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Free Agent Focus: Colorado Avalanche

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Free agency is now less than a week away and teams are looking ahead to when it opens.  There will be several impact players set to hit the open market in July while many teams have key restricted free agents to re-sign as well.  We continue our look around the NHL with an overview of the free agent situation for the Avalanche.

Key Unrestricted Free Agents

F Jonathan Drouin – One summer ago, the Avalanche brought Drouin into the fold on a low-risk one-year, $825K contract. Paired with Nathan MacKinnon for the first time since their time with the Halifax Mooseheads, Drouin would be among the highest-value signings of the previous offseason. Over 79 regular season games, Drouin scored 19 goals and 37 assists in Colorado, with the latter statistic marking a career-high. As much as there is a mutual interest between Drouin and the Avalanche on a contract extension, the organization will have to be very frugal this summer based on the pending status of Gabriel Landeskog and Valeri Nichushkin. Although he has more than earned a raise upon his previous salary, Drouin will still need to take a fairly hefty discount to remain in Denver.

D Sean Walker – Acquired to offset the departure of Bowen Byram during a busy trade deadline for the Avalanche, Walker will likely depart this summer. Walker was acquired by the Philadelphia Flyers last summer as a salary dump before finally making his way to Colorado for a top-10 protected first-round pick and the contract of Ryan Johansen. Walker logged heavy minutes during his time with the Flyers and rewarded the team with six goals and 22 points in 63 games. His average ice time dipped nearly two minutes after the trade to the Avalanche but he still managed four goals and seven points in the remaining 18 games of the regular season. Regardless of going scoreless through 11 games in the 2024 Stanley Cup playoffs; Walker should command $4-5MM per year on a multi-year contract agreement on the open market.

F Brandon Duhaime – A part of a rare intra-division trade during the trade deadline, Duhaime was brought in to serve as a bruiser in Colorado’s bottom six. Not much of a weapon in the points department — Duhaime has averaged 2.63 hits a game since making his debut with the Minnesota Wild during the 2021-22 NHL season. Unlike most of the other trade deadline acquisitions made by the Avalanche, Duhaime’s price tag wouldn’t necessarily prohibit him from staying in Denver. The team already has Josh Manson, Miles Wood, and Ross Colton as reliable physical options; but contending teams will always be looking for more physicality come springtime.

F Yakov Trenin – Similarly to Duhaime, Trenin was brought in via an intra-division trade with the Nashville Predators at the trade deadline as a physical presence. However, Trenin has been known to score much more than Duhaime evidenced by his 41 goals since the start of the 2021-22 NHL season. Trenin saw his role reduced considerably with the Avalanche, and may want to join a team where he can once again average 15 minutes of ice time per game. Colorado should have the financial flexibility to retain Trenin if they desire, but he will likely move on for a better opportunity this summer.

Other UFAs: F Joel Kiviranta, D Jack Johnson, D Caleb Jones, F Fredrik Olofsson, F Spencer Smallman, F Riley Tufte, D Brad Hunt, D Corey Schueneman, G Ivan Prosvetov

Projected Cap Space

This is where matters become incredibly complicated for the Avalanche. Going into the summer, the team will largely have to assume Landeskog and Nichushkin will return at some point during the 2024-25 NHL season, which would tack on another $13.125 million to the salary cap. Even though Colorado has just under $10.5MM available in cap space, the contract for Nichushkin alone would bring that value down to $4.34MM if he eventually returns.

Much like last offseason, the Avalanche will have to nibble around the fringes of the free agent market with the hope of landing some high-value contracts similar to Drouin. However, this approach does leave considerable room for danger. If Landeskog and Nichushkin do not return at any point next season, the Avalanche will have a bevy of unused cap space. As a team primed for Stanley Cup contention, this is a reality that Colorado can not allow to happen.

Photos courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.  Cap information courtesy of CapFriendly.

Canucks Re-Sign Teddy Blueger

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5:42 p.m.: Blueger’s deal includes a 12-team no-trade clause in both seasons, PuckPedia reports. He’ll be paid a $775K base salary, with the remainder of the deal paid via signing bonuses ($1.175MM in 2024-25, $875K in 2025-26).

5:05 p.m.: The Canucks announced Wednesday that they’ve re-signed pending free agent center Teddy Blueger to a two-year deal worth $3.6MM, carrying a $1.8MM cap hit.

