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Pacific Notes: Kings, Barbashev, Bouchard

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The Kings have been linked as a legitimate suitor for Jets center Pierre-Luc Dubois as the middleman has made it known that he’d like to be moved this summer.  Eric Stephens of The Athletic examines (subscription link) what the pros and cons would be if Los Angeles was to land the 24-year-old.  He’d certainly give them a big boost down the middle alongside Anze Kopitar and Phillip Danault but fitting his reported asking price (suggested as being in the $9MM range on a long-term deal) would require them moving a roster player or two at a minimum plus other young players or prospects to facilitate a swap.  Making that move would also limit what they’re able to do between the pipes to find a playing partner for Pheonix Copley.  In the end, Stephens feels that the Kings would be better off not making the move, we’ll see if GM Rob Blake feels the same way in the coming weeks.

More from the Pacific:

  • The Golden Knights and winger Ivan Barbashev discussed an extension prior to the playoffs but the two sides were too far apart, Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reports in the latest 32 Thoughts podcast (audio link). Now, on the heels of a strong playoff performance, that gap has likely only widened.  Friedman speculates that the 27-year-old could land a max-term contract on the open market (seven years if he doesn’t re-sign) which could push his price tag to more than double the $2.25MM AAV he has played on the last two seasons.
  • Postmedia’s Jim Matheson opines that an offer sheet for Oilers defenseman Evan Bouchard could really put the team in a bind this summer. The 23-year-old broke out following the trade of Tyson Barrie at the trade deadline and found another gear in the playoffs, leading all blueliners in scoring despite the fact that Edmonton was eliminated in the second round.  Edmonton currently only has around $5MM in cap room per CapFriendly with multiple players to sign with that money.  They’ll need to get creative to afford a bridge deal let alone a longer-term one which leaves them potentially vulnerable for the time being.

Minor Transactions: 06/16/23

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The NHL offseason is beginning to ramp up now that the Stanley Cup has been awarded, and today saw the Vancouver Canucks make a major move by buying out Oliver Ekman-Larsson. The New York Rangers also took care of business today with a defenseman of their own, Zac Jones, inking him to a two-year extension. As teams across the hockey world chip away at their offseason work, we’ll keep track of notable transactions here.

  • Former Carolina Hurricanes defenseman Michal Jordan signed a two-year contract with Liiga runner-ups Lahti Pelicans. Jordan is fresh off of representing Czechia at the IIHF Men’s World Championships where he helped his country advance past the group stage, before being eliminated by the United States. He split this past season between the KHL’s Amur Khabarovsk and Rapperswil-Jona Lakers in the Swiss National League. He scored a combined 15 points in 41 games and with the Pelicans will hope to help them go on another long playoff run.
  • 2019-20 ECHL Defenseman of the Year Alex Breton has signed a one-year contract extension with HC Kosice of the Slovak Extraliga. The 25-year-old former Gatineau Olympiques captain was an instant-impact player in the ECHL after aging out of Canadian junior hockey, but he couldn’t quite gain a foothold in the AHL in PTO opportunities with two teams. In 2020 Breton made the choice to head overseas to play in Slovakia, and in 2021 he was traded to HC Slovan Bratislava, a club in the Slovak capital. That trade was a significant opportunity for him and he ended the year a Slovak champion, paving his way back to North America with the Trois-Rivieres Lions of the ECHL. After scoring 25 points in 30 games Breton left for Slovakia once again, signing with HC Kosice in February. He won a second Slovak championship of his career this spring, and will now extend his stay in Kosice another season.
  • Cody Kunyk, a star forward in the Finnish Liiga for five of the last six seasons has decided on a new destination to continue his pro career: Germany. Kunyk signed a contract with the Frankfurt Lions, and after scoring 10 goals and 33 points in 60 games for Karpat this past season he’ll likely be a go-to offensive option for Frankfurt. Kunyk has one NHL game on his resume, a 2013-14 contest with the Tampa Bay Lightning, and last played in North America in 2017-18 with the now-defunct Alaska Aces of the ECHL and the Utica Comets of the AHL.
  • Former San Jose Sharks prospect Jake Kupsky is headed overseas for the next stop in his professional career, signing a contract with HKM Zvolen in Slovakia. Kupsky, a 27-year-old netminder who was a 2015 seventh-round pick of San Jose played in 38 games for the Idaho Steelheads of the ECHL last season and made the ECHL’s All-Star game. But lost his role as the team’s main starter this past campaign as Idaho went on a historic run of regular-season success. He did earn the first AHL call-up of his career, though, and will look to carry on that momentum over in Slovakia.
  • Two-time Liiga champion Jere Karjalainen is ending his return to Finland’s top league after one year, as he’s inked a contract with the Augsburg Panthers of the DEL. Karjalainen was a staple in the top-six for Liiga’s Tappara Tampere from 2014-2020, helping them win back-to-back titles. He was a leading scorer for them in 2019-20 with 49 points in 57 games, and parlayed that success into a two-year run in the KHL. He spent this past season with Lukko in Liiga and now will head to Germany for the first time in his pro career.
  • 32-year-old defenseman Ralfs Freibergs helped lead Latvia to a historic Bronze Medal win at the IIHF Men’s World Championships last month, and now he’s signed with a new team a few weeks later. Freibergs signed a deal with HK Mountfield in the Czech league, where he has nearly 250 games of experience. Freibergs scored a crucial opening goal to help Lavtia defeat Switzerland at World’s and will hope to have similarly clutch moments in Czechia with his new club.
  • The ECHL’s Orlando Solar Bears have acquired 25-year-old defenseman Chris Perna from the Tulsa Oilers. The team cited a December 2022 trade that sent forward Dante Sherriff to Tulsa in exchange for future considerations as the return for the deal, with Perna serving as the “future considerations” Orlando received for Sherriff. Perna made his pro debut this past season with the Oilers, skating in 54 games and scoring eight points. He was a regular face on a Tulsa team that had a difficult 2022-23 and is joining a Solar Bears team that, like Tulsa, is hoping to have a bounce-back season.

