Sabres’ Arttu Ruotsalainen Signs In SHL
Forward Arttu Ruotsalainen has terminated his contract with Lugano of Switzerland’s National League and signed a one-year contract with the SHL’s Frolunda HC.
Ruotsalainen signed a three-year, entry-level contract with the Buffalo Sabres in 2019, joining the team as an undrafted free agent out of Finland. His deal slid for one year, formerly kicking into gear when Ruotsalainen joined the Sabres for the delayed 2020-21 season. He kicked off his North American career in the AHL, though he earned a quick call-up with 13 points through his first 13 games. He continued the year as Buffalo’s extra forward, ultimately slotting into 17 NHL games and scoring five goals and six points.
Ruotsalainen continued on as a go-to depth forward in 2021-22, netting four points in 18 NHL games and 51 points in 57 AHL games. But finding his scoring groove wasn’t enough to convince Ruotsalainen that Buffalo was the right home, and he forwent the last year of his NHL contract in favor of a move to Kloten HC of the National League in 2022-23. Ruotsalainen maintained his strong production through the change, netting 42 points in 52 games, though he struggled to carry it in his move to Lugano – with just 14 points in 43 games this year. It was an unusually low-scoring year for the dynamic centerman, who’s managed at least 40 points in three of his last five European seasons, dating back to his six-year career in Finland’s Liiga spanning from 2015 to 2021.
Still just 26, Ruotsalainen is now moving to his third European league looking to rediscover his scoring spark. He’ll be helped along by a tactical and high-skill Frolunda offense, which stomped to the semi-finals this year before losing a seven-game series against the eventual champions, Skelleftea AIK. He should be an immediate top forward in the lineup, though he’ll have to compete with captains Max Friberg and Nicklas Lasu for the role of first-line center.
Snapshots: Henrique, Brandsegg-Nygard, Luoto, Eriksson
Before he ultimately re-signed with Edmonton, the Jets took a run at signing center Adam Henrique on the opening day of free agency, notes Postmedia’s Scott Billeck. Winnipeg was eyeing the 34-year-old as a replacement for Sean Monahan, who turned down an offer from them to ink a five-year deal with Columbus. Henrique had a solid showing last season, notching 51 points in 82 games between Anaheim and Edmonton and could have slotted in behind Mark Scheifele to anchor the second line but opted to return to play a lesser role with the Oilers.
Elsewhere around the hockey world:
- After inking his entry-level deal on Thursday, Red Wings prospect Michael Brandsegg-Nygard told Nitten’s Wegard Bakkehaug that no decision has been made regarding where he’ll play next season. The 18-year-old acknowledged that breaking camp with Detroit isn’t realistic but he is eligible to play with AHL Grand Rapids or play with SHL Skelleftea. Brandsegg-Nygard suggested his preference might be to play in Sweden and that Detroit will give him a chance to have a say in where he winds up.
- Former NHL winger Joona Luoto is expected to sign with HV71 of the SHL, reports Johan Svensson and Jacob Johannesson of Sport Expressen. The 26-year-old has 23 career NHL contests under his belt between Winnipeg and Columbus but became a Group Six free agent in 2023 and elected to sign a contract in Switzerland over another two-way deal in North America. Luoto had 18 goals and nine assists in 47 games with SC Bern last season.
- Generally speaking, NHL prospects typically prefer to play at the top level possible overseas. However, that’s not the case for Panthers youngster Linus Eriksson who told Hockey Sverige’s Uffe Bodin that he turned down interest from multiple SHL teams to remain with Djurgarden in the second-tier Allsvenskan. The 18-year-old was the 58th-overall pick by Florida after he put up 11 points in 29 games at that level last season. Eriksson was much more productive at the junior level, collecting 21 points in 25 games with them and added seven points in seven games for Sweden at the World Under-18s.
PHR Mailbag: Golden Knights, Hayton, Offseason, Bertuzzi, Red Wings, Lightning, McGroarty
Topics in this edition of the PHR Mailbag include what’s left to look forward to this summer after a wild start to free agency, Detroit’s surprisingly quiet offseason, and much more. If your question doesn’t appear here, check back in next weekend’s mailbag.
