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Free Agent Focus: Tampa Bay Lightning

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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 Lightning.

Key Restricted Free Agents

F Tanner Jeannot – Jeannot was traded just prior to this year’s deadline for one of the most eyepopping returns we’ve seen in recent memory. Tampa Bay traded five draft picks plus Callan Foote for Jeannot who was held pointless in three playoff games this year. It remains to be seen if Jeannot can recapture the magic he showed in the 2021-22 season where he put up 24 goals and 17 assists in 81 games for the Nashville Predators and looked to be well on his way to being the NHL’s next power forward. This past year was a different story for the 26-year-old as he appeared lost at times and struggled to get to his game. He put up just six goals and 12 assists in 76 games between Nashville and Tampa Bay and looked as though he was searching for answers as the season went on.

Apr 20, 2023; Toronto, Ontario, CAN; Toronto Maple Leafs defenseman Luke Schenn (2) fights with Tampa Bay Lightning left wing Tanner Jeannot (84) during the third period in game two of the first round of the 2023 Stanley Cup Playoffs at Scotiabank Arena. Mandatory Credit: Nick Turchiaro-USA TODAY Sports

Tampa Bay will be looking for bigger things from the Saskatchewan native next season as their depth will be tested in the absence of some key contributors. Jeannot’s deployment changed after the trade from Nashville, and he was gifted the opportunity to have about 10% more offensive zone starts than he was getting with the Predators. He also saw less time on both the penalty kill and the powerplay which led to an average of three minutes less ice time per game. Jeannot may see more ice time this coming season as a lot of the forwards that were pushing him down the depth chart are likely to be exiting Tampa Bay this summer. This could lead Jeannot to sign a short-term deal to try and rebuild some of his value after coming off what was a bit of a lost season. I would expect a two-year bridge contract, but it is hard to nail down the annual value given how wildly different his past two seasons were. There are few comparables to Jeannot which should make for an interesting negotiation.

F Ross Colton – Colton has become a bit of a Swiss army knife for the Lightning and therein lies his value in the trade market, but also for any contract extension he is to sign. Colton is due for a significant raise on the $1.25MM he made last season. Given that he is a good penalty killer, can play center and the wing as is a good bet to hit 15 goals and 35 points he could triple his salary next season on a long-term deal.

Tampa Bay will have to decide if Colton is the piece to move out to bring in younger and cheaper assets, or if he is a piece that want to extend on a contract not unlike the one they signed Nick Paul to last summer. At 26-years-old Colton has plenty of productive seasons in front of him and could even develop into a perennial 25 goal scorer. He already has a season in which he scored 22 goals and is coming off a year where he put up 16 goals in 81 games while playing just 12 minutes a night.

Other RFAs: F Rūdolfs Balcers, F Gabriel Fortier, F Cole Koepke, F Grant Mismash, F Simon Ryfors, D Dmitri Semykin

Key Unrestricted Free Agents

F Alex Killorn – Killorn is the longest tenured Tampa Bay Lightning player having been drafted back in the third round of the 2007 NHL entry draft. The 33-year-old Halifax native is coming off a season in which he posted a career high 27 goals and 37 assists in 82 games. According to Elliotte Friedman, Tampa Bay has reportedly already made Killorn a long-term contract offer, but given his track record, he will be in demand and could be difficult for Tampa Bay to retain given their salary cap troubles.

Killorn has been consistency available for the Lightning having missed just two games since the 2015-16 season and scoring 40 points or more in nearly every season. While his 64 points this past season appear to be an outlier, he did put up 59 points last season and has shown steady offensive improvement despite being on the older side of 30. Tampa Bay can still make Killorn’s situation interesting, but it does appear that the long-time Lightning veteran will start next season in a different uniform. Killorn should be able to fetch a four-year contract with an average annual value north of $5MM per season.

D Ian Cole – Two-time Stanley Cup winner Ian Cole signed last season in Tampa Bay to provide the Lightning with a depth defenseman who could provide steady minutes on the backend as well as kill penalties. He did exactly that.

