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Jets Buy Out Nate Schmidt

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The Winnipeg Jets have bought out the final season of defenseman Nate Schmidt’s contract, per Frank Seravalli of the Daily Faceoff (Twitter link). Schmidt will first have to pass through unconditional waivers before the buy out goes into effect. Should he clear, Schmidt’s contract will count towards $2.717MM of Winnipeg’s cap next season – a savings of $3.233MM – and an empty $1.617MM in 2025-26.

This move pushes Schmidt to the open market one year sooner than expected, while ridding Winnipeg of the $5.95MM cap hit he’s carried since 2019-20. Schmidt’s six-year, $35.7MM contract was originally signed with the Vegas Golden Knights, who traded Schmidt to the Vancouver Canucks in the offseason ahead of the 2020-21 season. Schmidt spent the shortened year with the Canucks, before being flipped to the Jets for the 2022 pick used to select Jordan Gustafson.

Schmidt kicked off his tenure in Winnipeg with a strong year, recording 32 points and averaging 20 minutes a night, while still offering the stout defense he’s become known for. But that impact has dwindled in the seasons since, with Schmidt managing just 19 points last year and 14 points this year. He’s fallen from a top pair role to a bottom pair role alongside the low scoring, though he still recorded the best xGA/60 (2.03) of any Jets defenders, per Evolving Hockey.

Schmidt’s decline over the last two seasons has made his hefty price tag hard to bear, especially for a Jets team in the midst of a cap crunch. But there should be no shortage of suitors for Schmidt on the open market – with his veteran presence and stout defense a great replacement for Chris Tanev, who is expected to be taken off of the market after a trade to the Toronto Maple Leafs. Schmidt will be set for a significant pay cut, but at 32, he could still find his way into a deal with term.

Oilers Buy Out Jack Campbell

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The Edmonton Oilers have bought out the final three years of goaltender Jack Campbell’s contract (Twitter link). Campbell will need to clear unconditional waivers before the buy out goes through. If it does, it will save the Oilers $3.9MM in cap hit next season, and a cumulative $9MM over the next three seasons combined, though they will then carry an empty $1.5MM cap hit for three more years.

This move was one of the most anticipated as the buyout window rolled around, bringing a sudden end to the five-year, $25MM contract Campbell signed in Edmonton just two years ago. It was the first high-value contract of his career, earned after he posted 31 wins and a .914 save percentage in 49 games with the Toronto Maple Leafs. That was Campbell’s first season as a full-time NHL starter, though he entered the year with a .918 save percentage in 86 career games through the previous five seasons – giving the Oilers a bit of solace as they looked to find their next starting goaltender.

That’s the position Campbell earned out of the gates, though he quickly began to show holes. Campbell posted a .876 save percentage through his first 15 games with the club – ultimately struggling enough to lose the starter’s role to rookie backup Stuart Skinner. Skinner held a tight grip on the role through the rest of the year, posting a .913 save percentage in 50 games and ranking second in 2023 Calder Trophy voting behind Matthew Beniers.

Skinner’s rise quickly ousted Campbell from the role he was being paid $5MM to fill. And while the Oilers attempted to remedy by awarding him five games this season, his .873 save percentage forced their hand – and he would go on to spend nearly all year buried in the minor leagues. In the name of silver linings, Campbell did rediscover his groove in the AHL – posting 18 wins and a .918 in 33 games with the Bakersfield Condors. But that’s still far from the role Edmonton was hoping he’d fill, and Campbell will now find himself back on the open market. It will be interesting to see what roles team prescribe to Campbell as he looks to find a new home on the back of a career that’s seen him competently fill both starting and backup roles at every level.

Sharks Sign Luke Kunin To One-Year Extension

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06/30: The San Jose Sharks have made this deal official, signing Kunin to a one-year, $2.75MM extension.

06/28: PuckPedia reports that the San Jose Sharks and forward Luke Kunin are nearing a one-year extension that will pay Kunin $2.75MM. The deal will clock in just shy of Kunin’s qualifying offer which would have been $3MM.

Now just one year away from unrestricted free agency, it was reported a few months ago that Kunin was open to signing a multi-year contract with the Sharks organization. Instead, Kunin and San Jose can punt those conversations down the line as the middle-six forward will suit up for his third season with the Sharks.