DirtbagBlues: What are the odds Vegas trades from their blue line depth for a top-six winger? Who could they target?
This is largely a toss-up question for me. If the Golden Knights do that, they’re weakening their back end as it’s not the depth players like Nic Hague and Zach Whitecloud who are going to bring back a legitimate top-six forward. If they don’t, their forward group isn’t going to look anywhere near as strong as it did just last season. There’s no right answer here; it comes down to which area do they think could be easier to address in-season. For me, that’s the forward group so I’d put the odds at 40%.
For the first part of the season, I suspect Vegas will want to see what they have. Can Alexander Holtz find a new gear with a new team and a new system? Can Victor Olofsson lock down a regular spot? I could see Nicolas Roy getting a chance to play on the wing in the top six as well with Brett Howden anchoring the fourth line. Maybe William Karlsson gets a shot on the wing with Roy centring the third line. Brendan Brisson could get a chance. If they hit with one of those, they’re in much better shape. They don’t have that many options defensively which is why I think they lean this way.
Now, you asked who they could target if they moved a defenseman out so I’ll play along. Personally, I feel like they’re a dark horse for Martin Necas. If they’re going after a legitimate piece, I think it costs them Shea Theodore. They have enough LTIR space remaining using Robin Lehner’s expected placement on there to cover the gap between Theodore’s $5.2MM and what Necas’ next deal should cost. It probably takes both players agreeing to new deals before a trade is finalized but that could be an interesting one.
Failing that, Nikolaj Ehlers feels like another target although that could be more of a rental-for-rental type of swap. Patrik Laine is in play but I don’t see Columbus eating half the contract and without that, he’s probably too hard to fit in. There aren’t many viable options though, not with a lot of teams likely done their heavy lifting already.
MoneyBallJustWorks: Hayton for Liljegren and a 5th, who says no?
It’s an interesting idea, two players who their current teams have been patient with but haven’t quite been able to make the consistent impact that their draft slots would suggest. For a deal like this, the late-round draft pick is largely meaningless; generally speaking, a team isn’t going to part with what they perceive is a slightly better player because they’re getting a fifth-round pick back. For all intents and purposes, the teams would be evaluating this as a one-for-one idea.
For Toronto, getting Barrett Hayton would give them some extra center depth, giving them the chance to shift Max Domi to the wing or perhaps Hayton himself. They’d have some desirable flexibility at a minimum. Perhaps more importantly, they’d have a bit more insurance down the middle with John Tavares a year away from UFA eligibility. While their right-shot defensive depth would be thinned out more – especially with Jani Hakanpaa’s deal still not yet registered amid speculation about concern over his knee injury – I think the good outweighs the bad, including $350K in cap savings. I think they say yes.
I’m less sure that Utah would, however. They have Sean Durzi and newly-acquired John Marino in their top two spots on the right side of their back end. Now, they’re parting with Hayton to upgrade their third pairing. I think they can accomplish that objective without necessarily moving Hayton to do that, especially with nearly $10MM in cap room to work with still, per PuckPedia. I suspect they’d rather explore alternate ways to fill out their third pairing or defensive depth, ones that wouldn’t see them parting with a roster forward in the process. Value-wise, it’s pretty good but I think Utah says no here.
Schwa: With most of the UFAs signed already, is this going to be a very boring offseason? Or do you foresee any big trades or otherwise coming between now and training camp?
We’re at the point of the offseason where things are going to get really slow. Yes, it’ll probably come in on the boring side most days but there are some things worth keeping an eye on.
On the trade front, what happens with Necas, Laine, Ehlers, and Trevor Zegras, among others? Those are all notable moves that could happen. I feel like Detroit (more on them shortly) has something coming. Montreal is still believed to be sniffing around a move up front. While Winnipeg could be moving Ehlers, it feels like they need to add up front as well. With no truly prominent free agents remaining, there’s no real domino that needs to fall for any of these moves to happen (Laine exiting the Player Assistance Program feels like the first possible one to get things going) so these may take a while.
