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Senators Notes: Hamonic, Brannstrom, Bernard-Docker

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Bruce Garrioch of Postmedia is reporting that the Ottawa Senators are likely to buy out veteran defenseman Travis Hamonic when the buyout window opens after the Stanley Cup is awarded. The 33-year-old was brought back last summer by former Senators general manager Pierre Dorion and was largely a disaster registering just six points in 48 games.

On top of his poor offensive output, Hamonic was a liability on the ice, posting dreadful possession numbers with a CF% of 43.2% and an xGF% of 41.5%. The Senators don’t have many effective right-shot defensemen but can ill-afford to roll Hamonic back out next season for nearly 15 minutes per game. Hamonic is owed $1.1MM next year meaning a buyout would cost Ottawa $366,667 in each of the next two seasons. Ottawa would save $733,333 next year which would certainly help as they look to address their goaltending.

In other Ottawa Senators notes:

  • Garrioch also reported that Ottawa is trying to move Erik Brannstrom prior to the deadline for issuing a qualifying offer. The 24-year-old was a central piece of the Mark Stone trade and has never lived up to the billing of being a 15th overall pick. Brannstrom is owed a $2MM qualifying offer if the Senators want to retain his rights, otherwise, he will become an unrestricted free agent. The Eksjö, Sweden native posted three goals and 17 assists in 76 games last year, which were all career-highs, however, despite the improved numbers it’s hard to imagine that teams are lining up to give up an asset to take on that cap hit.
  • The Senators are also reportedly trying to trade right-shot defenseman Jacob Bernard-Docker (as per Bruce Garrioch).  The Canmore, Alberta native is also a former first-round pick who has failed to live up to expectations. The 23-year-old is no analytics darling as he struggled to an even strength CF% of 47.5% last season but did find career highs in goals with four and assists with 10 as he played in 72 NHL games. Bernard-Docker will carry a cap hit of $805K next season and could be moved for a late-round pick or a lower-end prospect.

East Notes: Senators, Flyers, Capitals

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Bruce Garrioch of Postmedia wrote today that the Ottawa Senators have been linked to Anaheim Ducks netminder John Gibson. He didn’t go into much detail about the link, but it’s not the first time there has been mention of a link between Gibson and the Senators. Ottawa has been pushing hard to improve their netminding and has held talks on Boston Bruins goaltender Linus Ullmark since before the NHL trade deadline.

The Senators are desperate to improve their goaltending which has been a disaster since Craig Anderson left town in 2020. The 30-year-old Gibson hasn’t been a strong netminder for years but has been paid like one and still has three years left on his deal at an AAV of $6.4MM. It seems unlikely Ottawa will pursue Gibson at his current price point; however, they could entertain him if they can’t make a deal with the Bruins for Ullmark or if Anaheim is willing to retain some of Gibson’s cap hit.

In other Eastern Conference notes:

  • Anthony Di Marco of The Fourth Period tweeted that he believes that forward Matvei Michkov’s arrival to the Philadelphia Flyers will give the team a bit of leverage in their contract negotiations with right winger Travis Konecny. The Flyers have a difficult decision looming with Konecny, as the 27-year-old is just a year out from unrestricted free agency and there have been rumblings that he is seeking $10MM annually on his next deal. With Michkov likely on his way to Philadelphia, the Flyers could see him as a Konecny replacement, and possibly pivot to an exploration of the trade market for Konecny.
  • The Washington Capitals recently swapped goaltender Darcy Kuemper for forward Pierre-Luc Dubois but are apparently not close to done re-shaping their roster (per Elliotte Friedman on 32 Thoughts). The Capitals have some in-house free agents to take care of but will be able to bring everyone back if they want to. The team badly needs to address their offense, and while Dubois should help in that regard, he can’t be the only piece they add if they hope to improve upfront. Washington scored just 220 goals last season, good enough for 28 out of 32 teams and can no longer rely on their power play to carry them.

Maple Leafs Hire Marc Savard As Assistant Coach

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The Toronto Maple Leafs have hired Marc Savard as an assistant coach (Twitter link). This news vindicates rumors about Savard’s connection with the team and reunites him with head coach Craig Berube, who Savard supported with the St. Louis Blues in 2019-20. The two will rekindle in Toronto, with Savard expected to assume his usual role as power-play coach.