While averaging just under 16 minutes of ice time per game, Kunin potted 11 goals and 18 points in 77 games for San Jose this season which was good for seventh on the team in the former category. However, Kunin’s possession metrics took a nose dive this season with a CorsiFor% of 36.5 — a six-point decrease off his career average. With his secondary scoring and physicality, Kunin still holds value as a middle-six option for the Sharks.

Additionally, after a historically bad season for the organization, San Jose may have rewarded Kunin for wanting to stay with the organization in the first place. He now has the opportunity to add to his earning power in unrestricted free agency if he can capitalize on this one-year deal with the Sharks.

Sheng Peng of San Jose Hockey Now was the first to report that Kunin and San Jose were nearing a deal. 

Lightning Acquire Rights To Jake Guentzel

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The Tampa Bay Lightning have acquired the rights to pending free agent Jake Guentzel from the Carolina Hurricanes in exchange for Tampa’s 2025 third-round pick (Twitter link).

Never ones to be subtle, it seems Tampa is taking their cap squeeze into their own hands – ending speculation about all-time Bolt Steven Stamkos, who is expected to become an unrestricted free agent for the first time in his 16-year NHL career on Monday. In response, Tampa has taken a page from the Toronto Maple Leafs’ book – moving assets to give them a head start in negotiating with one of the market’s top free agents.

This is Guentzel’s second move in the last four months, after joining the Carolina Hurricanes for a king’s ransom at the Trade Deadline. To get Guentzel, the Hurricanes had to give up NHL winger Michael Bunting; prospects Vasili Ponomarev, Ville Koivunen, and Cruz Lucius; and the 2024 second-round draft pick used to select Harrison Brunicke. But Carolina certainly got what they paid for – with Guentzel transitioning seamlessly from the role of Sidney Crosby’s sidekick to standalone star beautifully. He recorded eight goals and 25 points in 17 regular season games with the Hurricanes, bringing his season total up to 30 goals and 77 points in 67 games – a 95-point pace across 82 games. What’s more, Guentzel held true to his claim as a fantastic playoff performer, ranking third on the team with nine points in 11 postseason games.

Guentzel scored at the highest pace of his career this season, even despite the midyear change of scenery. And yet, it’s hard to call it a breakout year – with Guentzel having recorded 40 goals in both the 2019 and 2022 seasons, finishing with 76 and 84 points in the respective years. But he did prove he can maintain, and maybe even improve upon, his scoring in colors other than black and gold.

That’s incredibly encouraging for Tampa Bay, who will soon be without the 40 goals and 81 points that a 34-year-old Stamkos managed this year. It was Stamkos’ third-straight season of 80-or-more points – adding 40 goals in two of those years. He’s shown no signs of slowing down, bouncing back well from injury-marred seasons in 2020 and 2021. Stamkos will be entering unprecedented territory when he hits the open market, and while it’s hard to gauge what price, term, or role he could be looking for, there’s no doubting that his new team will be landing one of the league’s perennial goal-scorers.

Meanwhile, the Lightning should have plenty of room to find Guentzel a contract he’s happy with – after moving Mikhail Sergachev to the Utah Hockey Club and Tanner Jeannot to the Los Angeles Kings. That opened up over $11MM in cap space, bringing Tampa’s breathing room up to  $16.5MM. They will have to stay mindful of their spending, though, with star defenseman and probable new captain Victor Hedman becoming eligible for an extension on Monday. He’ll play through the last year of his $7.875MM cap hit this season, and stand for a hefty raise on what will likely be the last contact of his career. Lightning general manager Julien BriseBois has made sure to mention Hedman’s next contract right alongside the Stamkos speculation – showing how much importance the team is placing on not losing multiple pillars.

Metro Notes: Trouba, Smith, Jarry

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TSN’s Darren Dreger is reporting that the New York Rangers are willing to retain up to $2.5MM per season if it helps them facilitate a trade for defenseman Jacob Trouba. The Rangers captain has two years remaining with a cap hit of $8MM annually and was reportedly shocked to find his name on the trading block and linked to the Detroit Red Wings.

