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Salary Cap Deep Dive: St. Louis Blues

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Navigating the salary cap is one of the more important tasks for any GM.  Teams that can avoid total cap chaos by walking the tightrope of inking players to deals that match their value (or compensate for future value without breaking the bank) remain successful.  Those that don’t see struggles and front office changes.

PHR will look at every NHL team and give a thorough look at their cap situation heading into the 2023-24 season.  This will focus more on players who are regulars on the roster versus those who may find themselves shuttling between the AHL and NHL.  All cap figures are courtesy of CapFriendly.

St. Louis Blues

Current Cap Hit: $83,206,429 (under the $83.5MM Upper Limit)

Entry-Level Contracts

F Nikita Alexandrov (one year, $817K)
F Jake Neighbours (two years, $835K)

In his first full professional season, Neighbours split the year between St. Louis and Springfield.  While he was a scorer in the minors, he didn’t have much success in 43 NHL contests.  He should push for a full-time spot this season but barring a big breakthrough in his offensive play, he’s a strong candidate for a short-term second contract.  Alexandrov got his first taste of NHL action last season but, like Neighbours, didn’t produce much with the Blues despite being a quality scorer with the Thunderbirds.  Playing almost exclusively on the fourth line tends to do that.  Now waiver-eligible, Alexandrov should be able to lock down a full-time roster spot but if he’s back in a similar role this season, his second contract is going to check in pretty close to this one.

Signed Through 2023-24, Non-Entry-Level

F Sammy Blais ($1MM, UFA)
D Robert Bortuzzo ($950K, UFA)
F Kasperi Kapanen ($3.2MM, UFA)
D Scott Perunovich ($775K, RFA)
D Calle Rosen ($762.5K, UFA)
D Marco Scandella ($3.275MM, UFA)
F Oskar Sundqvist ($775K, UFA)
F Jakub Vrana ($2.625MM, UFA)*

*-Detroit is retaining an additional $2.625MM on Vrana’s contract

Kapanen was a somewhat surprising waiver claim from Pittsburgh late in the season as GM Doug Armstrong opted to take an extended look at him.  After struggling with the Penguins, he finished up strong with the Blues but will need to carry that type of performance over for a full season if he wants a shot at beating this price tag on his next deal.  Vrana was limited to just 25 NHL games last year between Detroit and St. Louis but was quite productive with the Blues, notching 10 goals in 20 games.  He will need to stay healthy and keep up that scoring pace if he is going to have any chances of approaching the $5MM mark on his next deal.

Blais struggled last season with the Rangers and was basically a throw-in on the Vladimir Tarasenko trade to help make the money work.  But his return to St. Louis rekindled his production.  Blais opted to sign an early extension not long after the swap, a move that might have cost him a bit of money had he tested the market.  If he remains a double-digit scorer while chipping in with his usual physicality, he’ll be in line for a raise next summer.  Sundqvist didn’t get much traction on the open market this summer despite having the second-highest point total of his career.  If he’s in a depth role this season, he’ll have a hard time significantly bolstering his market but a spot on the third line could at least get him a small boost.

Scandella did well when he first joined St. Louis, quickly earning this contract which was a four-year deal.  Things haven’t gone well at all since then as he has battled injuries and struggled when healthy.  Unless something changes, his market value will be closer to the $1MM range next summer than the $3MM range.  Bortuzzo is a prototypical depth defender best used as a sixth or seventh option.  Those players usually sign for close to the minimum which is what he’ll need to take again if he wants to stick around.

Rosen saw limited action last season but was pretty productive with eight goals and ten assists in 49 games.  That should turn some heads around the league and if he’s able to stick on the roster full-time this year as well, he could at least get closer to the $1MM mark next summer.  Perunovich will be looking to unseat Rosen (or someone else).  A productive scorer in both college and the AHL, injuries have derailed his development so far.  He’s on a one-year minimum contract and if he can stay healthy, he should be able to play his way into the mix.

Signed Through 2024-25

F Pavel Buchnevich ($5.8MM, UFA)
G Joel Hofer ($775K, RFA)
F Alexey Toropchenko ($1.25MM, RFA)
D Tyler Tucker ($800K, RFA)

Buchnevich has found another level since joining St. Louis two years ago.  While he did battle some injury trouble, last season was still by far his second-best season offensively and his second straight showing of over a point per game.  After being more of a second liner with the Rangers in terms of production, he has become a legitimate top-line winger with the Blues while receiving second-line money, giving them a nice bang for their buck.  Assuming he’s able to continue that over the next two seasons, Buchnevich could very well add a couple million per season to his next cap hit while pushing for close to a max-term deal; he’ll be 30 when his next contract kicks in.