While his best years are likely behind him, Cole still played nearly 20 minutes a night and took almost 60% of his starts in the defensive zone. He doesn’t chip in much offensively, but he can still move the puck and get around the ice when he needs to. Cole had three goals and 14 assists in 78 games last season for Tampa Bay and could likely produce something similar again next season. Cole is likely looking for more security on his next deal as he has signed in back-to-back off-season’s for just a single year. However, I can’t see him getting more than two years at around $2.5MM-$3MM per season. It’s hard to say though, given the contracts NHL general managers threw at defensive defenseman last offseason, anything is possible for the 33-year-old.

C Pierre-Édouard Bellemare – Bellemare struggled in the minors before breaking into the NHL in his age 29 season. While it was a nice story at the time, Bellemare used his arrival to springboard himself into nine seasons in the NHL. Now at the age of 38, the native of France is coming off a down year in which his age appeared to catch up with him. Bellemare looked tired near the end of the year and struggled to four goals and nine assists in 73 games. Bellemare appeared to chase the game a lot more this season and had a hard time lining up hits, he also took more penalties as he uncharacteristically found himself out of position and was forced to take obstruction penalties.

Should he choose to keep playing, Bellemare could get a one-year contract, but given his age and lack of production last season, he is likely looking for something that is just above the NHL minimum.

Other UFAs: D Trevor Carrick, G Brian Elliott, F Pierre-Cédric Labrie, G Maxime Lagace, F Corey Perry, F Gemel Smith, F Daniel Walcott

Projected Cap Space

The Tampa Bay Lightning are one of a handful of teams that are right up against the cap with several key free agents to still try and lockup. Tampa has 17 players signed to NHL contracts with just $450K left to try and fill out their lineup. They will be able to put Brent Seabrook onto LTIR which will free up nearly $7MM in additional space. While this gives the Lightning some breathing room, it still won’t be enough to dress a full lineup for next season.

The club will likely have to move out a roster player or two to sign their remaining RFA’s which will create an additional complication. The Lightning have four players with full no movement clauses and an additional four players with full no trade clauses or modified no trade clauses. That effectively takes half of their signed players out of play if they are looking to make a move to free up cap space which will limit general manager Julien BriseBois’ options.

Tampa Bay has done a good job navigating cap challenges in the past but could be facing their toughest task yet as their two-time cup winning core has become increasingly expensive.

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

Evening Notes: Olofsson, Senators, Andersen

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Lance Lysowski of The Buffalo News wrote today that Buffalo Sabres forward Victor Olofsson, and his representatives expect him to be traded prior to the start of training camp in September. Olofsson has spent his entire five-year career with the Sabres where he has put up 167 points in 263 NHL games. This news isn’t all that surprising given that the soon to be 28-year-old is just a year away from being an unrestricted free agent and he was a healthy scratch for the Sabres down the stretch while they were battling for a playoff position.

The Swedish forward has been remarkably consistent in his career notching at least 20 goals in three of his last four seasons with the lockout shortened 2020-21 season being the one year he didn’t reach the mark. This past season Olofsson set a career high with 28 goals in 75 games to go along with 12 assists, but he has been made expendable by the emergence of several Sabres forward prospects and his pricey $4.75MM cap hit. Sabres GM Kevyn Adams has reportedly been very active on the trade market as he tries to get Buffalo back to the playoffs for the first time in 12 years.