I’m also intrigued about some of the extension-eligible players. What happens with Leon Draisaitl and the GM-less Oilers, especially with an implied desire to not negotiate in-season? Does Sidney Crosby get his deal done? Mikko Rantanen, Carter Verhaeghe, and Mitch Marner are all eligible as well. It’s doubtful all of these players put pen to paper on new deals by training camp but we could see a few which could make things interesting.
Unclemike1526: Everybody is trying to make a big deal about Nick Foligno talking to Tyler Bertuzzi on the phone and calling it tampering. Since they’re from the same town and seem to be friends so what? I mean players talk to each other. It’s been going on in Basketball for years and nobody bats an eye. Isn’t there some sort of “legal communication” period before free agency anyway? Bertuzzi wasn’t going back where he was because of the cap so what is the real story?
Let me answer these out of order. There is no longer a pre-free agency communication period. Officially, no contact of any kind is to be had with pending free agents until July 1st at 11 AM CT. I’m not sure a single team even came close to abiding to that based on what happened on July 1st but that’s what the NHL would have us believe. (As an aside, the penalties the NBA put in for tampering the last couple of years really slowed down the start of the market in that league compared to the free-for-all it was in the past or at least slowed down the leaks of pre-arranged deals once the window opened up on June 30th.)
That Foligno talked to Bertuzzi isn’t a point of concern on its own. Players can unofficially try to recruit potential free agents by talking about all of the good things about the market, schools for their kids, how nice it is to play for a certain coach, etc. All of that is fine. Speak in general terms and there’s no issue.
But Bertuzzi’s admission that Chicago wasn’t on his radar until Foligno told him Chicago was interested isn’t speaking in general terms. As soon as Foligno allegedly told Bertuzzi before the market opened up that the Blackhawks had interest, he was relaying a message from management indicating interest to a prospective free agent before legal communication could begin. That is indeed tampering.
Think of it this way. If Foligno told Bertuzzi that he should come to Chicago, it’s a good place to play and there’s lots you’ll like, that’s fine. If he said it’s a good place to play, there’s lots you’ll like, and they’re putting together a big offer for you, that’s a problem. That’s the difference.
Having said that, there were what, 70 of these contracts that were pretty much done before the market opened up? Toronto had some of those as well so it’s not as if they can cry foul on Bertuzzi knowing they somehow had several contracts finalized mere minutes into free agency. They’re not going to make a fuss about it but if Bertuzzi’s account is truthful, there’s at least a part of it that would qualify as tampering.
tigers22 2: Could the Red Wings have had a worse offseason and the worst most confusing trade to start a year? Why do we have 20 goalies?
It can always be worse. A couple of players go and get long-term injuries while training that costs them considerable time during the regular season, a core piece could ask for a trade, stuff like that. But yes, their offseason so far qualifies as extremely underwhelming.
The Jake Walman trade was surprising on a few fronts. The first is that they opted to get rid of him in the first place over someone like Justin Holl who could barely crack the lineup. If you’re going to part with a fairly high draft pick to move off a contract, shouldn’t it have been him who moved? The second is that it took incentivization to move him in the first place; I thought he had some standalone value. And the third is that the move was made before the corresponding swap was in place.
This is pure speculation on my end but I think this was part of the Jacob Trouba speculated swap, Detroit needed to clear a spot for him and offset some of the money and the Rangers didn’t want to take him back as they wanted the cap space. Yzerman pulled the trigger early, expecting that deal to get done or to use that money elsewhere. Unless you’re counting that money as going to Vladimir Tarasenko (a nice add for them, by the way, to replace Robby Fabbri), that didn’t happen.
If there’s a small silver lining here (and I mean small), it’s that they have enough cap space left to offer long-term deals to Lucas Raymond and Moritz Seider. This time a month ago, I didn’t think they could do both; I expected a long-term agreement for Seider and a bridge for Raymond. If they both get long-term deals and continue to progress, that could be beneficial down the road. Like I said, that’s a very small silver lining.