Trouba’s play has fallen off in recent seasons and while he remains a physical presence on New York’s blueline, his lack of discipline and poor defensive work isn’t justifying his large cap hit. Trouba posted just three goals and 19 assists in 69 games last season and was a -4. While he has never been an analytics darling, Trouba’s CF% cratered last season to 47.2% at even strength.

In other Metropolitan Division notes:

  • Josh Yohe of The Athletic is reporting that Pittsburgh Penguins general manager Kyle Dubas remains open and willing to trade Reilly Smith but according to sources, the team has been unable to find a dance partner. Smith never settled into Pittsburgh after coming over in a trade from the Vegas Golden Knights for a third-round pick but did have a better second half of the season finishing with 13 goals and 27 assists in 76 games. Penguins general manager Kyle Dubas told the media on Friday that he hoped to collect draft picks and prospects this summer while maintaining a competitive NHL roster, but if that is the ask for Smith it’s difficult to see a team stepping up with that kind of offer until after free agent options have dried up.
  • Josh Yohe of The Athletic also spoke about Penguins goaltender Tristan Jarry saying that Pittsburgh was willing to move the 29-year-old but weren’t able to find any interested parties. Jarry has four years left on his contract with a cap hit of $5.375MM and has struggled with consistency throughout his career, fading in the second half of several seasons in a row. A number of goaltenders have moved in recent days, but with Jarry’s spotty record and large financial commitment, it’s hard to imagine a team stepping up unless Pittsburgh is willing to retain a large portion of salary to facilitate a deal.

Morning Notes: Askarov, Tanev, Laine

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Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet is reporting that the Nashville Predators have told teams interested in goaltending prospect Yaroslav Askarov that they would like to get a current NHLer back in a trade or another highly touted forward or defensive prospect.

The 22-year-old Askarov appeared to be the Predators goaltender of the future, but with Juuse Saros expected to sign a long-term extension in Nashville, Askarov will not have a path to a starter job in the NHL until he is in his 30s. Given his pedigree as an 11th overall pick and his solid AHL numbers, Askarov figures to be an NHL goalie sooner than later, but it appears likely that it will happen in a different market than Nashville.

In other morning notes:

  • Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet is guessing that the Toronto Maple Leafs will look to sign recently acquired defenseman Chris Tanev to a six-year, $24MM contract extension. Toronto acquired Tanev’s rights yesterday and early reports indicated that they could offer a deal of five to eight years in length. The 34-year-old Tanev wasn’t likely to sign in Dallas and the team elected to get something for him rather than letting him walk for free. Toronto has long sought after a defenseman like Tanev, and now that they’ve jumped the line to negotiate with him, they are expected to get a deal done.
  • Michael Russo and Joe Smith of The Athletic write that the Minnesota Wild have had talks with the Columbus Blue Jackets about potentially acquiring scorer Patrik Laine. The 26-year-old Laine hasn’t been the goal-scorer he was when he broke into the league with the Winnipeg Jets back in 2016-17 but hasn’t had much support in Columbus and was limited to just 18 games last season. A change of scenery could be just what Laine needs as he tries to get his career back on track. The Wild struggled to score last season and with limited cap space, they will be looking for bounce-back seasons from several current players. Acquiring Laine might provide a safety net for Minnesota if they aren’t able to get depth scoring from their current roster of players.

Free Agency Notes: Wedgewood, Girgensons, Necas

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Dallas Stars goaltender Scott Wedgewood is expected to test free agency on July 1st (as per Sean Shapiro of EP Rinkside). The 31-year-old is coming off a two-year, $2MM that was the first one-way NHL deal of Wedgewood’s career. The Etobicoke, Ontario native has made it clear that he would like a raise on his $1MM and given that he didn’t start making NHL money until he was 29, it makes sense that would attempt to maximize his earning potential while he has a window to do so.

Wedgewood wasn’t great last season, posting a 16-7-5 record with the Stars, a 2.85 goals-against average, and a .899 save percentage. However, the free-agent goalie market is very thin this summer and he should have an opportunity to get a multi-year deal at bigger money than his last contract.