West Notes: Toews, Keller, Brown

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As the Chicago Blackhawks get set to welcome the new face of their franchise, Connor Bedard, at the draft later this month, they’re also preparing to say goodbye to the face of their most successful era in franchise history: Jonathan Toews. As we have previously covered, Toews is expected to make an announcement in the next few weeks regarding whether he’ll be retiring on choosing another team to sign with, and given Toews’ recent health issues it would be no surprise to see the Selke and Conn Smythe Trophy winner hang up his skates.

But if he does choose to continue playing, he could go the way of another famous Blackhawk, Duncan Keith, and choose to play for the Edmonton Oilers. Sportsnet’s Mark Spector connects Toews to the Oilers, writing that “there is some talk” in Edmonton about signing Toews to be the team’s fourth-line center, allowing recent signing Derek Ryan to take a preferred role as a right winger. In scoring 15 goals and 31 points this past season Toews showed he was still very much a valuable NHL player, but the main question for Edmonton would be availability and cost. Regardless, it seems should Toews continue his career the Oilers could be a team interested in acquiring him.

Some other notes from the Western Conference:

  • While the Arizona Coyotes rebuild will continue into the future and the team will likely be open to hearing trade offers for its established players, the player teams are likely to be most interested in is also the one seemingly least likely to be traded. Bally Sports Midwest’s Andy Strickland reports that the Coyotes aren’t “looking to move” star forward Clayton Keller and that they don’t have “any real interest” in parting with their franchise face. Keller, 24, continued his breakout season from 2021-22 into this campaign, finishing with 37 goals and 86 points in 82 games. He’s signed to a bargain $7.15MM AAV deal through the 2027-28 season, and according to Strickland’s report he’s unlikely to be on the move anytime soon.
  • One player who is going to be on the move is St. Louis Blues center Logan Brown. Eligible to become a restricted free agent, Strickland reports that Brown won’t receive a qualifying offer from the Blues and will therefore become an unrestricted free agent at the start of the new league year. The 25-year-old 2016 11th-overall pick didn’t quite take the step forward in St. Louis that many might have hoped he would, and while he remains an effective AHLer he hasn’t found a way to leverage his combination of size and skill to reliably make an impact at the NHL level. With his time in St. Louis coming to an end, he’ll hit the open market where there will likely be some teams interested in seeing what their staff can do with Brown’s skillset.

Afternoon Notes: Hellebuyck, Bear, Thompson

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Pierre LeBrun of The Athletic wrote today that Winnipeg Jets netminder Connor Hellebuyck is looking for a contract with an average annual value around $9.5MM. LeBrun says that teams looking to trade for the 30-year-old are aware of what Hellebuyck’s camp are seeking in contract negotiations. If Hellebuyck were to get that salary it would put him in the same pay bracket as Tampa Bay Lighting goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy.