As for the seven goaltenders they have under contract, it is a lot. I think they’ve decided to carry three at the NHL level again (Cam Talbot, Alex Lyon, and Ville Husso). Jack Campbell is the veteran to work with Sebastian Cossa at AHL Grand Rapids. Carter Gylander starts at the ECHL level where he can get a number one workload. That’s six and I can make sense of that. The seventh is Gage Alexander and I’m not sure he was necessarily targeted by Detroit. I think he was simply the contract they had to take back in the Fabbri swap with the Ducks getting close to the contract limit. He’s probably ECHL-bound as well but it wouldn’t shock me if he was flipped for a skater down the road.
Prospect Notes: Murashov, Rashevsky, Muggli
Penguins prospect Sergei Murashov told reporters including Matt Vensel of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette that he plans to make a decision soon on where he’ll play next season. The 20-year-old spent most of last season with Yaroslavl’s junior team and fared quite well, posting a .930 SV% in 34 regular season games and a .927 mark in 19 playoff contests. Murashov was a fourth-round pick in 2022 and his contract is now expired although Yaroslavl still has control of his rights. He’ll have to decide as to whether to stay with them, try to find another team in Russia (one that could give him more KHL ice time), or if the time is right to come to North America and play in Pittsburgh’s system.
Other prospect news from around the NHL:
- The Jets are having discussions with winger Dmitri Rashevsky about signing him to an entry-level deal, Mike McIntyre of the Winnipeg Free Press relayed (Twitter link) earlier this week. The 23-year-old was a fifth-round pick back in 2021, going 146th overall and has been a KHL regular ever since. Rashevsky is coming off his best season in Russia, tallying 24 goals and 19 assists with Dynamo Moskva in 67 games last season. He has one year left on his deal but with some Russian players getting let out of their KHL agreements, Winnipeg is hoping they’ll be able to get Rashevsky out of his early as well.
- Earlier in the week, the Capitals agreed to terms on an entry-level deal with defenseman Leon Muggli. However, he won’t be playing in Washington’s system right away as his team in Switzerland – EV Zug – announced that they’re in discussions with the Caps to have the 18-year-old loaned back to them for the upcoming season. Muggli has two years left on his deal with Zug and played a regular role for them in 2023-24, recording a dozen points in 42 regular season games. Assuming the loan goes through, his contract will slide and will still have three years left on it heading into 2025-26.
Rangers Re-Sign Braden Schneider
The Rangers have agreed to terms with one of their remaining restricted free agents, announcing that they’ve reached a two-year contract with defenseman Braden Schneider. While financial terms were not disclosed, PuckPedia adds (Twitter link) that the agreement pays $1.76MM in 2024-25 and $2.64MM in 2025-26 for a $2.2MM AAV. That last number will serve as his qualifying offer in 2026 where he will have salary arbitration eligibility.
The 22-year-old was a first-round pick by New York in 2020, going 19th overall. He has been a full-time NHL regular since partway through his rookie professional season, giving him more than 200 career NHL appearances which is something that can’t be said for many players exiting their entry-level pacts.
However, Schneider has had a very limited role in his first three seasons. Last season, he played in all 82 games, notching 19 points along with 133 blocks and 167 hits. However, his playing time remained below the 16-minute mark, a number he has yet to surpass in those three years. Notably, even as a physical defensive defender, Schneider barely averaged one minute per game in shorthanded situations last season.
Between limited offensive output and what has basically been a permanent spot on the third pairing so far, a bridge contract was the only logical outcome for both sides. Schneider will need to play his way into a top-four opportunity over the next couple of years before he’ll have a chance to command a longer-term, bigger-money agreement.
With this signing, New York now has a little over $5.1MM in cap space, per PuckPedia. The majority of that will be earmarked for their last remaining restricted free agent, defenseman Ryan Lindgren. The 26-year-old filed for salary arbitration earlier this month with a hearing date yet to be set.