In other free agency notes:

  • The Buffalo Sabres are still waiting to hear if forward Zemgus Girgensons plans to test free agency (as per Lance Lysowski). It was reported a month ago that the Sabres wouldn’t re-sign the 30-year-old, but they have reportedly offered him a contract to stay in Buffalo. The Riga, Latvia native has spent his entire 10-year NHL career with the Sabres, dressing in 688 games. Girgensons has only topped 20 points twice in his career and not since the 2014-15 season.  He signed a one-year $2.5MM last June to forgo free agency but had the worst offensive season of his career with just eight goals and six assists in 63 games. While he didn’t produce much offense, his possession numbers at even-strength weren’t awful with a CF% of 49.2%.
  • Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet writes that the Carolina Hurricanes could change their mind on trading forward Martin Necas. The Hurricanes have been trying to sign pending unrestricted free agent Jake Guentzel and if he leaves Friedman believes the team could keep Necas and go to arbitration or sign a one-year deal. Carolina let the Columbus Blue Jackets negotiate a contract extension with Necas in an attempt to trade for the fourth overall pick, but the two sides weren’t able to reach an agreement.

Steven Stamkos To Hit Unrestricted Free Agency, Lightning To Pursue Jake Guentzel

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By trading away defenseman Mikhail Sergachev and forward Tanner Jeannot earlier this afternoon, the Tampa Bay Lightning have $11.165MM more to work with this summer than they did 24 hours ago. Much of the early conjecture perceived the cap-clearing moves as the Lightning making a concerted effort to keep captain Steven Stamkos in Tampa Bay for the rest of his career.

We now know that is not the case as the Lightning never increased upon their original eight-year, $3MM AAV extension offer to Stamkos, as Renaud Lavoie of TVA Sports confirms that the star forward will reach the free agent market for the first time in his career on Monday. In a clear case of pivoting away from their captain, Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman believes Tampa Bay made their moves today to pursue Jake Guentzel once free agency opens up on July 1st (Article Link).

Before eventually signing his most recent eight-year, $68MM extension with the Lightning, Stamkos was poised to be the hottest name on the free agent market heading into the 2016-17 NHL season. Despite never hitting the open market, the Detroit Red Wings, Edmonton Oilers, and Toronto Maple Leafs were all interested in signing Stamkos nearly a decade ago. However, with Stamkos signing his contract on June 29th, 2016, he was prohibited from negotiating with any other team.

This time, Stamkos will earn the ability to talk to all 32 teams before finally deciding on his future. The Nashville Predators have been the most heavily linked to Stamkos so far, but the New York Rangers, Vancouver Canucks, Red Wings, and Utah Hockey Club, among others, will all have interest in signing the star player. This does not count out the Lightning organization either as they will be in contact with Stamkos and his camp in the coming days.

On the other side of the report, the Lightning join the Carolina Hurricanes, Chicago Blackhawks, and Canucks as teams that are pursuing Guentzel this summer. The 29-year-old winger is coming off a season that saw him score 30 goals and 77 points in 67 games with 25 of those points coming in 17 games with Carolina after being acquired from the Pittsburgh Penguins. In the 2024 Stanley Cup playoffs, Guentzel continued as a strong performer as he registered four goals and nine points through 11 games.

If Tampa Bay can sign Guentzel once free agency opens on July 1st, they will potentially start the 2024-25 NHL season with the best first line in the league. Brayden Point and Nikita Kucherov are in no danger of losing their spots on the team’s first line — and adding Guentzel to it will have opposing teams scrambling to match up against it.

Both players’ situations will unfold over the next 48 hours but one item remains clear. After bowing in the first round of the Stanley Cup playoffs two years in a row, the Lightning are not afraid to make tough decisions to extend their contention window.

Metro Notes: Islanders, Dillon, Malenstyn, Smith

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Speaking with the General Manager of the New York Islanders Lou Lamoriello, Andrew Gross of Newsday reports that veteran forwards Cal Clutterbuck and Matt Martin are expected to hit unrestricted free agency on Monday. Each player has spent more than a decade with the Islanders’ organization but the team appears headed for a different direction this summer.