It’s a good bit of work for GM of the year finalist Patrik Allvin, who retains some solid fourth-line depth for a $100K pay cut from last season’s cap hit. Blueger arrived in Vancouver via free agency last summer, inking a one-year, $1.9MM pact. He was coming off a 2022-23 campaign that saw him dealt from the Penguins to the Golden Knights at the trade deadline, but he played in only six of Vegas’ 22 playoff games in their run to the Stanley Cup.

The Canucks banked on Blueger’s solid play in a bottom-six role in Pittsburgh over the years prior, though, and they got rewarded. The Latvia native isn’t a big-time goal-scorer – he’s never hit double digits in his career. He’s dealt with a decent amount of injuries, too, never playing more than 70 games in a season, but he provides decent offensive production when healthy.

In 2023-24, he rebounded after a difficult campaign that resulted in him scoring only four goals and 16 points in 63 games, his lowest offensive output as a full-time NHLer. Making 68 appearances for the Nucks, he had 28 points (six goals, 22 assists) and excelled in the faceoff circle, winning 53.1% of his draws while averaging 14:56 per game. He provided good possession results despite being used primarily in defensive situations at even strength, controlling 50.8% of shot attempts and 51.3% of expected goals, per Hockey Reference. Blueger also averaged 2:06 per game shorthanded, second among Vancouver forwards behind Elias Lindholm.

He was worth the money last year, and he’ll cost less to retain annually in exchange for an extra year’s worth of commitment. His deal comes in at nearly exactly what Evolving Hockey projected he’d cost on the open market (two years, $1.814MM AAV).

Blueger will likely reprise a fourth-line role next season with heavy PK usage plus some slight upward mobility at even strength. The Canucks still have $16.75MM in projected cap space after the signing with Tucker Poolman on long-term injured reserve, per CapFriendly. They have five roster spots to fill.

Senators Downplay Thomas Chabot Trade Rumors

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Senators defenseman Thomas Chabot had found his name in trade speculation over the past week, mostly in connection to a report that they were in deep talks with the Flyers about a trade that may involve first-round picks changing hands closer to the draft. Chabot was never firmly linked to the deal by reputable sources, though, and Ottawa general manager Steve Staios shut down the possibility in his media availability today (including Bruce Garrioch of Postmedia and Claire Hanna of TSN).

Staios said Chabot “hasn’t been talked about once” as a trade candidate internally, at least since he took over from Pierre Dorion as GM in November. It doesn’t mean they aren’t looking to make a big change on defense, though. Former first-round pick Erik Brännström is a candidate to be non-tendered and hit the UFA market early, and Jakob Chychrun has found himself in some more credible trade rumors as of late with one season left on his deal. Staios didn’t have anything notable to say about the latter today.

The Sens have their longtime top blue liner under contract for four more seasons at an $8MM cap hit. Chabot signed a healthy eight-year, $64MM extension in 2019 after finishing 18th in Norris Trophy voting the year prior, but he hasn’t received any consideration for the award since. He has a 10-team no-trade list for the duration of his contract beginning July 1. Chabot was surpassed as their top defender in terms of average ice time by Jake Sanderson, who looks to be their star defenseman of the future after Chabot held their number-one title from that 2018-19 campaign onward.

Ottawa will certainly look to make major additions on the right side of their defense to support Chabot and Sanderson, one reason the left-shot Chychrun has become somewhat expendable. The Sens are a reported suitor for Chris Tanev should he hit the open market next week, among others. They already have a capable top-pairing shutdown partner for Sanderson in Artem Zub, who’s excelled since coming over as an undrafted free-agent signing from Russia in 2020.

As they attempt to turn things around after yet another non-playoff season, the team has already made one aggressive move to improve their team defense, which finished 26th out of 32 teams in 2023-24. Out is disappointing 2023 UFA signing Joonas Korpisalo between the pipes – he’s off to Boston, along with a first-round pick and depth forward Mark Kastelic, in exchange for reigning Vezina Trophy winner Linus Ullmark.

NHL Announces Rule Changes For 2024-25

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The NHL has announced four rule changes and tweaks for next season, all of which were part of eight amendments proposed by league general managers in March. Only these ones have been unanimously approved by the league’s Board of Governors and the NHL/NHLPA Competition Committee, though. The changes are as follows, with wording taken directly from the league:

Rule 38.2 (Situations Subject to Coach’s Challenge)

A coach’s challenge now will be permitted to take down a penalty for puck out of play. This only will apply to delay of game penalties when the puck is determined to have deflected off a player, stick, glass or boards, and not on a judgment call on how the puck left the defensive zone (e.g., batted pucks or if the puck was shot out from the defensive zone). In the event of a failed challenge, another two-minute minor penalty will be assessed (in addition to the existing delay of game penalty).