Lohud’s Vince Z. Mercogliano reported earlier this week that the two sides were making progress on a bridge agreement. Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman first reported the terms of the deal.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Oskar Steen Signs In SHL
Last month, the Bruins gave Oskar Steen’s camp permission to talk to other teams about trying to secure the pending free agent a contract to stay in the NHL and that his focus wasn’t overseas. However, a deal didn’t come to fruition so the middleman has decided to return home as SHL Farjestad announced that they’ve signed Steen to a five-year contract.
The 26-year-old was a sixth-round pick by Boston back in 2016, going 165th overall. He spent three more years in Sweden with Farjestad before coming to North America for the 2019-20 season.
Steen got his first taste of NHL action in the 2020-21 campaign but got a longer look the following season, getting into 20 games with the big club while adding 35 points in 49 games with AHL Providence. That earned him a two-year, one-way deal and seemingly had him in the mix for a full-time spot with Boston for the 2022-23 campaign.
Instead, Steen wound up clearing waivers and spent most of that season in the minors. He then cleared waivers twice more last season although injuries resulted in him getting into 34 games with Boston but he was limited to one goal on 24 shots while logging a little more than nine minutes a night on the fourth line. He was more productive in Providence with 12 goals in 25 games but Boston decided not to try to retain him, instead letting him walk to Group Six free agency.
With the length of this contract, Steen won’t become a free agent again until his age-31 season so it would be surprising to see him generate NHL interest at that time unless he becomes a top scorer in the coming years with Farjestad. If it is the end of the road for him at the top level, he leaves the NHL with four goals and four assists in 60 career appearances.
Columbus Blue Jackets, Jet Greaves Avoid Arbitration
Saturday: The Blue Jackets have officially announced the contract.
Friday: The Columbus Blue Jackets and goaltender Jet Greaves have avoided arbitration according to Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman. Friedman reports it will be a two-year contract for Greaves and he will earn $800K on a two-way agreement in 2024-25, and the contract will become a one-way deal in 2025-26 with a salary of $825K.
Greaves was not widely regarded as a top organizational prospect by the Blue Jackets after the team signed him as an undrafted free agent from the OHL’s Barrie Colts in 2022. Greaves split time between Columbus’ AHL and ECHL affiliates during the 2021-22 season where he posted a 12-12-3 record in 29 games for the Cleveland Monsters and a 10-5-0 record in 15 games for the Kalamazoo Wings. Greaves posted similar save percentages between the two leagues but produced a better goals-against average in the AHL with a 2.84 compared to a 3.05 in the ECHL.
Thanks to a quality rookie season in the AHL, Greaves spent the entirety of the 2022-23 season with the Monsters and earned a 19-16-5 record in 43 games while posting a .899 SV% and 3.08 GAA. The young netminder also made his NHL debut with the Blue Jackets last year where he stopped 43 of 46 shots against the Toronto Maple Leafs in a loss.
Greaves was once again assigned to the minor leagues out of training camp for the 2023-24 campaign and performed markedly better. In 46 games for Cleveland, Greaves achieved a 30-12-4 record while recording a .910 SV% and 2.93 GAA. In his first trip through the Calder Cup playoffs, Greaves picked up eight wins and a .926 SV% while pushing the eventual champion Hershey Bears to seven games in the Eastern Conference Finals.
He was also given more of a chance with the Blue Jackets this past season as Greaves suited up nine NHL games and recorded a .908% against the likes of the Florida Panthers, Tampa Bay Lightning, and Carolina Hurricanes. Greaves will easily crack Columbus’ lineup to start the season if the team is willing to carry three goaltenders on the roster. However, with Elvis Merzlikins expected to be the team’s starter with Daniil Tarasov backing him up, there is all indication that Greaves will start with the Monsters to start the 2024-25 campaign.