Additionally, on the restricted free agent front, Gross relays that New York is prepared to qualify Oliver Wahlstrom but will also look to trade him this summer. As the 11th overall pick of the 2018 NHL Draft, Wahlstrom may still hold some value as a change-of-scenery candidate; however, the prospects of that don’t look promising after numerous disappointing seasons with the Islanders. Over five years at the professional level, Wahlstrom has suited up in 193 games for New York but has only mustered 34 goals and 67 points over that stretch.

Even if Clutterbuck and Martin make it to the free agent market on July 1st, there isn’t a guarantee that either will leave the Islanders organization. Lamoriello has a habit of keeping his contract negotiations very close to the vest throughout his career and may wait to see how things play out after the first day. However, if New York does not retain either player, they are almost guaranteed a fourth-line role wherever they end up.

Other Metro notes:

  • With the New Jersey Devils already expected to make a hard run at free-agent defenseman Brett Pesce over the next couple of days, there is another defenseman that the team will be monitoring. Regardless of the team’s negotiations with Pesce, Frank Seravalli of Daily Faceoff reports the team is also prepared to extend an offer to Brenden Dillon. By moving out defenseman John Marino earlier today in a trade with the Utah Hockey Club, the Devils will have the roster spots and cap flexibility to bring both defensemen into the organization.
  • Sammi Silber of The Hockey News reports that the Washington Capitals previously had zero intentions of moving forward Beck Malenstyn this summer but the Buffalo Sabres gave them an offer they couldn’t refuse. After scoring six goals and 21 points in 81 games for the Capitals this season in a middle-six role, the organization moved Malenstyn for the 43rd overall pick of the 2024 NHL Draft. Washington used the pick to select defenseman Cole Hutson out of the US National Team Development Program after scoring 15 goals and 51 points in 51 games.
  • Back in New Jersey, the Devils will open up an additional spot on defense in the next few days as the organization is not expected to extend a contract offer to defenseman Brendan Smith (X Link). Smith has spent the last two years in the Garden State and recently concluded one of the more productive seasons of his career as he scored five goals and 15 points in 63 games while averaging 16:06 of ice time per night.

Dallas Stars Expected To Re-Sign Matt Duchene

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Per Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman, forward Matt Duchene is not expected to reach unrestricted free agency on Monday as he and the Dallas Stars are making significant process on a contract extension. The news comes shortly after the Stars organization made a hard pivot away from pending UFA Chris Tanev as they traded his signing rights to the Toronto Maple Leafs earlier this afternoon.

Last offseason, Duchene had the final three years and $24MM of his contract with the Nashville Predators bought out shortly before the start of free agency. The Stars organization quickly pounced as they signed Duchene to a one-year, $3MM contract. As a rare low-risk, high-reward move; Duchene promptly became one of the better value contracts from last summer’s offseason.

One season removed from scoring 22 goals and 56 points for Nashville in 71 games, Duchene got out to a scorching start in the Lone Star State that lasted nearly two-thirds of the season. Through his first 55 games in Dallas, Duchene put up 22 goals and 55 points while averaging less than 17 minutes of ice time per game. Not only was Duchene strong on the puck’s offensive side, but he also put up quality defensive and possession metrics as evidenced by his 92.1% on-ice save percentage in all situations and 54.0% CorsiFor%.

Unfortunately, Duchene could not keep the good times rolling down the stretch as he managed only three goals and 10 points over his last 25 games of the regular season. Despite the slow ending to the season for Duchene personally; Dallas still managed to capture the best record in the Western Conference and guaranteed home ice through the Conference Finals.

Through Round One of the 2024 Stanley Cup playoffs, Duchene was held to two points in total in seven games as the Stars knocked out the defending Stanley Cup Champions Vegas Golden Knights. Duchene appeared to pick up some steam in Round Two as he scored one goal and four points in six games against Dallas’ Central Division rival — the Colorado Avalanche. The fire that Duchene may have caught during Round Two was quickly extinguished in the Western Conference Finals against the Edmonton Oilers as Duchene failed to put up any points and was limited to only nine shots in six games.

Regardless of some slight inconsistency towards the end of the season and the Stanley Cup playoffs, it was clear that Duchene blended well on and off the ice with the Stars organization. With the team expected to lose out on veteran Joe Pavelski to retirement at some point this offseason, Duchene might have access to a larger opportunity in Dallas for the next several years.

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