The other three players in this group are the bridge brigade.  Toropchenko held down a regular spot for most of last season, albeit in a limited role which made a short-term second contract an obvious outcome.  Moving onto the third line with some regularity will help boost his next deal.  Tucker spent the bulk of last season in the minors but did well in limited action when he was up.  Now waiver-eligible, this deal should secure him at least the seventh spot on the depth chart; he’ll need to play his way into a regular role to get any sort of sizable raise.  As for Hofer, he has primarily played in the minors so far which limited his earnings upside.  If he fares well in the second-string role for two years, he should more than double this price tag.

Signed Through 2025-26

F Kevin Hayes ($3.571MM, UFA)*
D Nick Leddy ($4MM, UFA)
F Brandon Saad ($4.5MM, UFA)

*-Philadelphia is retaining an additional $3.571MM per season on Hayes’ deal

Saad hasn’t reached the 50-point mark since 2016-17 with Columbus but has settled in as a capable and somewhat consistent secondary scorer.  This contract isn’t a bargain but they’ve received a decent return on it so far.  Three more years around the 20-goal mark might give him a shot at a short-term deal close to this amount in 2026.  Hayes comes over from Philadelphia who practically gave him away with retention.  St. Louis should benefit nicely; while he’s not the $7MM-plus player his full contract is, he should easily be able to live up to half of that.

Leddy’s first full season with the Blues was a bit of a mixed bag.  He logged some big minutes but didn’t provide a whole lot offensively while his possession numbers weren’t the strongest either.  There were plenty of underachievers a year ago in St. Louis but they’ll be counting on more from him this season to get better bang for their buck.

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Canadiens Acquire Rights To Jakov Novak From Senators

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The Canadiens have made a small addition to their prospect pool as CapFriendly reports (Twitter link) that they’ve acquired the rights to forward Jakov Novak from the Senators in exchange for future considerations.

The 24-year-old was a seventh-round pick by the Sens back in 2018 (188th overall) after a strong showing with Janesville of the NAHL.  Novak went on to play three seasons at Bentley University before transferring to Northeastern for the final two years of his college career.  Last season, he posted eight goals and four assists in 35 NCAA contests before turning pro, signing with Allen of the ECHL, Ottawa’s affiliate in that league.  At that level, he got into 14 games and fared well, collecting seven goals and five helpers.

It was believed that Novak’s NHL rights would have lapsed back in mid-August but that wasn’t the case on a technicality since he had already signed an AHL contract with Laval, Montreal’s farm team.  Now, the two sides have finalized the rights swap, giving the Canadiens the ability to sign him to an entry-level deal if they so desire.

Atlantic Notes: Knies, Savoie, Komarov

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Matthew Knies gave the Toronto Maple Leafs some solid playoff hockey as a rookie just weeks after wrapping up his collegiate career, posting four points in seven games and even sliding into a top-six role at times. Unfortunately, his postseason was cut short early into Game 2 of their second-round loss to the Florida Panthers when a behind-the-net hit from Panthers center Sam Bennett concussed Knies and kept him out of the final three games of the series.

Today, Knies says he’s “fully recovered” from the collision and has been for quite some time – saying he’d been cleared to return to the lineup in Game 6 had Toronto avoided elimination. Toronto’s 57th overall pick in 2021 has shot up prospect rankings thanks to two spectacular campaigns at the University of Minnesota, during which he averaged over a point per game. He was named the NCAA’s Big 10 Player of the Year for 2022-23 after recording 21 goals and 42 points in 40 games. After Toronto signed both Tyler Bertuzzi and Max Domi to one-year deals in free agency, he’s far from guaranteed to slot into the team’s top-six on opening night but should still play a significant role.

