juolevi. The fact that he’s on a league-minimum deal will only help his cause as Vancouver tries to navigate a tricky salary cap situation.
Though they have $13.3MM left in cap space, the Canucks still have to sign Quinn Hughes and Elias Pettersson, not to mention an arbitration hearing coming up with Jason Dickinson. Things will get tight in a hurry, meaning cheap options like Juolevi could come in handy if he can prove he’s able to hold down a regular spot on the bottom-pair.
Calgary Flames Sign Oliver Kylington
The Calgary Flames have reached an agreement with one of their many restricted free agents, signing Oliver Kylington to a one-year deal. The two-way contract will carry an NHL salary of $750K. Kylington, though eligible for salary arbitration this year, chose not to file.
Interestingly enough, that NHL salary is quite a bit lower than the $826,875 qualifying offer that Kylington would have received. The difference comes in the AHL salary, which Ryan Pike of Flames Nation reports is $300K, a healthy number for the minor leagues. That may suggest Kylington is expecting to see considerable time in the AHL, but also could actually help his case when trying to make the NHL club. A bottom-pairing or seventh defender at $750K is a valuable one for a team trying to fit everyone in under the cap.
Of course, Kylington won’t be surprised if he ends up on waivers once again, given he cleared at the beginning of this season even after playing 48 games for the Flames in 2019-20. He spent nearly the entire year on the taxi squad, suiting up for just eight games with the Flames and three with the Stockton Heat. Now 24, he’s transitioning out of the prospect phase of his career and is in trouble of being labeled a fringe NHL player.
This training camp will be key. If Kylington can establish himself as one of the Flames best six defenders and secure a full-time NHL role, there’s still a chance for him to fulfill his potential as a second-round pick. If he’s in the minor leagues once again, it’s hard to see him ever really becoming an impact player.
Calgary, Ottawa Announce ECHL Agreements
The Ottawa Senators have announced a new partnership with the Atlanta Gladiators of the ECHL, who will serve as their affiliate for the 2021-22 season. The deal is only for one year, though the release calls that an “initial duration,” suggesting there could be an extension if things go smoothly. Senators GM Pierre Dorion released a statement on the deal:
We’re pleased to partner with the Gladiators and to have Atlanta serve as our ECHL affiliate next season. Our prospects who spend time in the ECHL in 2021-22 will be well served under a coaching staff led by Jeff Pyle who we know will positively impact our players’ development.
The Senators needed a new affiliate after the Brampton Beast announced they were folding following a tough few years financially. Atlanta had previously been affiliated with the Boston Bruins, but they recently announced a new partnership with the Maine Mariners.
That wasn’t the only ECHL news today, as the Calgary Flames also announced an extension of their agreement with the Kansas City Mavericks. The one-year extension will make it five seasons the two have been together, initially partnering for the 2017-18 campaign. Flames AGM Brad Pascall released a statement explaining the move:
The Calgary Flames and the Stockton Heat are pleased to continue our affiliation agreement with the ECHL’s Kansas City Mavericks. Kansas City is a first-class franchise with quality ownership and management that shares the same winning culture and player development objectives as our organization.
The ECHL is a proving ground for prospects that still need development, especially goaltenders that can use the playing time a professional organization provides.
Boston Bruins Sign Fabian Lysell
The Boston Bruins have signed their 2021 first-round pick, inking Fabian Lysell to a three-year, entry-level contract. The deal will carry an NHL cap hit of $925K, though it will slide forward should Lysell play outside the NHL this season. GM Don Sweeney released a short statement on his young prospect:
The Bruins are excited to have signed Fabian to his first NHL contract. Fabian is a talented young player, and we look forward to working with Fabian throughout the development process.
Lysell, 18, had three points in 26 games for Lulea HF in the SHL last season, but that vastly undersells his offensive upside. The young forward is an elite skater that should see more ice time and better scoring results if he stays in Sweden as expected this year. He’ll also could very well be heading to the World Juniors after participating for Sweden at the Summer Showcase, though he failed to record a single point in six games.
There’s a lot of development left to do for the first-round pick, but getting his NHL contract done is a step in the right direction. Even if he plays in Sweden this season, he could come over at the end of the year to suit up for a few games with the Providence Bruins, or even potentially be a black ace if Boston goes on another long playoff run. This contract doesn’t change the team’s outlook for 2021, but is certainly a name to keep your eye on moving forward.
Janne Kuokkanen Signs With New Jersey Devils
The New Jersey Devils have signed Janne Kuokkanen to a two-year deal. The contract will carry an average annual value of $1.825MM, paying the young forward $1.6MM in 2021-22 and $2.05MM in 2022-23.
Kuokkanen, 23, has found a home in New Jersey after beginning his career with the Carolina Hurricanes. The second-round pick became a full-time contributor in the NHL this year, posting 25 points in 50 games while lining up most often next to Jack Hughes and Yegor Sharangovich. The trio of youngsters could very well be a line again next season, though the addition of Tomas Tatar obviously gives the Devils another top-six option to work with.
No matter where he fits into the lineup, the key is that Kuokkanen has made it, finally escaping the rollercoaster between the AHL and NHL. Before arriving in New Jersey through a 2020 deadline trade he had played just 11 games with the Hurricanes and had failed to score a single point. He was a strong contributor at the minor league level, but could never land a spot on the NHL roster.
With his emergence, that deadline deal looks like a masterstroke by GM Tom Fitzgerald. The Devils retained half of Sami Vatanen‘s salary, but ended up receiving Kuokkanen, Fredrik Claesson, and a third-round pick. Vatanen, who was injured at the time, didn’t play a single game in the regular season for the Hurricanes, suiting up for just seven postseason contests in the bubble before re-signing with the Devils in free agency.
A two-year contract for Kuokkanen leaves him as a restricted free agent in 2023, but he will have arbitration rights at that point. He’ll also be in line for a $2.05MM qualifying offer, meaning he’ll have to continue to bring positive value over the next two seasons to be worth retaining at that price point.