Rule 63.8 (Line Change Following Dislodged Net)

There will be an adjustment to Rule 63.8 so that the defensive team cannot make a line change in the event its goaltender accidentally dislodges the net (old language applied just to skater).

Rule 76.4 (Face-Off Procedure – Centers)

Following an icing, the offensive center also now will receive one warning (same as the defensive player) for a face-off violation.

Rule 75.3 (Unsportsmanlike Conduct – Player Sitting on Boards)

The referee now will provide the offending team (coach and players) with one warning regarding players sitting on the boards (and will so advise the other team). After one warning in a game, the team precipitating the warning will be issued a bench minor penalty for future violations.

A few notable changes proposed by GMs three months ago weren’t announced as part of today’s modifications. Regarding Rule 63.8, the league stopped short of the GMs’ proposal that a goaltender could be penalized for intentionally dislodging the net. Staying with netminders, they also did not approve a proposal that backup goaltenders could receive a warmup if the starter is pulled out of the game due to injury or concussion.

Additionally, coaches will not be able to challenge a minor high-sticking call in an attempt to show that the infraction was the result of a teammate’s stick, not the offender’s, as proposed.

Lightning Add J.D. Forrest To AHL Coaching Staff

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The Lightning have hired J.D. Forrest as an assistant coach for their AHL affiliate, the Syracuse Crunch, as announced Wednesday. He steps into the position vacated by Daniel Jacob, who’s mutually parting ways with Tampa, per the release.

Forrest, 43, is entering his second decade as a coach after ending his playing career, which he primarily spent in European pro leagues, in 2014. The New York native began as an intern assistant coach for the U.S. National Team Development Program, where he played from 1997 to 2000. By 2016, he’d landed a job in the Penguins organization as an assistant with AHL Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, where he remained up until a few months ago. He was promoted to head coach of the Baby Pens in 2020 and held the role for four seasons before being let go in April.

The 2000 sixth-round pick of the Hurricanes was a candidate for other minor-league coaching jobs, including the Sabres’ vacancy in Rochester, but it didn’t materialize. Instead, he settles for an assistant role in Syracuse under Joël Bouchard, who’s entering his second season behind the bench. Bouchard guided the Crunch to a 39-24-9 record last season before being eliminated in the North Division Final by the Cleveland Monsters.

As head coach of WBS, Forrest recorded a 113-102-24-13 record.

Red Wings Have Reportedly Discussed John Gibson With Ducks

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Former Jennings Trophy winner John Gibson has been in trade talks on an annual basis for the past few summers, but the years-long saga may finally reach its conclusion in the coming days. The Ducks are ramping up their efforts to move the 30-year-old and have engaged in talks with the Red Wings and another unnamed team, David Pagnotta of The Fourth Period reports. Detroit is the first team to be firmly connected to Gibson this summer after Anaheim general manager Pat Verbeek acknowledged he was still drawing interest.

Gibson’s 2023-24 season was the worst of his career, continuing a long run of below-average play behind the rest of the Ducks’ rebuilding roster. He made 44 starts and two relief appearances without being significantly hampered by injuries, posting a .888 SV% and allowing 21.2 goals above average, per Hockey Reference.

He’s still carried the reputation of being one of the best up-and-coming netminders in the league in the mid-2010s, and there are many out there who believe he can get back to that level of play. Playing behind one of the most porous defenses in the league over the past five years certainly hasn’t helped his numbers. Even when accounting for the level of quality chances he’s faced, though, the stats aren’t promising. He hasn’t saved more goals than expected since the 2018-19 campaign, according to data from MoneyPuck.

For Anaheim, he’s been made expendable by the emergence of 24-year-old Lukáš Dostál. The 2018 third-round pick outplayed Gibson by every metric this season, posting a .902 SV% and 3.33 GAA with one shutout while making 38 starts and six relief appearances. He allowed 5.3 goals above expected compared to Gibson’s 9.6 over similar workloads, per MoneyPuck.