Hellebuyck was the 2020 Vezina award winner for top goaltender and has a long track record of putting up elite numbers. However, he has had a handful of poor seasons and with teams having just seen the Vegas Golden Knights win the Stanley Cup with Adin Hill between the pipes, there might be a hesitancy to pay a premium in a trade and an expensive cap hit for a goalie who is on the wrong side of 30. You can’t fault Hellebuyck for asking for the moon as he is nominated once again for the Vezina award after a terrific season in Winnipeg posting a 37-25-2 record with a .920 save percentage and a 2.49 goals against average.

In other afternoon notes:

  • Rick Dhaliwal of CHEK TV tweeted today that it appears the Vancouver Canucks have had discussions with defenseman Ethan Bear’s representatives about several contract possibilities. The tweet comes on the heels of a conversation with Bear’s agent Jason Davidson who said that they’ve discussed several options, but a one-year deal may be the way to go for the 25-year-old. It’s an interesting idea from Bear’s camp given that the defender is out until December after undergoing shoulder surgery this week. Bear is a year away from unrestricted free agency and the allure of picking his long term destination may be worth the roll of the dice.
  • Ben Gotz of the Las Vegas Review-Journal tweeted today that Bruce Cassidy told reporters that goaltender Logan Thompson is skating and should be 100% by training camp. Thompson started the year as Vegas’ number one goaltender but suffered a lower body injury in February and did not play again. When healthy the 26-year-old posted good numbers going 21-13-3 with a .915 save percentage and 2.65 goals against average. If Thompson is ready to go it could give Vegas leverage in their contract negotiations with pending free agent netminder Adin Hill. Thompson would be a solid fallback option should Hill elect to test the market and move on.

Free Agent Focus: Vegas Golden Knights

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Free agency is less 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 Golden Knights. 

Key Restricted Free Agents

F Nolan Patrick – Patrick missed the entire 2022-23 season as the former second overall pick has dealt with multiple injuries during his short career that date all the back to his junior hockey days. It was the second full season Patrick has missed as he also missed the 2019-20 season with a migraine disorder.

Patrick came over to Vegas from the Nashville Predators in a trade for Cody Glass back in July 2021 and has played just 25 games for them putting up two goals and five assists. It seems likely that Patrick will be non-tendered by the Golden Knights making him an unrestricted free agent. Should this happen it’s hard to predict what would be the next step for the 24-year-old Winnipeg native.

When healthy, Patrick was a very productive third line center who could play with some edge. But given the litany of health issues he has dealt with the past few seasons it could be possible that he elects to retire or to try and continue his career outside of the NHL. If he chooses to hang up his skates it would be a sad ending for a player who showed a lot of promise as a 19 and 20-year-old with the Philadelphia Flyers.

F Brett Howden – Howden’s regular season was a disappointment as he produced just six goals and seven assists in 54 games and spent most of the time buried in his own end. He was fortunate that during his time on the ice his goaltenders bailed he and his linemates out with an on-ice save percentage of 93.3%. His playoff performance however was a completely different story. Howden found his offensive game and was able to almost replicate his regular season numbers as he had five goals and five assists in 22 playoff games.

At this point in his career, it is hard to pin down what Howden is. His season was the tale of two different performances and its almost a microcosm of the 25-year-old’s career thus far. He’s shown glimpses of being an effective fourth line center, but he has also had stretches where he doesn’t look like he belongs in the league. Vegas will have a tough decision on their hands with Howden and may elect to bring him back short term once again. Last summer Howden signed a one-year deal for $1.5MM and I would expect something in the same ballpark again this summer.

Other RFAs: D Connor Corcoran, F Pavel Dorofeyev, F Maxim Marushev, D Brayden Pachal, G Jiri Patera

Key Unrestricted Free Agents

G Adin Hill – Hill had a wild journey to becoming the starting netminder for a Stanley Cup champion. He became an afterthought in San Jose last season and was dealt in August 2022 for a fourth-round pick in 2024. He then found himself caught up in a numbers game and was stuck behind Logan Thompson and eventually Laurent Brossoit. Hill went two full months without playing until he was called upon in the second round. He came in cold to help the Golden Knights dispatch of the Edmonton Oilers and from there it became his crease. Hill went on to post an 11-4 record in the playoffs with a .932 save percentage and a 2.17 goals-against average.