In other evening notes:

  • The sale of the Ottawa Senators franchise may finally be entering its final days. This is according to Bruce Garrioch of Postmedia who has been tirelessly reporting on the process. It seems likely that the new owner will be either Michael Andlauer or Jeffrey and Michael Kimel of the Harlo Capital Group, however Los Angeles producer Neko Sparks remains in the mix but seems less likely to be the preferred bidder. League sources told Garrioch that they are confident there are no more major hurdles to clear leading them to believe they are on the verge of closing out the eight-month process. It’ll be interesting to see if the bid comes close to the $1B bid that was apparently posted by Steve Apostolopoulos, who has since left the bidding after he reportedly became frustrated with the process.
  • The Carolina Hurricanes tweeted today that defender Amalie Andersen has inked a one-year contract with the Buffalo Beauts and become the first Danish born player to sign in the Premier Hockey Federation. The 23-year-old is the younger sister of Hurricanes netminder Frederik Andersen and played four years at the University of Maine where she put up two goals and seven assists in 60 career games. The Beauts are one of the founding teams in the PHF having started with three other clubs back in 2015 while the league was named the National Women’s Hockey League.

Snapshots: Flames, Tkachuk, Kings

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Today, the Calgary Flames made the news official, hiring Ryan Huska as their next head coach. It appears, however, that their AHL head coach, Mitch Love, is not entirely enthusiastic about the Flames’ decision. Frank Seravalli of The Daily Faceoff reports that although Love still has term left on his current contract with the Flames’ organization, he is open to all options moving forward.

Over the last two seasons, Love has been the head coach of the Stockton Heat, and now the Calgary Wranglers. In 140 games leading the bench, Love has accrued a total record of 96-33-9-3, finishing first in the Pacific Division in both seasons. Last season, he led the Heat to the Western Conference Finals in the Calder Cup playoffs and surprisingly were upset in the Division Finals this year by the Coachella Valley Firebirds.

In speaking with the media this afternoon, new Calgary General Manager, Craig Conroy, had this to say about Love’s situation, “Mitch is going to be a head coach in the NHL, 100%. I don’t question that, nor does he. But it’s all about being in a room with elite athletes with huge contracts, the rinks, the media… it’s a whole different animal when you get to NHL. The pressure that goes along with being a head coach in a Canadian Market when you’re trying to learn on the fly, the refs, the travel… the media… it’s a different beast in the NHL and I think to put him in that situation now wasn’t fair” (Tweet Link).

Conroy does seem to have faith that Love will one day become a head coach at the NHL level but deemed that the pressure in a Canadian market would be too much to handle for the young coach. The question is up in the air for how many General Managers across the league share the same opinion when it comes to Love, which could project him to an assistant coaching role in Calgary in the near future.

Other snapshots:

  • Having missed quite a bit of ice time during the Florida Panthers Game 4 loss to the Vegas Golden Knights, Renaud Lavoie of TVA Sports reports that forward Matthew Tkachuk was not seen at the Panthers’ practice today. Because of the nature of hockey players, especially during the Stanley Cup playoffs, it should still be expected for Tkachuk to play in an incredibly important Game 5. Being the deepest the young forward has ever gone through the playoffs, Tkachuk has shown signs of wear and tear throughout the last couple of series.
  • In recent reporting, it has been indicated that center Pierre-Luc Dubois will not sign a new contract with the Winnipeg Jets, and has requested a trade from the team. Dennis Bernstein of The Fourth Period reports that the last time Dubois was traded from the Columbus Blue Jackets, the Los Angeles Kings finished second to the Jets. It appears that Los Angeles still has quite a bit of interest in bringing Dubois into the mix, but with only a projected $7.3MM in cap space this summer, it will be difficult to sign Dubois to a long-term contract without moving out a significant contract.

 

San Jose Sharks Sign Filip Bystedt

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The San Jose Sharks have gotten one of their more promising prospects under contract as they announced the signing of center Filip Bystedt to a three-year, entry-level deal. Bay Area News Group’s Curtis Pashelka reports the average annual value of the deal is $925,000 with a yearly signing bonus of $83,300.

Bystedt, 19, could play on either side of the ocean next year. Drafted out of the Swedish Hockey League, he’s eligible for AHL play if the Sharks choose to bring him to North America. The Sharks could also loan Bystedt, who was under contract in Sweden through 2025, back to his SHL club, Linköping HC.