It’s not like Gibson would be arriving to a team known for its defensive responsibility in Detroit, either. While they had a competitive roster, losing out on their first playoff appearance since 2016 thanks to a regulation win tiebreaker with the Capitals, they were one of the worst teams in the league at controlling play at 5-on-5. They controlled only 46.5% of shot attempts, 45.2% of scoring chances and 43.0% of high-danger chances, according to Hockey Reference.

Goaltending is an area of need for the Wings, though. While Trey Augustine and Sebastian Cossa are both promising prospects long-term, they lack stability at the position entering next season. Gibson would give them a more established name to compete for starts with Ville Husso and Alex Lyon, who are both entering the final season of their contracts. But based on this year’s results, he wouldn’t be a significant upgrade. Lyon was quite serviceable, especially for his $900K cap hit, giving Detroit a solid .904 SV% through 44 appearances.

Any team acquiring Gibson is banking on a return to his 2015-2019 form, but he’ll likely need a strong defensive environment in front of him to make that a reality. If Detroit is intent on making a change to their crease next season, one of the less-established but lower-risk netminders available in free agency is a better bet. For a team on the cusp of playoff contention, adding three years of an uncertain Gibson at a $6.4MM cap hit is questionable.

New Team Rumors Functionality On PHR Mobile Website, Menus Added For Desktop

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June 26: For our mobile readers, please note that the Flame menu functionality has been added in the past few weeks! For our desktop readers, please note that we’ve added two additional sidebar menus: “Latest Rumors & News” and “Pro Hockey Rumors Features.” The Latest Rumors & News menu provides quick, easy access for desktop readers to scroll newsfeeds for star players currently in the rumor mill. The Pro Hockey Rumors Features menu now makes access to our ongoing PHR Originals series, as well as draft, free agent, and trade trackers, just one click away from the homepage.

May 1: Last month, the Trade Rumors network of sites rolled out some much-needed improvements to our search functionality. In doing so, we changed some things about how website readers on mobile devices can find team pages on PHR, MLBTR, and our friends over at Pro Football Rumors and Hoops Rumors. The new way to get to the team page is to type a few letters of that team name into the search box. You can start with the city name or the team name. Usually, about three or four letters do the trick:

That’ll bring you to our team archive, with all posts tagged with that club in chronological order:

Based on reader suggestions, we have created two additional ways to access team rumors. The first utilizes the favorite teams you have selected in your PHR/Trade Rumors account. Here’s how to select your favorite teams.

First, create a free commenter account on PHR if you don’t already have one. Then, once you’re logged in (assuming you’re on a mobile device), tap the three lines icon in the upper right, then the dropdown for My Account, and then Choose Your Favorite Teams:

We’re going to make some improvements to simplify the Favorite Team picker, which currently shows NFL teams at the top by default. But for now, on the left, you’ll see NHL, so tap that. Scroll to the team(s) you want and select them. Then hit Save:

After you save your favorite teams, navigate back to prohockeyrumors.com in your browser. In the coming weeks, we plan to add the flame menu to match MLBTR’s functionality for viewing commonly accessed articles, series, lists, and now, the team rumors page of your favorite. This will show up to three favorite teams for a given sport. You can see what that looks like over on MLBTR:

So, there will be two options to reach a team’s rumor page: type it into the search bar or favorite it and access it via the flame menu. We have also brought back the original way: choosing a team from a list of all of them. To do so, go to the three lines icon in the upper right, then hit the dropdown for Teams.  You’ll see all 32 teams listed by division, with minimal need for scrolling. Tap a team, and you’ll go to its rumor page.

After you land on a team rumor page, you can also hit your browser’s Back button to return to this list of all 32 and select a different team.

If you’re on the PHR mobile website, you now have two different ways to navigate to a team’s rumor page, with a third coming soon. Enjoy!

Atlantic Notes: Ullmark, Gostisbehere, Korpisalo, Akhtyamov

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Linus Ullmark had his first media availability today after being acquired from the Bruins by the Senators on Monday, clearing up some pre-trade rumors that had been floating around in the process. While some believed Ullmark had waived his modified no-trade clause to green-light the deal to Ottawa, he told reporters today that the Senators were never on his no-trade list (via TSN’s Claire Hanna).

Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet had relayed word on yesterday’s “32 Thoughts” podcast that Ullmark may have initially had the Sens on his no-trade list after signing his four-year, $20MM deal with Boston in 2021 but took them off after they signed Joonas Korpisalo last summer, believing they wouldn’t be interested in his services anyway. Evidently, that wasn’t the case.