His playoff numbers this year were dominant, however throughout Hill’s career he has struggled to find consistency. Coming into this year Hill had posted several seasons of average or below average production. If you take a deeper dive into Hill’s numbers and look at his goals saved above expected, he has posted a -7 since 2017-18. While the number is one of many that can be used to demonstrate value, it does show that Hill has been slightly below average for most of his career.

This will make for a very interesting negotiation. Hill will be looking to cash in on his run with a long-term big money deal. It’s unclear what Vegas will be looking to do; they have several other netminders in their system and do have to consider signing some other pieces. They may elect to go short term with Hill to see if he is in fact their goaltender of the future. I would expect Hill to be looking for a salary in the range for $4MM-$5MM annually on his next contract.

F Ivan Barbashev – Barbashev is now a two-time Stanley Cup champion having won his first title back in 2019 with the St. Louis Blues. Barbashev was a big part of this year’s title with Vegas as he put up seven goals and 11 assists in 22 playoff games after posting 16 goals and 29 assists in 82 regular season games. Although his regular season numbers represented a drop from his 60 points last season with the Blues, the 27-year-old was able to find another gear when the games mattered the most. Barbashev has improved in every season since entering the NHL as he started his career slow and looked like he might never find his offensive touch.

While he was a big part of Vegas’ most effective line in the playoffs, it does look like Barbashev may be squeezed out by cap constraints. With a weak free agent market and multiple teams interested in his services, Barbashev is very likely to test the free agency waters and maximize his income. He made $2.25MM last season and should be able to double his salary on a long-term deal. There was a lot of interest in his services when St. Louis was dangling him at the trade deadline and with another Stanley Cup on his resume that interest has only grown.

G Laurent Brossoit – Brossoit was terrific in the regular season for Vegas but couldn’t keep himself in the net in the playoffs as he fell apart during the second round series against the Edmonton Oilers. Brossoit posted a 7-0-3 record in the regular season with a 2.17 goals against average and a .927 save percentage. While those numbers are terrific, he was only able to dress in 11 regular season games. In the playoffs his play was far less impressive as he went 5-2 with a 3.18 goals against average and a .894 save percentage.

Brossoit is coming off a two-year deal that paid him $2.325MM in each of the last two years and figures to get something similar in free agency. Pittsburgh Penguins backup Casey DeSmith received a two-year contract for $1.8MM per last offseason and Brossoit should be able to top that given that he is a more capable backup and someone who can operate as a 1B option in a pinch.

Other UFAs:  F Teddy Blueger, F Phil Kessel, F Spencer Foo,

Projected Cap Space

Just days after winning the Stanley Cup the Vegas Golden Knights management will have a quick turnaround to try and prepare for what should be a busy offseason. The Golden Knights are currently just $3.5MM under the salary cap for next season with some key pieces left to sign from their cup winning group. The good news for Vegas is that they have 21 players already signed for next season including many of the key pieces that brought them a title this season.

The situation for the Golden Knights is not unlike the 2016-17 Pittsburgh Penguins who were able to capture the 2016 Stanley Cup and bring almost their entire group back for a sequel in 2017. Vegas could be in position to do the same.

The biggest hurdle that Vegas will face is in the crease. After missing the entire season with an injury Robin Lehner is not guaranteed to return. He has been rehabbing but will all the injuries and off ice issues he has had to endure Vegas may buyout the veteran if he isn’t a candidate to stay on LTIR. Lehner has two more seasons left on his contract at a cap hit of $5MM, which could be a comparable to what netminder Adin Hill would fetch on the open market as an unrestricted free agent.

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

Vancouver Canucks Buy Out Oliver Ekman-Larsson

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The Vancouver Canucks have made the first buyout of the summer, announcing that they have bought out defenseman Oliver Ekman-Larsson. Ekman-Larsson had four years left on an eight-year $66MM contract he signed with the Arizona Coyotes in July of 2018, but with the buyout it will allow the 31-year-old to become an unrestricted free agent where he will be free to start fresh with any team he chooses. Ekman-Larsson posted two goals and 20 assists this past season in 54 games with the Canucks while averaging 20 minutes of ice time a night.

Vancouver will free up some desperately needed cap space as they head into a summer where they will be trying to sign star forward Elias Pettersson to a long-term contract extension. The Canucks will save $7.1MM in cap space this season with the buyout and $4.9MM next year. They will save $2.5MM the two years after that and then have a cap charge of $2.13MM for four years.