Standing at 6-foot-4 and nearly 200 pounds, Bystedt broke out in a big way in his first full SHL campaign in 2022-23. After earning the 27th overall selection in the 2022 NHL Draft, Bystedt recorded seven goals and 20 points in 45 games with Linköping, solid production for a teenage player.

His game revolves around his combination of size and speed – he’s quite the skater for possessing such a rangy frame. It’s what permits him to excel offensively from the middle of the ice, posting positive impacts in transition and having a decent shot to go along.

If he doesn’t hit 10 games in the NHL this season, Bystedt is still young enough to be eligible for an entry-level slide. If he spends the entire year in Sweden (or the minors), his contract will kick in for the 2024-25 season instead.

Bystedt was one of three draft picks the Sharks received from the Arizona Coyotes on draft day in 2022, trading down from the 11th overall pick. Bystedt was the highest of those three selections. The selection was originally owned by Carolina, but was transferred to Montreal as compensation for signing Jesperi Kotkaniemi to an offer sheet. Montreal then traded it to Arizona in exchange for Christian Dvorak.

Columbus Blue Jackets Expected To Name Niklas Bäckström Goalie Coach

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After solidifying Mike Babcock as their head coaching hire, which won’t be official until later this summer, the Columbus Blue Jackets still had one vacancy left to fill on their bench. That will be filled soon, as multiple sources indicated to The Athletic’s Aaron Portzline that longtime Minnesota Wild netminder Niklas Bäckström will be named their new goaltending coach.

Bäckström will be taking over from Manny Legace, whose contract was not renewed after 2022-23.

The 45-year-old Finn last played in the NHL with the Calgary Flames in 2015-16 but played three more seasons professionally in Finland before calling it a career. Since retiring in 2019, he’s served on and off with Columbus as a scout and as a European goaltending development coach.

During his playing days, Bäckström amassed 413 games of NHL experience, 409 of which came with Minnesota. Known for his sound technical play, Bäckström was a Vezina Trophy nominee in 2008-09 after posting a .923 save percentage, 37-24-8 record, and eight shutouts in 71 starts.

Bäckström will now be in charge of working with Columbus’ NHL goalie tandem, which, as it stands, is made up of European starter Elvis Merzlikins and Russian backup Daniil Tarasov. Merzlikins struggled mightily last season after a strong stretch of play, and the pivot to Bäckström as goalie coach is made with his performance in mind especially.

Florida Panthers Sign Ludovic Waeber

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The Florida Panthers are in crunch time, gearing up to keep their season alive tomorrow night in Game 5 of the Stanley Cup Final. The front office is already looking toward the future, however, signing goaltender Ludovic Waeber today to a one-year, entry-level contract that will commence in the 2023-24 season.

Waeber, a 26-year-old netminder from Fribourg, Switzerland, spent the 2022-23 season with the ZSC Lions in the Swiss National League. After being the team’s starter for the two seasons prior, he slipped to a backup role behind Czech netminder Simon Hrubec. He still did well in a reduced role, however, recording two shutouts, a .914 save percentage, and a 2.50 goals-against average.

With Hrubec signing an extension with ZSC for next season, it makes sense that Waeber would look for opportunities elsewhere.

Standing at 6-foot-1 and weighing 176 pounds, Waeber brings 115 games of NL experience to the Panthers, representing HC Fribourg-Gottéron from 2017 to 2020 and the ZSC Lions from 2020 to 2023. During the 2020-21 season, Waeber boasted a .918 save percentage, placing him fourth among NL goaltenders with at least 35 games played. What immediately jumps off the page on Waeber’s resume, though, is his .935 save percentage in 19 career NL postseason contests.

An undrafted free agent, Waeber represented Switzerland at the 2015 and 2016 Men’s World Juniors. Since then, he’s grown into one of the more highly-regarded goalies in the country, and he’ll look to make an impact professionally with Florida.