Ullmark also confirmed that he won’t start any extension discussions with the Senators in the immediate future (via Postmedia’s Bruce Garrioch). He said those will wait until after he and his family get acclimated to the city. He’s entering the final year of his contract and will be a UFA in 2025.

Other rumblings out of the Atlantic Division:

  • The Red Wings are still trying to retain defenseman Shayne Gostisbehere before he becomes a UFA on Monday, Pierre LeBrun of TSN and The Athletic reported yesterday. Detroit general manager Steve Yzerman was aggressive in clearing cap space yesterday, acquiring a second-round pick as part of a prospect swap with the Predators that he immediately flipped to the Sharks along with defenseman Jake Walman, who was signed to a rather fair $3.4MM cap hit for the next two seasons. Gostisbehere was their top puck-moving and power-play option last year as Moritz Seider was given increased defensive responsibilities, recording 10 goals and 56 points in 81 games.
  • After taking on the struggling Korpisalo from the Senators in this week’s Ullmark blockbuster, the Bruins intend to have him start next season as Jeremy Swayman’s backup, a team representative confirmed to The Athletic’s Fluto Shinzawa. Boston picked up Korpisalo at a $3MM cap hit through 2027-28, a 25% reduction on his initial $4MM price tag. Some wondered if a buyout may be coming for the netminder who had a .890 SV% and saved 20.8 goals below average in 55 games for the Sens this year, but that isn’t in the cards.
  • Maple Leafs goaltending prospect Artur Akhtyamov will play next season in their farm system, his agent Dan Milstein confirmed to Terry Koshan of the Toronto Sun. The 22-year-old Russian was a fourth-round pick of Toronto back in 2020 and has put up great numbers in his native country since, culminating in a .921 SV% and 2.51 GAA in 17 games for KHL side Ak Bars Kazan this season. He was signed to his entry-level contract last summer and is projected to compete for time with the AHL’s Toronto Marlies in 2024-25.

Utah Signs Liam O’Brien To Three-Year Extension

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The Utah Hockey Club has signed enforcer Liam O’Brien to a three-year extension, Chris Johnston of TSN and The Athletic reports. He was set to become an unrestricted free agent on Monday. The deal carries a $1MM cap hit, Johnston adds. Jordan Schmaltz of the Live in Five podcast was the first to report the terms of the deal last night.

O’Brien, 29, is coming off his first season as a true NHL regular. While he hasn’t spent any time in the minors since his one-year stint with the Avalanche in 2020-21, he was often a 13th forward for the Coyotes after arriving as a free agent the following season. That changed during the franchise’s final season in the desert, with O’Brien dressing in a career-high 75 games.

He responded with a career-high 14 points (five goals, nine assists), one of which was a goal in their final game in Arizona, a 5-2 win over the Oilers on April 17. O’Brien also led the league in penalty minutes with 153 and led the Coyotes in hits with 229. He’ll now be back with his former teammates as they make the move north to Salt Lake City for 2024-25.

It’s been a long road to NHL relevancy for O’Brien, who at one point went nearly three and a half years between major league appearances (Nov. 10, 2017 – April 2, 2021). Undrafted, the 6’1″, 213-lb forward captained the QMJHL’s Rouyn-Noranda Huskies in his final junior season before landing an entry-level deal with the Capitals. He ended up sticking in the Caps system for six seasons, although most of his time was spent on the farm with the AHL’s Hershey Bears. He racked up 137 points and 638 PIMs in 370 games there between 2014 and 2020, compared to only two points and 28 PIMs in 17 games with the Capitals during that span.

O’Brien will play an immediate fan-favorite role in Utah’s first year. Ice time and appearances will likely be harder for him to carve out with youngsters Josh Doan and Dylan Guenther presumably full-time locks, though, and Utah general manager Bill Armstrong is expected to add some other impact pieces to the roster via trades and free agency. Still, it’s a reasonable commitment for a good energy piece, even if his possession numbers are nothing to write home about. It’s in line with the market value set by Ryan Reaves when he inked a three-year, $1.35MM AAV deal with the Maple Leafs in free agency last summer.

The Halifax native will next be eligible for UFA status in 2027. Armstrong still has $42.56MM in projected cap space to play with this summer with 11 open roster spots, per CapFriendly.

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