Elsewhere in the Atlantic Division:

  • While top Seattle Kraken prospect Shane Wright was granted an exemption from the CHL to head to the minor leagues a year earlier than normal, don’t expect the same for Buffalo Sabres 2022 ninth-overall pick Matthew Savoie. The Buffalo News’ Lance Lysowski says the Sabres have “communicated” with the CHL regarding an exemption, but the “odds aren’t in their favor.” Savoie lit up the WHL for 95 points in 62 games with the Winnipeg ICE (now Wenatchee Wild) last season and was born on January 1, 2004 – if he had been born a day earlier, he would be eligible for a full-time AHL assignment to Rochester this season. There is still an outside chance Savoie turns pro this season by making the Sabres out of camp, however.
  • Sticking with Buffalo, Lysowski also reports defense prospect Vsevolod Komarov is dealing with a lower-body injury that will keep him out of their rookie tournament games. Komarov, 19, is expected to return to the QMJHL’s Québec Remparts after being released from Sabres camp. The team selected him 134th overall in the 2022 draft, and he put up stellar two-way numbers for the Remparts last season en route to a QMJHL championship and Memorial Cup win, posting 39 points and a +38 rating in 62 regular-season games.

Minor Transactions: 09/13/23

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European leagues are close to kicking off their seasons, and some teams are still making last-minute consequential adds before 2023-24 begins. As always, we’re keeping track of notable overseas and minor-league moves right here:

  • Latvian forward Kaspars Daugavins hasn’t played in the NHL since he split the 2012-13 with the Ottawa Senators and Boston Bruins, but he’s still active overseas at age 35. Today, he’s moving to Slovakia, signing with Extraliga club HK Dukla Michalovce for this season and next, per the team’s Instagram account. The 2006 third-round selection of the Senators was an international hero just a few short months ago, captaining host Latvia to a bronze medal at the 2023 World Championship while posting seven points in ten games. He’s still been quite productive in major overseas leagues as well, producing 49 points in 55 games with the DEL’s Iserlohn Roosters last season. After spending many years in the KHL after leaving the NHL in 2013, he moved to Switzerland for the 2021-22 season before joining Iserlohn last year.
  • The AHL’s San Jose Barracuda have added some center depth, signing Cole Cassels to a one-year deal, per the league’s website. Cassels, 28, finally had his breakout season at the pro level last season, ten years after being selected in the third round of the 2013 draft by the Vancouver Canucks. He notched 51 points in 64 games for the Belleville Senators, shattering his previous career high of 26 set with Utica in 2017-18. He’ll look to help bolster a Barracuda squad that’s finished near the bottom of their division for the past two seasons.

This page may be updated throughout the day.

New York Islanders Sign Isaiah George To Entry-Level Deal

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The New York Islanders have signed defenseman Isaiah George to a three-year, entry-level contract, per a team announcement. CapFriendly reports that the deal carries a $950K AAV and breaks down as follows:

2023-24: $775K base salary, $95K signing bonus, $80K in GP bonuses
2024-25: $775K base salary, $95K signing bonus, $80K in GP bonuses
2025-26: $775K base salary, $95K signing bonus, $80K in GP bonuses

George, 19, will be returned to the OHL’s London Knights for 2023-24 after attending Islanders training camp, which will defer the start of his contract to the 2024-25 season. Selected in the fourth round (98th overall) of the 2022 NHL Draft, George has displayed consistency throughout his junior hockey career and projects as a smooth-skating shutdown defender at the NHL level. He’s totaled 13 goals, 32 assists and 45 points in 121 appearances for the Knights over the past two seasons, alongside a promising +46 rating.

Standing at 6 feet and 198 pounds, the Islanders would like to see George fill out his frame before transitioning to the pro game. He’ll likely report to the AHL’s Bridgeport Islanders in 2024-25 and could very well spend two or even three seasons there before getting an extended look in the NHL lineup. He’s a bit of a project, as is the case with most defenders drafted in the later rounds, but he does carry significant shutdown upside should he make the NHL.

George officially joins an Islanders defense prospect pool devoid of any major upside but has a few nice pieces in 2019 second-round pick Samuel Bolduc (who looks to lock down a full-time NHL role this season) and 2022 second-round pick Calle Odelius.

Arizona Coyotes Sign Olli Juolevi, Ten Others To PTOs

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The Arizona Coyotes have announced a slate of new and previously reported PTOs ahead of training camps kicking off next week, totaling 11 players:

D Peter DiLiberatore
F Hunter Drew
F Ryan Dzingel
F Patrick Harper
F Cameron Hebig
D Olli Juolevi
F Micah Miller
F Austin Poganski
D Austin Strand
F Colin Theisen
F Reece Vitelli

Nine of these players are new information. CapFriendly had reported that Dzingel and DiLiberatore had secured PTOs with the Coyotes last week.