Likely destined for the AHL’s Charlotte Checkers in 2023-24, Waeber provides a solid AHL starter option should late-season hero Alex Lyon sign elsewhere as a pending unrestricted free agent.

Calgary Flames Name Ryan Huska Head Coach

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June 12: The Flames are expected to name Huska their head coach in a press conference this morning, Sportsnet’s Pat Steinberg reports. The team would later make the hire official.

June 9: After locking in Craig Conroy as their general manager last month, the Calgary Flames’ focus for the past few weeks has been exclusively on their search for a new head coach. Current assistant Ryan Huska has emerged as the leading contender to assume the role, Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman said during the second intermission of last night’s Game 3 of the Stanley Cup Final.

Huska’s emergence as Calgary’s top candidate is in line with the organization’s seemingly new philosophy. Since his hire, Conroy has expressed a keen desire to use the organization’s depth more effectively, something most felt was a struggle under previous coach Darryl Sutter.

Having spent the last five seasons as an assistant coach for the Flames and four seasons before that as the team’s AHL head coach, Huska has extensive experience in developing younger players and helping them transition to the pro level. Before his appointment as head coach of the AHL Adirondack Flames in 2014-15, Huska had spent 12 seasons behind the bench of the WHL’s Kelowna Rockets.

If appointed, Huska would succeed the aforementioned Sutter, who the Flames fired on May 1 ahead of his two-year extension kicking in this summer. Sutter’s firing came after one of the most disappointing Flames campaigns in recent memory, slipping out of the playoffs entirely thanks to a lack of chemistry among the team’s new complement of stars.

As noted by The Calgary Sun’s Wes Gilbertson, Huska is recognized in the organization as a strong communicator, an area of expertise Sutter evidently lacked heavily, especially with younger players. In his years behind the Flames bench, he’s been charged with running the team’s penalty kill, one of the team’s strongest elements.

Gilbertson also notes that during Huska’s time in Adirondack/Stockton, he was the head coach who oversaw the primary professional development of current Flames contributors Rasmus Andersson, Oliver Kylington, and Andrew Mangiapane. He also coached potential Flames captain Mikael Backlund during his time in Kelowna.

While not a done deal, things do look promising for the 47-year-old to assume the role he’s prepped for over two decades. He would face the challenge of revitalizing the Flames’ core, especially Jonathan Huberdeau and Nazem Kadri, and leading them back to the playoffs like many expected this season.

Latest On The Arizona Coyotes

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The dust has settled on last month’s chaotic Arizona Coyotes saga, which saw a public vote strike down the team’s plan to build a new arena in Tempe. While initially, the result made relocation look like an imminent possibility, more avenues to remain in Arizona have opened up, and optimism is once again increasing about the team’s future in the state.

Nothing is certain without a long-term plan in place, though, and there will be interest in relocating the team. One of those interested parties is Connecticut governor Ned Lamont, who yesterday shed light on his endeavor to bring an NHL team back to Hartford in an interview with WTNH New Haven’s Dennis House.

The governor shared that a group is already in place to purchase the Coyotes and relocate them to Hartford, with funding already spoken for. Assuming they can purchase the trademark back from the Carolina Hurricanes, who jointly own it along with the NHL, it would resurrect the Hartford Whalers, which departed for North Carolina in 1997.

One key aspect of the plan is the refurbishment of the XL Center, which currently is home to the AHL’s Hartford Wolf Pack, to meet NHL standards. However, the question remains: will these renovations be sufficient to support a successful NHL franchise?

The viability of the arena is likely the biggest point of skepticism around any move. Originally constructed in 1975, the aging arena has undergone various renovations over the years – most recently in 2014. But unless a significant expansion occurs, it would still be the smallest arena in the league, with a capacity of just under 15,000 people for hockey. Winnipeg’s Canada Life Center has a capacity of 15,321 people.

The move would also see the Coyotes franchise cross conference lines and require some sort of divisional realignment. It’s something the NHL likely wouldn’t be willing to undergo unless two Western Conference expansion teams were planned in quick succession.