Savard has become a popular coaching candidate despite just two years as an NHL assistant. But he proved plenty successful in both opportunities, leading the Blues to a 24.2 percent success rate on the power-play in 2019-20, good for third-best in the league. Savard stepped away from St. Louis after one season, moving to a head coaching role with the OHL’s Windsor Spitfires. Savard would spend two years in Windsor, leading the team to 44 wins in both seasons, and a run to the OHL championship in 2022. He kept his tenure brief, though, taking his talent behind the Calgary Flames bench in the 2023-24 season, where he found significantly less success than in St. Louis. Savard led the Flames power-play to a a 17.9 percent success rate, the seventh-worst in the league.

But for all of his coaching prowess, Savard is still remembered most fondly as a player. Originally selected in the fourth round of the 1995 NHL Draft, Savard won an OHL championship before making the jump to the AHL, and then NHL in the three years following his draft – finding a way to emerge as a top scorer at every step. Savard would move through appearances with the Calgary Flames and Atlanta Thrashers, consistently showcasing plenty of promising scoring and plenty tenacity, though he wasn’t able to play every game of a season until 2005-06. He performed well when fully healthy, recording 28 goals and 97 points and vindicating it with 96 points in 82 more games the next year. The pair of high-scoring seasons, which overlapped Savard’s move to the Boston Bruins, established him as one of the league’s top wingers. He’d carry that title through five years with the Bruins, though repeated injuries eventually caught up to Savard. He famously retired in 2011, citing concussions-related symptoms. He totaled 807 career games across 13 seasons in the league and retired just ahead of Boston’s 2011 Stanley Cup win, which would have been the first of his career. He’ll now look to chase that title as a coach, taking over a power-play unit featuring Auston Matthews and William Nylander, among plenty of other star offensive talent.

Derick Brassard Announces Retirement

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NHL journeyman forward Derick Brassard has retired from the NHL, he tells Mathias Brunet of Canada’s La Presse. This news will keep Brassard from making a return after suffering a torn ligament in his ankle during a game against the Philadelphia Flyers on March 30th, 2023. It was the same injury that kept Tampa Bay Lightning defenseman Mikhail Sergachev out of the start of this season, with Brassard sharing that the two were in touch to discuss recovery. Brassard added that he feels he could have pushed to play in the latter half of this season, though changes in coaching and lineup makeup weren’t worth pushing his health. He told Brunet, “I was starting to find [playing] heavy. I was often on the therapist’s table playing as many matches as possible. It’s frustrating when you’re not 100% for your match. I still scored 13 goals [in 63 games] my final year. I could have pushed, but with the ankle, it was enough. I didn’t want to risk another operation.”

Brassard is calling quits to a very fruitful career in the hockey world, kicking off with his sixth-overall selection in the 2006 NHL Draft by the Columbus Blue Jackets. Brassard played one more year of juniors hockey before turning pro in the 2007-08 season. He’d receive 17 NHL games in his first pro year, though most of his time was spent in the minors, where Brassard scored 64 points in 55 games through the regular season and playoffs. That hot year would go down as the only AHL season of Brassard’s career, as he quickly vindicated a role in Columbus’ middle-six in 2008. That’s where he’d stick for the next five seasons, before being traded to the New York Rangers in 2013 in a deal that sent Marian Gaborik the other way. Brassard would see his best years in New York, scoring a career-high 60 points in the 2014-15 season and totaling 44 points in 59 postseason games across his four years with the club.

Brassard left New York in 2016, kicking off a tour across the NHL. He’d go on to play in seven more seasons, though never spending as long as two years with the same club. His tour involved tenures with the Ottawa Senators, Pittsburgh Penguins, Colorado Avalanche, and Edmonton Oilers – though Brassard was never able to recreate the personal or team success that he found in New York. His career now ends with 215 goals, 545 points, and 465 penalty minutes across 1,013 games.

Free Agent Focus: Detroit Red Wings

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Free agency is now just a bit more than a month 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 Red Wings. 

Key Restricted Free Agents

F Lucas Raymond – The Red Wings have the never-exciting privilege of putting a price to their leading scorer this summer, with Raymond set for a substantial pay raise after posting 31 goals and 72 points in 82 games this season. He was incredibly productive on his entry-level contract, totaling 71 goals and 174 points in 238 games and quickly vindicating his top-five selection in the 2020 NHL Draft. The Red Wings intend to take their time in negotiating with both Raymond and Seider, which could drag negotiations through the summer, though it seems inevitable that Detroit will soon be locking up a their top winger for the foreseeable future.