The headlining name here is absolutely Juolevi, who’s fallen far off track since the Vancouver Canucks took him fifth overall in the 2016 NHL Draft. He spent last season entirely in the minors as a member of the Anaheim Ducks organization, recording 14 points and a -14 rating in 38 games with the AHL’s San Diego Gulls. Once appearing as a solid prospect after recording 13 points in 18 AHL games during his rookie pro season, injuries completely derailed Juolevi’s development, and if he lands a contract, will find himself with his fifth NHL organization at 25 years old.

The scope of the Coyotes’ PTOs here is not surprising. The team needs to ice a team during their busy preseason schedule, including three games on one day (September 23rd) while the main group is in Australia playing Global Series matches against the Los Angeles Kings. All of these players will likely lace up the skates in one of their North American-based split-squad games against the St. Louis Blues on that day.

A handful of these players are already under AHL contract with Arizona’s affiliate, the Tucson Roadrunners, for next season: Drew, Hebig, Miller, and Vitelli. They’ve also temporarily contracted the services of Strand, who is under AHL contract with the independently-operating Chicago Wolves this season. Harper is signed to an ECHL deal with the South Carolina Stingrays, the second-tier affiliate of the Washington Capitals. Poganski and Theisen remain without contracts for 2023-24 – the latter did play last season in the Coyotes organization after graduating from Arizona State University.

Arizona is at 47 out of the maximum 50 contracts, meaning NHL contracts aren’t likely in the cards for anyone in this group. These transactions were purely made to get enough bodies around the team for their preseason schedule. However, this could lead to Poganski and Theisen landing AHL deals with Tucson for 2023-24.

New Jersey Devils Sign Max Willman To PTO

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Free agent forward Max Willman will attend the New Jersey Devils training camp on a PTO, the team said today.

Willman, 28, had spent the last four seasons in the Philadelphia Flyers organization after going unsigned by the Buffalo Sabres, who selected him in the fifth round of the 2014 NHL Draft. He made his NHL debut in the 2021-22 season and has amassed 50 games in the last two seasons, scoring four goals and adding two assists for six points while playing a limited role. While a strong skater, that hasn’t translated into successful backchecking at the NHL level – he’s been eaten alive in terms of possession in his limited usage, although that’s likely exacerbated by his excessive defensive zone start rate of 66.7% at even strength since making his NHL debut.

He’s posted solid middle-six production in the minors, recording 32 goals, 35 assists and 67 points in 142 games with the AHL’s Lehigh Valley Phantoms since 2019. He’s found his way into mainstay territory in AHL lineups and can shuffle around all forward positions, making him a valuable farmhand for the Flyers in recent years.

That being said, his chances of landing an NHL role with the Devils out of camp are near zero, so he’ll be battling for either a two-way deal or an AHL contract with their affiliate, the Utica Comets. The Devils’ 42 contracts sit well below the 50-contract limit, and they do have just nine forwards signed and projected to serve in the minors. There’s certainly room for Willman’s services in Utica.

Noah Hanifin Reverses Course, Open To Extension In Calgary

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Speaking with reporters, including Sportsnet 960’s Pat Steinberg at the NHL’s media tour in Las Vegas, Calgary Flames defenseman Noah Hanifin said he’s “absolutely” willing to consider an extension with the team.

Hanifin, 26, was unwilling to sign an extension in Calgary at the beginning of the offseason, according to reporting from TSN’s Pierre LeBrun. Along with Mikael Backlund and Elias Lindholm, who have expressed a conditional willingness to extend depending on the team’s performance this season, Hanifin is slated for unrestricted free agency next summer. He’s coming off a 2022-23 season in which he played 81 of 82 games, registered seven goals and 31 assists for 38 points, recorded a 53.0% Corsi for at even strength, and averaged a career-high 22:39 per game. LeBrun said earlier this summer Calgary was likely to trade Hanifin – something that didn’t come to fruition, and he’s now projected to start 2023-24 alongside potential captaincy candidate Rasmus Andersson on the team’s top pairing.