There’s still a likelihood the team finds a long-term plan in Arizona – after all, it’s the preference of both the NHL and the current owners. Having multiple cities step in with interest in relocation, though, isn’t a bad thing. Along with the owner of the NBA’s Utah Jazz, Ryan Smith, Lamont’s group provides a solid safety net for the league to move the team if all other avenues fall through.

Blackhawks Notes: Toews, Draft Picks, UFAs, Goalies

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Aside from drafting their next franchise center at the end of the month, the biggest storyline in the Chicago Blackhawks’ offseason is what the future holds for his predecessor, captain Jonathan Toews. A return to the Blackhawks has seemed very unlikely for some time, given how the end of the season went. Still, speculation around a return, given the impending entrance of Connor Bedard, has been a topic of discussion.

According to The Athletic’s Scott Powers, Toews is expected to be announced in the coming weeks to announce a decision regarding retirement or a potential move to another team in free agency. Toews, 35, took a leave of absence prior to the 2020-2021 season due to Chronic Immune Response Syndrome, which, along with some effects of long COVID, caused him to miss a stretch of games near the end of 2022-23 as well.

Should Toews choose to hang up his skates, it would mark the end of a notable career that includes three Stanley Cup championships and numerous accolades but a debatable reputation as a captain stemming from the sexual assault scandal that occurred during the team’s 2010 championship run. After completing his eight-year, $84MM contract extension signed in 2014, Toews will surely generate some interest from teams looking to fill out their middle six if he does decide to try and extend his career.

More from Powers on the Blackhawks this morning:

  • In regards to their second first-round pick in the upcoming draft, 19th overall, the Blackhawks have a handful of players they’re hoping will still be available to them – and they’re likely to select a second forward to supplement Bedard. Among the prospects at the scouting combine, forwards Colby Barlow, Oliver Moore, Calum Ritchie, Matthew Wood, and Brayden Yager are potential options for the Blackhawks. Additionally, the team has shown interest in 6-foot-5 Russian forward Daniil But, and general manager Kyle Davidson expressed a lack of hesitancy to Powers around selecting Russian players in this year’s draft. Looking ahead to the team’s four second-round picks, goaltender Adam Gajan, forwards Otto Stenberg and Bradly Nadeau, as well as defensemen Oliver Bonk and Andrew Strathmann are potential considerations for the Blackhawks.
  • The Chicago Blackhawks have made their decision regarding pending unrestricted free agents, says Powers, signaling that after re-signing Andreas Athanasiou, the team is unlikely to bring back any of their other UFAs. Players such as Jujhar Khaira and Alex Stalock, among a few others, will explore options elsewhere as the Blackhawks prioritize their roster composition to provide opportunities for younger players and build out some higher-end support for Bedard via free agency.
  • Davidson also indicated to Powers that Arvid Soderblöm and Petr Mrazek are expected to form the team’s NHL goaltending tandem for the upcoming season. Speaking about the young goalies, Davidson emphasized Soderblöm’s potential and the development aspect of their decision-making process so as to not rush their other prospects. Soderblöm, who has already spent time as a North American pro (and played pro in Europe), holds an experience advantage over other prospects like Jaxson Stauber and Drew Commesso.

Five Key Stories: 6/5/23 – 6/11/23

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In some years, teams wait until the end of the Stanley Cup Final before announcing big news.  This is clearly not one of those years as there were several key moves made around the NHL which is recapped in our key stories.

Three-Way Trade: The first big trade of the 2023 offseason is in the books in a three-team swap involving the Flyers, Kings, and Blue Jackets.  Needing to clear salary, Los Angeles moved goaltender Calvin Petersen and defenseman Sean Walker to Philadelphia, sending them a 2024 second-round pick and defensive prospect Helge Grans as an incentive for them to do so.  Meanwhile, Ivan Provorov is on his way to Columbus in exchange for a first-round pick and a second-rounder with the Kings retaining $2.025MM of Provorov’s contract for the next two years.  Los Angeles also picked up a pair of AHLers in the swap, Hayden Hodgson and Kevin Connauton.