While it is an expensive penalty to pay, it was a necessary move for the Canucks. Ekman-Larsson’s play has fallen off a cliff in recent years as the once elite defender has struggled since the 2019-20 season. There was a time when it was a given that he would play 25 minutes a night, put up 40-50 points a season and post terrific underlying numbers. But those days are long gone and his play as of late is more in line with that of a third pairing defenseman. The Karlskrona, Sweden native hasn’t posted 30 points since the 2019-20 season and hasn’t posted much in the way of positive analytics since that time.

Ekman-Larsson’s fall from elite status is surprising, but the buyout may not be the worst thing in the world for him. His salary forced him to play up in the lineup in a spot that was probably asking too much given where his skillset is at. With the buyout he could find a situation where he is paid like a 5-6 defenseman and deployed like one too. This could ultimately lead to a bit of a resurgence for Ekman-Larsson. However, if another team offers to pay him like a 3-4 defenseman based on name recognition, they may be disappointed with the results that they see, not unlike the Ryan Suter situation with the Dallas Stars.

Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman was the first to report the buyout.

New York Rangers Extend Zac Jones

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The New York Rangers have agreed to terms with defenseman Zac Jones on a two-year contract extension, the team said today. The New York Post’s Mollie Walker reports the deal carries an $812,500 average annual value and is a one-way deal in both seasons.

Getting Jones under contract early into June takes care of one of many depth defenders the Rangers have to give new deals. An early third-round pick of the team in 2019, Jones signed his entry-level contract after just two seasons of college hockey at the University of Massachusetts Amherst and has seen NHL ice in each of the past three campaigns, including a goal and an assist in 16 appearances this year.

He’s still looking to secure a full-time role, but extended time in the minors has been kind to him. Jones has recorded 66 points in 106 games with the AHL’s Hartford Wolf Pack since 2021, making significant strides in his defensive game this year as well.

Jones’ cap hit comes in lower than the $874,125 qualifying offer he was due, but a one-way deal over the course of two seasons guarantees him quite a bit more money. It’ll also help his chances for a recall or even making the team out of camp – every dollar against the cap counts in a tight situation like the Rangers’, and they’ll be looking for offensive contributions from more mobile defenders like Jones. Signing him to a one-way deal reflects that, and it should be a safe bet to see Jones play a career-high in NHL games during the upcoming campaign.

Calgary Flames Will Likely Trade Noah Hanifin

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The 2023 offseason has been a monumental one for the Calgary Flames, and we’re still weeks away from the draft and free agency. New general manager Craig Conroy has a tough contract situation to deal with on his hands, with six important players currently headed for unrestricted free agency in 2024. A decision on what to do with one of those players has been made for him, though, as Pierre LeBrun of TSN and The Athletic reports defenseman Noah Hanifin is unwilling to sign an extension with the team and is likely destined for a trade.

Now 26, the top-flight defender has just shy of 600 NHL games under his belt and is entering the final season of a six-year, $4.95MM average annual value contract signed with Calgary in 2018. He’s had some very solid seasons in Alberta, including three 30-point campaigns and a firmly cemented top-four role throughout his time there. Historically a positive two-way force, Hanifin had some significant defensive struggles for the first time in 2022-23, seeing his advanced metrics dip slightly below the league average.

At his age and with his experience, though, that’s likely an outlier. Whichever team Hanifin ends up with can expect to pay him north of $6MM on a long-term deal and get their money’s worth. He’s one of the more consistent players from year to year in the league, really never having huge offensive or defensive lapses and maintaining solid (but not elite) numbers in heavy usage. His 0.48 points per game are tied for 47th among defensemen with at least 100 games played over the last three seasons, and his 21:32 average time on ice is 57th using the same parameters.

Competent on both the power play and penalty kill, the left-shot defender is not a true number-one defenseman but still a high-end, first-pairing caliber player. He may not fetch as much in a trade with the Flames as he would if he were a right-shot defenseman, but the Flames should still expect (and receive) at least a first-round pick for his services on the trade market – even if he makes it to the trade deadline and is sold as a rental.

With a steep trade market this offseason, though, moving him now is likely to get Calgary some good value with more time for their trade partner to negotiate an extension. And, given the Flames have pointed playoff aspirations next season, it would behoove them to free up Hanifin’s cap hit so he could be replaced via free agency or a separate trade later in the summer.