Morning Notes: Penguins, Casey, McGroarty
Dan Kingerski of Pittsburgh Hockey Now writes that he feels the Pittsburgh Penguins should consider an offer sheet to one of the many teams that are in tough regarding the salary cap. Kingerski feels the Penguins could target Carolina Hurricanes forward Seth Jarvis, Winnipeg Jets forward Cole Perfetti, and Edmonton Oilers defenseman Philip Broberg or forward Dylan Holloway.
If Penguins general manager Kyle Dubas opted to submit an offer sheet it would mark a departure from his plan to acquire draft picks with an eye towards the future. The Penguins also have just $3.5MM in salary cap space available, making a push for Jarvis very unlikely. Perfetti could be an option as the Penguins have a hole in their top-six forward group and an offer sheet north of $3MM would fall in the range of what Perfetti will likely sign for next season. However, the obvious issue would be that the Jets would likely match the offer as they have the cap space to do so and Perfetti is coming off a 19-goal season. Offer sheets are rarely used in the NHL and given the state of the Penguins, it seems unlikely they will do so this summer.
In other morning notes:
- James Nichols of New Jersey Hockey Now writes that New Jersey Devils defensive prospect Seamus Casey opted to hold off signing his entry-level contract with the Devils because he wanted to have a full three years on the deal and wasn’t in a rush to jump into an NHL game. Casey added that he wanted to take a different approach and was concerned about his development when he opted not to sign after his college season ended. Casey was the Devils’ second-round pick in 2022 (46th overall) and will be in tough to make the NHL lineup this year as the Devils have been busy adding defensemen this summer including Brett Pesce, Brenden Dillon and Johnathan Kovacevic.
- Mike McIntyre of The Winnipeg Free Press joined Winnipeg Sports Talk and explained what he thinks the holdup to a potential Rutger McGroarty trade could be. The Winnipeg Jets have reportedly been shopping the 20-year-old since the NHL entry draft and according to McIntyre, they were close to a trade with another team at one point but the other team might have had reservations because of the same issues the Jets are having with the former first-round pick. Neither McGroarty’s camp, nor the Jets have spoken publicly about why there is a riff between the two sides, but as Scott Billick writes in the Winnipeg Sun, it is likely due to a disagreement about McGroarty’s development path.
Poll: Which Postseason Drought Is Likeliest To End In 2024-25?
There has not been one team in the NHL unable to make the playoffs during the inception of the salary cap era in 2005-06. The league has experienced unprecedented competition under the new format but there are still several teams who haven’t been able to crack the Stanley Cup playoffs for the last several years. As of right now, the Buffalo Sabres (13), Detroit Red Wings (8), Ottawa Senators (7), and Anaheim Ducks (6) hold the longest current postseason droughts in the league. Which one of these teams has the best odds of ending their postseason drought and returning to the playoffs in 2025?
The odds looked good for Buffalo towards the end of the 2022-23 regular season but the team ultimately finished one point short of the last wild-card spot in the Eastern Conference to the Florida Panthers. The team boosted their defensive core over the summer and had their eyes on contention in 2023-24. Unfortunately, the season did not go as planned for the Sabres and the team finished seven points back of the last playoff spot in the East. The team still has a wealth of young talent either on the team or close to cracking the roster, but the offseason feels a bit misjudged at the outset. With a need to fill out their bottom six, Buffalo brought in Jason Zucker, Ryan McLeod, Sam Lafferty, and Nicolas Aube-Kubel this summer and appear to be running back a similar roster next year with Lindy Ruff back as head coach.
Detroit tied the Washington Capitals for the last wild-card spot in the Eastern Conference for the 2023-24 regular but ultimately lost the tiebreaker on the last day of the regular season. The team took a major step forward in their rebuild after acquiring talents such as Alex DeBrincat, Patrick Kane, and Shayne Gostisbehere who dramatically improved the team’s competitiveness. The Red Wings’ major letdown of the 2023-24 regular season was the defense which gave up the seventh most shots against in the league. Ghostisbehere walked in free agency along with other veterans who were replaced by Cam Talbot, Erik Gustafsson, and Vladimir Tarasenko. Detroit should still be able to score in bunches next year but the team has inarguably failed up to this point this summer in improving their biggest weakness from last season.