For Columbus, they added a top-four blueliner that started off his career strong but has plateaued as of late.  Defense was an issue for the Blue Jackets last season and they feel his addition will go a long way toward fixing that under eventual head coach Mike Babcock.  Philadelphia, meanwhile, adds three good draft picks to aid in their rebuild plus an intriguing prospect in Grans while they’ll hope to rebuild Petersen’s value.  As for Los Angeles, the purpose of the trade was to free up cap space and they spent it quickly, re-signing defenseman Vladislav Gavrikov to a two-year deal that carries a $5.875MM AAV and a full no-move clause.  Gavrikov became a key cog in their back end after coming over from Columbus at the trade deadline – for the first-round pick that was flipped for Provorov, no less – but his preference was a short-term contract to allow him to test the market a couple of years from now in a more favorable cap environment.

Severson To Columbus: The Blue Jackets weren’t done adding to their back end with Provorov’s addition.  After receiving permission from the Devils to negotiate with pending UFA Damon Severson, a contract was agreed upon.  New Jersey inked the blueliner to an eight-year, $50MM contract and then traded him to Columbus for a third-round pick.  The move was done as a true sign-and-trade, just the second of those in history (the other being the Matthew Tkachuk trade last summer).  Severson saw his offensive numbers dip a bit this season but he still managed 33 points in 81 games despite a near-four-minute drop in playing time.  He’ll give Columbus another capable offensive player on the back end, joining Provorov, Zach Werenski, and Adam Boqvist as defensemen that are capable of putting up some offense.

Eight For Caufield: One of the top restricted free agents was taken off the board as the Canadiens signed winger Cole Caufield to an eight-year contract that carries an AAV of $7.85MM and has partial no-trade protection in the final three years, the only ones he was eligible to receive that protection.  The deal is the second-highest given to a forward in franchise history and checks in just $200K total behind captain Nick Suzuki.  Caufield got off to a strong start offensively this season with 26 goals in 46 games before undergoing season-ending shoulder surgery.  The 22-year-old has just 123 regular season games under his belt so it’s a contract that certainly carries some risk.  However, if Caufield is able to become a consistent 40-goal scorer, the deal could become a team-friendly one down the road as well.

Ducks Hire Cronin: The Ducks have found their new head coach as the team announced the hiring of Greg Cronin.  The 60-year-old has plenty of experience behind the bench and got his start in the NHL back in the 1998-99 season with the Islanders.  Cronin also has lots of experience working with younger players, highlighted by six seasons as the head coach at Northeastern while spending the last five in charge of Colorado’s AHL team.  This will, however, be his first crack at running an NHL bench.  Anaheim is a team that is embarking on a full-scale rebuild and is a team that will be integrating several prospects into an already young core group.  Accordingly, going with a coach that is well-versed in working with younger players makes a lot of sense for GM Pat Verbeek.

Trouble In Winnipeg: Jets center Pierre-Luc Dubois has one year of RFA eligibility remaining but he has made it known that he doesn’t want to spend it in Winnipeg as he has requested a trade.  His desire to not sign with the team long-term is well-known but it seemed possible that he’d wind up on another one-year contract and at least start 2023-24 in Winnipeg but his camp has made it clear that doing so is not a desirable outcome.  Accordingly, with the draft less than three weeks away, expect his name to come up frequently in trade speculation.

Meanwhile, he won’t be the only one in that situation following a report that goaltender Connor Hellebuyck, a year away from being UFA-eligible himself, also appears to be unwilling to sign an extension.  The veteran has been one of the top goalies in the league for the past several years and would undoubtedly command strong interest on the trade front should Winnipeg decide to make him available now.  Hellebuyck is signed for next season at a $6.167MM AAV.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

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