F Joe Veleno – Joe Veleno hasn’t yet vindicated his first-round selection in the 2018 NHL Draft, though he did seem much more comfortable handling a daily NHL role this season – his third full-time year in the league. Veleno scored a career-high 12 goals and 28 points in 80 games this season, while serving a quaint role on the team’s third line. He hasn’t done much to warrant a particularly expensive new deal but he filled a role worth re-signing. At 24, a mid-term deal would take Veleno through his remaining RFA years and give him a chance to solidify his role with the team amidst his prime.

D Moritz Seider – Detroit’s summer will be co-headlined by Moritz Seider, after he spent all three seasons of his entry-level contract as the team’s top defenseman. He’s averaged nearly 23 minutes of ice time through the first 246 games of his career – not missing a single game, scoring 134 points, and earning one Calder Trophy as the NHL’s top rookie in 2022 along the way. That’s a dazzling way to spend the first contract of a career, and Seider will be due for a confident raise as a result. While he’s yet to reach the heights of his 50-point rookie year – scoring 42 in each of the last two seasons – Seider has accomplished enough before his 23rd birthday to place himself among the league’s highest paid defenders.

Other RFAs: F Jonatan Berggren, D Jared McIsaac

Key Unrestricted Free Agents

F Patrick Kane – Future Hall of Fame winger Patrick Kane joined the Red Wings in December after a dramatic return from hip resurfacing surgery this season. His return from injury was bumpy, with Kane in and out of the lineup with day-to-day issues as he beefed up his conditioning. But Kane returned to his usual self soon after, ultimately scoring 20 goals and 47 points in 50 games with the Red Wings – though plagued by ineffectiveness on defense. The 35-year-old legend has an unclear future ahead, with Detroit saying they’ll keep in touch ahead of July 1st and Chicago Blackhawks general manager Kyle Davidson confirming they aren’t looking for a reunion. His scoring is still encouraging – and his precedence is no doubt impressive – but too high of an asking price could make Kane hard for many teams to budget for.

F Daniel Sprong – Daniel Sprong vindicated a one-year, $2MM contract with the Red Wings with 18 goals and 43 points in 76 games this season. The performance was plenty of an encore to Sprong’s 21 goals and 46 points in 66 games with the Seattle Kraken last year, and seems to have finally solidified Sprong as an impactful middle-six winger years after his highly-discussed second-round selection in 2015. Sprong is due a raise from his $2MM salary this summer but he’ll likely not be able to demand much, with still little to show for his 344 games in the league. He seems set for a hardy extension this summer, and a return to an impactful role on Detroit’s second line next season.

D Shayne Gostisbehere – Shayne Gostisbehere joined Sprong in vindicating his signing this season, posting 10 goals and 56 points in 81 games while serving out a one-year, $4.125MM contract. Gostisbehere returned to his 50-point form after a runaround season last year that saw Gostisbehere traded from the Arizona Coyotes to the Carolina Hurricanes mid-year. But through all of the moves, Gostisbehere has continued his run as a stout second-pair defenseman, playing well enough to earn added salary and term this summer. Locking him up will go a long way towards solidifying Detroit’s depth throughout their defense.

Other UFAs: F David Perron, F Christian Fischer, F Zach Aston-Reese, F Austin Czarnik, F Taro Hirose, F Matt Luff, D Wyatt Newpower, G James Reimer, G Michael Hutchinson

Projected Cap Space

The Red Wings are entering the summer with plenty to do – but they’ll thankfully also have plenty to spend, with $29.367MM in projected cap space. There’s a very good chance that Raymond and Seider could eat into the majority of that space, though even $10MM should be enough to let Detroit sure up their depth pieces. Detroit could also choose to prioritize a few flashier free agency additions, with the promise of top prospects like Nate Danielson and Simon Edvinsson sure to help round out the offense soon.

Sharks Acquire Egor Afanasyev From Predators

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The San Jose Sharks and Nashville Predators have swapped young forwards, with San Jose receiving Egor Afanasyev while Nashville has received Ozzy Wiesblatt (Twitter link). Afanasyev moves west as a pending restricted free agent, while Wiesblatt still has one year remaining on his entry-level contract.

Rather than try and find a new deal with the Predators, Afanasyev will now prepare for new challenge – joining a Sharks team rife with opportunity. Formerly a second-round pick in the 2019 NHL Draft, Afanasyev has spent the last two seasons flirting with NHL ice time, though he’s only managed one goal across 19 games in the NHL. He’s proven much more impactful in the minors, posting 54 points, split evenly, in 57 games this season. The year marked a notable step forward for Afanasyev, taking the leap into strong AHL scoring after just 26 points last season. He’s a burly power forward, who’s taken noticeable strides towards adding agility and finesse since his draft day. Afanasyev also addresses a lack of depth at left-wing for the Sharks, something that could earn him a quick track to the lineup.