In 81 games this season, Hanifin registered seven goals and 38 points in 81 contests, recording a career-high average ice time of 22:39 in the process.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images

Snapshots: Winnipeg, Hayes, Sharangovich

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The WHL’s Winnipeg Ice are on the move again after spending just four years in the city, TSN’s Darren Dreger reports Friday. After moving from Cranbrook in the Kootenay region of British Columbia in 2019, a condition of the sale to new owners in Winnipeg was a new facility for the team. The condition was never met, and now the team has been sold to former 2017 BCHL executive of the year David White, who will move them to Wenatchee, Washington, a town with a population of about 35,000 people in the center of the state. For now, it seems the new Wenatchee WHL squad will share the ice with White’s BCHL team, the Wenatchee Wild, at the Town Toyota Center with a capacity of 4,300 people.

Winnipeg lost in this year’s WHL championship series and boasts an eye-popping record of 110-20-6 over the past two seasons combined. The franchise’s debut season in Wenatchee could include Buffalo Sabres prospect Matthew Savoie and Arizona Coyotes prospect Conor Geekie, both first-round picks in the 2022 NHL Draft.

Other notes from around the hockey world today:

  • On today’s episode of Sportsnet’s 32 Thoughts, Elliotte Friedman dumped some cold water on the rumors of a Kevin Hayes trade between the Philadelphia Flyers and Columbus Blue Jackets. After the two teams were involved in a three-way deal that saw Ivan Provorov head from the Flyers to the Jackets, reports said the move didn’t eliminate the possibility of the long-rumored Hayes deal coming to fruition. However, the Blue Jackets now have under $6MM in projected cap space for 2023-24 (CapFriendly) after getting defender Damon Severson from the New Jersey Devils in a sign-and-trade, which would force the Flyers to retain a high amount of Hayes’ $7.14MM cap hit through 2025-26. While Columbus remains in desperate need of centers, general manager Jarmo Kekalainen now has seven defensemen on the roster that cost more than $2MM against the cap, including a combined $6.75MM wrapped up in Erik Gudbranson and Andrew Peeke, who both had very disappointing campaigns last season.
  • Another name mentioned by Friedman was that of New Jersey Devils forward Yegor Sharangovich, who Friedman believes could hit the trade market this offseason. The 25-year-old Belarusian is a restricted free agent with arbitration rights after completing a two-year, $4MM contract signed in August of 2021 and has registered at least 30 points in all three of his NHL campaigns. He is a decent depth scorer, but he’s not of much value defensively and posted the lowest point-per-game output of his NHL career (0.40) last season. He was a healthy scratch for most of New Jersey’s playoff run, appearing in three out of 12 games.

East Notes: Granlund, Matthews, Leafs Assistant Vacancy

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The NHL’s first buyout window opens today, and teams have until 4 p.m. CT on June 30 to use them to create space ahead of free agency. If the Pittsburgh Penguins decide to pursue one, keep your eye on forward Mikael Granlund, The Athletic’s Rob Rossi said this morning.

Rossi notes that buyouts weren’t encouraged by previous ownership, but now, under Fenway Sports Group, interim general manager Kyle Dubas will have the freedom to pursue one if he so chooses. Pittsburgh acquired Granlund in a March 1 trade with the Nashville Predators and would essentially be throwing the 46th overall pick they gave up for him (and the cap hit of his buyout) down the drain. Granlund, who has two seasons remaining at $5MM per season, had just one goal and four assists in 21 games with Pittsburgh after the trade, as they missed the playoffs for the first time in nearly two decades. Per CapFriendly, a buyout would provide $4.17MM in savings next season and $3.17MM in 2024-25. Pittsburgh would then be hit with a $1.83MM penalty in 2025-26 and 2026-27.

Heading further north in the Eastern Conference:

  • Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman said on today’s 32 Thoughts podcast that the Toronto Maple Leafs’ preference with Auston Matthews is to get him locked into a max-term extension rather than a short-term payday. While Friedman couldn’t comment on the likelihood of that happening, he did say there’s been a heightened sense of urgency from both Matthews and the Leafs to get an extension done so the team can move on to other offseason business. Friedman said that after Matthews had a successful meeting with new general manager Brad Treliving in Arizona last week, he’s “even more confident” a deal will get done this summer.
  • Staying in Toronto, Treliving and head coach Sheldon Keefe are deep in the process of interviewing candidates to replace former assistant Spencer Carbery, TSN’s Darren Dreger said today. Carbery had spent the past two seasons on Toronto’s bench before the Washington Capitals named him their next head coach earlier this spring. Dreger also mentioned that although Treliving and Keefe have spent time getting to know each other since the former’s hiring, no extension talks have begun yet for Keefe, who’s entering the final season of his contract.

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