It feels that Ottawa has experienced two separate rebuilds over the last seven years with the first coming under the helm of Pierre Dorion and the current iteration led by Steve Staios. The three biggest moves of the Senators’ offseason were acquiring former Vezina winner Linus Ullmark from the Boston Bruins, shipping defenseman Jakob Chychrun to the Capitals for a lackluster return, and prying veteran David Perron from the Red Wings on a two-year deal. Ullmark should serve as a massive upgrade in between the pipes compared to their situation last year but moving on from Chychrun will certainly sting on the blue line. Ottawa finished 14 points out of a playoff spot last season but could be a surprising team with a wealth of talent up front and a consistent netminder.
Lastly, the Ducks register as the least likely of the group to crack their postseason drought as they finished nearly 40 points out of a playoff spot last season. Anaheim brought in forward Robby Fabbri and defenseman Brian Dumoulin via trade this offseason but neither strike as needle-movers to an offense-needy organization. The upcoming season should serve as a reasonable benchmarking year for the Ducks organization as the team looks to graduate several prospects to the NHL level. Anaheim could cause some noise in a weak Pacific Division but their odds of making the playoffs are still low.
Of the four longest current playoff droughts in the NHL — which of these four teams do you think has the best odds to end their drought next season?
East Notes: Dubas, Trouba, Lindstrom, Spicer
In a new book by Craig Custance of The Athletic, an interview with the general manager of the Pittsburgh Penguins, Kyle Dubas, was able to reflect on his time at the helm of the Toronto Maple Leafs. Lance Hornby of the Toronto Sun pulled a quote from the interview where Dubas said, “The biggest mistake I think I’ve made in my whole time here has been not taking care of the three incumbent contracts. (William) Nylander was up, (Mitch) Marner and (Auston) Matthews could have been done on July 1 extensions“.
The quote was made in context to the seven-year, $77MM contract given to John Tavares on July 1st, 2018. Dubas exclaims that by giving Tavares an AAV of $11MM without first working on long-term extensions for William Nylander, Mitch Marner, and Auston Matthews, the price on the latter three was raised dramatically and caused both Nylander and Marner to hold out for a short time.
Aside from the externality on those three players from Tavares’ contract, Dubas informed Custance that he had no other regrets from his time in Toronto. Outside of playoff success, the Maple Leafs have achieved multiple 100-point seasons from the team Dubas built and still features some of the biggest stars in the game.
Other East notes:
- In a report from Stefen Rosner of The Hockey News and later confirmed by Emily Kaplan of ESPN, there was a trade in place between the New York Rangers and Detroit Red Wings that would have sent defenseman Jacob Trouba to his hometown team. However, with Trouba’s no-movement clause turning into a modified no-trade clause on July 1st, Trouba added Detroit to his list which entirely ended the deal. Trouba was hesitant to move his wife and family out of New York as his wife is finishing up her residency as a medical doctor as outlined in the report from Kaplan.
- The fourth-overall pick of the 2024 NHL Draft, Cayden Lindstrom, is now the highest-selected player from the recent draft who has not signed his entry-level contract. Aaron Portzline of The Athletic reports there is no cause for concern, as the general manager of the Columbus Blue Jackets, Don Waddell, is entirely focused on hiring a new head coach for the franchise. The Blue Jackets still have plenty of time to sign Lindstrom to an entry-level contract which theoretically doesn’t need to be done this offseason. The young power forward will likely return to the WHL next season to continue his development.
- Matt Wellens of Duluth News Tribune reports that Boston Bruins’ prospect, Cole Spicer, is done playing hockey for the foreseeable future. Spicer was the 117th overall selection of the 2022 NHL Draft and recently wrapped up his sophomore campaign with the University of Minnesota-Duluth where he scored five goals and nine points in 17 games. According to the report from Wellens, Spicer is planning on taking some time to deal with ‘personal and mental stuff’ before fully committing himself to a career in hockey.