The Predators upgrade on their draft capital with this swap, taking in the 31st pick in the 2020 NHL Draft in Wiesblatt. But despite his higher standing than Afanasyev, Wiesblatt hasn’t found nearly the same success since turning pro. He totaled just 17 points in 50 AHL games this season – two points higher than his 15 points last year but still below expectations. Wiesblatt rekindled his scoring a bit during a midseason loan to Nashville’s AHL affiliate, the Milwaukee Admirals, where Wiesblatt scored six points in 16 games. Nashville must have liked what they’ve seen, and will now have full control over Wiesblatt’s development as he looks to vindicate his first-round status.

Snapshots: Bobrovsky, Ekblad, Nugent-Hopkins, Smith

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Florida Panthers fans are breathing a big sigh of relief this morning, with both star defender Aaron Ekblad and Vezina-finalist goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky good to go after missing the team’s Sunday morning practice, per Colby Guy of Florida Hockey Now (Twitter link). Neither player were limited in the team’s Game 6 loss – with Bobrovsky facing 19 shots and Ekblad playing 21:37 in ice time – suggesting that their absences were merely for maintenance. Still, every update matters as the Panthers look to skid three straight losses in the Stanley Cup Finals. The Edmonton Oilers have outscored Florida 18-t0-5 over that stretch, with Bobrovsky posting a collective 0.793 save percentage. The Panthers will now return home for a winner-takes-all Game 7, seemingly still at full strength.

Other quick notes from around the league:

  • In the name of fairness, the Oilers are facing an injury scare of their own, with former-100 point forward Ryan Nugent-Hopkins missing the team’s Sunday practice with illness, per Jim Matheson of NHL.com (Twitter link). Nugent-Hopkins has been one of Edmonton’s top contributors this postseason, recording 22 points in 24 playoff games. That includes two points in Edmonton’s three-game win-streak – so far his only scoring in the Stanley Cup Finals. Nugent-Hopkins would leave a major role vacant should he be unavailable for Game 7, though there’s been no indication that Edmonton is expecting him to sit.
  • Pittsburgh Penguins winger Reilly Smith has changed agencies ahead of the final year of his contract, now represented by CAA Hockey, per PuckPedia (Twitter link). CAA is the choice agency of many NHL stars, including Sidney Crosby, Matthew Beniers, Mathew Barzal, and Cole Caufield. It’s also the agency most akin to changing scenery – representing the recently-traded Pierre-Luc Dubois, rumored trade chip Rutger McGroarty, and hardened trade rumor veteran Jack Eichel. Smith takes on the new representation while looking to vindicate his final year at a $5MM price tag, though his 13 goals and 40 points last season fell short of expecations.

Boston Bruins Sign Ian Mitchell To One-Year Extension

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The Boston Bruins will retain some of their defensive depth as the team announced a one-year, two-way contract extension for defenseman Ian Mitchell. The deal will pay Mitchell the league minimum of $775K at the NHL level in a contract that will make Mitchell arbitration-eligible next summer.

Acquired by the Bruins in a cost-cutting move last summer, Mitchell was traded with Alec Regula from the Chicago Blackhawks in exchange for Taylor Hall and the contractual rights to Nick Foligno. Of the two, Mitchell was the only one to suit up for Boston last season as Regula spent the entirety of the 2023-24 season with the organization’s AHL affiliate, the Providence Bruins. Similarly, Mitchell spent 42 games in Providence scoring six goals and 24 points from the blue line as he finished third on the team in scoring among defensemen.

Regulated to a flexible depth option in a much deeper defensive core, Mitchell played in 13 games for Boston this past season where he tallied two assists in total. Even though he saw his games played total slashed by nearly 20 after moving on from the Blackhawks, Mitchell still maintained an average of more than 15 minutes of ice time per game.

With the emergence of Mason Lohrei last season and in the playoffs, Boston should have much of their defensive core put in place heading into the 2024-25 NHL season. Due to this fact, Mitchell will likely start the season back in Providence in the same depth option role he spent in the Bruins organization last year.

Ty Anderson of 98.5 The Sports Hub was the first to report the Bruins had extended Mitchell. 

Offseason Notes: Trade Board, Canadiens, Stars

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TSN’s Chris Johnston published his annual offseason trade board in The Athletic in the middle of last week which sees a surprising name at the top of the list. At the top of the board, Johnston indicates that Mitch Marner is the top name on the trade block, even after cold water has been dumped on the likelihood of a Marner trade in recent weeks.