If they do extend him, it certainly won’t be on a discount – as is the likely scenario with Backlund and Lindholm. With extensions unlikely to be reached before the start of the season, Evolving Hockey projects an eight-year, $7.5MM AAV deal for Hanifin to remain in Calgary. Their model also predicts an eight-year extension at $8.4MM per season for Lindholm, but recent reporting from Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman suggests that figure will be closer to $9MM if Lindholm does extend. For Backlund, they predict a four-year deal at around $5.5MM per season. For a team with little to no salary cap flexibility this summer, is extending all three even financially feasible if the players remain open to it?

The short answer is barely. CapFriendly currently projects the Flames with roughly $35.5MM in cap space for the 2024-25 season with a roster size of just 11 players, assuming the Upper Limit rises from $83.5MM to $87.5MM as projected. Taking the figures above means re-signing all three of Backlund, Hanifin and Lindholm would cost around $22MM, bringing that cap space figure to $13.5MM with a roster size of only 14. That would involve filling out the rest of their roster with contracts averaging less than $1.5MM AAV apiece, and it’ll likely take significantly more than that number to retain other pending UFA defenders like Chris Tanev and Nikita Zadorov as well as re-signing pending RFA forward Dillon Dubé.

Winnipeg Jets Sign Declan Chisholm

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The Winnipeg Jets have announced a one-year, two-way contract for defenseman Declan Chisholm. The deal will pay Chisholm a total of $775K at the NHL level and will be the second professional contract of his career after being drafted by the Jets in the fifth round of the 2018 NHL Draft.

For the most part, Chisholm spent much of his entry-level contract with Winnipeg’s AHL affiliate, the Manitoba Moose. Over the last two years in the AHL, although a bit limited due to injuries, Chisholm was not only one of the highest-scoring defensemen on the Moose but one of the highest-scoring players overall.

In those two seasons, over 112 regular season games, Chisholm had 14 goals and 59 assists but also carried a -12 rating. Given the current depth of their defensive core at the time being, it’s most realistic that Chisholm once again starts the year in Manitoba, but he could be an exciting call-up option in the case of injury.

Based on how the regular season goes in Winnipeg, the team will have two expiring contracts on their blue line in Brenden Dillon and Dylan DeMelo, and they both could be moved by the trade deadline. However, given that he excels in moving the puck and still needs a bit of improvement to his defensive assets, Chisholm likely will not replace either of those two in the lineup. Nevertheless, given his play in the minor leagues, Chisholm should see more playing time at the NHL level this season.

Phil Kessel Unlikely To Sign With Pittsburgh Penguins

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A rumor that hasn’t been going away the past month is a Phil Kessel reunion with the Pittsburgh Penguins. Kessel was largely beloved in Pittsburgh during his four years with the Penguins and was a huge part of their back-to-back Stanley Cup wins in 2016 and 2017. Kessel had a very good claim to the Conn Smythe Trophy in 2016 that ultimately went to Sidney Crosby and was equally as effective in 2017 on the Penguins’ path to a repeat. He was an electric playmaker that fit the city of Pittsburgh like a glove.

But with the rumors flying Josh Yohe of The Athletic has poured cold water on the notion of the Penguins signing the now 35-year-old Kessel. Yohe writes that he doesn’t see the Penguins signing Kessel for a number of reasons. This echoes what Dave Molinari wrote last week in Pittsburgh Hockey Now where he said what Kessel brings to the table doesn’t fit with what General Manager Kyle Dubas and Head Coach Mike Sullivan are trying to do.

Both Yohe and Molinari’s assessments make sense given the roadblocks that would impede a potential return. The Penguins have signed a lot of bottom-six forwards for this upcoming season and appear to be favoring defensively responsible players, something Kessel has never been accused of being.

There is also the issue of Kessel leaving Pittsburgh on bad terms when he was traded in the summer of 2019. Many outside reports indicated that Kessel and Sullivan had a difficult relationship, however, both men have said that those reports were overblown by people who were outside of the situation.

The last hurdle, and perhaps the biggest one is the play of Kessel since he was traded by the Penguins to the Arizona Coyotes in 2019, he just hasn’t been as good as he was in Pittsburgh. Kessel has never taken great care of himself despite being the NHL Iron Man, and this has really shown in his play on the ice. Since the trade, Kessel has topped 14 goals just once, and 50 points once as well. Last season he found himself a healthy scratch for the majority of the playoffs as he watched the Vegas Golden Knights march to the Stanley Cup.

While a reunion would be fun and would add to what is going to be a wildly entertaining season of hockey in Pittsburgh, it doesn’t seem like it is going to happen, which will break the hearts of some Penguins fans.

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