The rest of the names on Johnston’s list are unsurprising, as Boston Bruins’ Linus Ullmark, Carolina Hurricanes’ Martin Necas, Winnipeg Jets’ Nikolaj Ehlers, and Ottawa Senators’ Jakob Chychrun round out the top five. Although the movement of any of these players is far from a guarantee, the NHL is expected to see a major shakeup in the summer months.

Nevertheless, the reality of a Marner trade is becoming less and less possible by the day, even after a dismal playoff performance and the President of the Toronto Maple Leafs, Brendan Shanahan, indicating that “everything is on the table” with Toronto’s roster this summer. Marner holds a full no-movement clause in his contract; allowing him to control his destiny with the Maple Leafs’ organization. Marner can ride out the last year of his contract on Toronto’s roster and become an unrestricted free agent next summer if he chooses to do so.

Other notes:

  • Another day has passed, which means another team has been directly linked to Martin Necas. David Pagnotta of The Fourth Period reported yesterday that the Montreal Canadiens are looking to add a scoring forward before next Friday’s NHL Draft, and have been looking into Necas and Trevor Zegras of the Anaheim Ducks. There are several options available to General Manager Kent Hughes heading into the offseason, outside of just Necas and Zegras. Throughout his tenure as General Manager of the Canadiens organization, Hughes has dived much more into the trade market to improve his club rather than bring in free-agent talent.
  • The Dallas Stars received solid news on the injury front as General Manager Jim Nill stated that no injured member of the club requires surgery in the offseason (Article Link). During the Stars’ postseason run in the 2024 Stanley Cup playoffs, all of Jani Hakanpää, Chris Tanev, Tyler Seguin, and Roope Hintz dealt with varying levels of injuries throughout the playoffs but should have an entire offseason to train and recover. Surprisingly, Hakanpää will not require a procedure this summer as a lower-body injury kept him out of the entirety of the postseason as his season concluded on March 16th.

List Of Players Getting Trade Protection On July 1st

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In the current Collective Bargaining Agreement between the NHL and NHLPA, the league players can procure three types of No-Move Clauses in their contracts. The only stipulations to these clauses are that the player in question must be 27 years of age or older and must have accrued seven years of service time at the NHL level. The three types of No-Move Clauses are as follows: No Movement Clause (NMC), No Trade Clause (NTC), and Modified NMC or NTC.

Per the current CBA, an NMC means that a player cannot be waived, assigned to minors, or traded without their consent, and they also must be protected in the event of an Expansion Draft. An NTC is straightforward — giving the player protection from being traded without their approval. Lastly, a modified NMC or NTC sets an arbitrary number of teams and a time frame when a player can use this protection. In just over a week, an assortment of players will receive trade protection on their current contracts, and CapFriendly has broken it down.

 

No Movement Clauses
D Charlie McAvoy (Boston)
F Sebastian Aho (Carolina)
D Devon Toews (Colorado)
F Roope Hintz (Dallas)
D Gustav Forsling (Florida)
F Kirill Kaprizov (Minnesota)
F Joel Eriksson Ek (Minnesota)
F Jesper Bratt (New Jersey)
F Timo Meier (New Jersey)
G Ilya Sorokin (NY Islanders)
F Pierre-Luc Dubois (Washington)

No Trade Clauses
F Ross Colton (Colorado)
D Nick Seeler (Philadelphia)
D Vince Dunn (Seattle)
F Clayton Keller (Utah)
D Erik Cernak (Tampa Bay)
D Mikhail Sergachev (Tampa Bay)

Modified No Trade Clauses
F Jordan Greenway (Buffalo) – eight-team no-trade list
F Tage Thompson (Buffal0) – five-team no-trade list
D Rasmus Andersson (Calgary) – six-team no-trade list
D Samuel Girard (Colorado) – nine-team no-trade list
F Miles Wood (Colorado) – six-team no-trade list
F Alex DeBrincat (Detroit) – 16-team no-trade list
F Adrian Kempe (Los Angeles) – 10-team no-trade list
F Nico Hischier (New Jersey) – 10-team no-trade list
D John Marino (New Jersey) – eight-team no-trade list
D Jonas Siegenthaler (New Jersey) – 10-team no-trade list
F Mathew Barzal (NY Islanders) – 22-team no-trade list
D Thomas Chabot (Ottawa) – 10-team no-trade list
F Tanner Jeannot (Tampa Bay) – 16-team no-trade list
F Kyle Connor (Winnipeg) – 10-team no-trade list

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