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Snapshots: Kovar, Simmonds, McQuaid, Stars Defensemen

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The Bruins are close to making a decision regarding the future of center Jan Kovar, reports Joe Haggerty of NBC Sports Boston.  The 28-year-old is currently on a minor league deal with the team but he has skated with Boston for the last couple of days.  Kovar initially signed with the Islanders last summer but after failing to crack their lineup, his contract was mutually terminated and he caught on with AHL Providence shortly after that.  Head coach Bruce Cassidy commented on the situation:

“There are clearly skills. He’s proven that in Providence, he’s put up numbers in the past.  It’s just is he going make us a better team or do we like what we have, and want to work with what we have? That’s the ultimate question.”

Kovar has indeed been productive in the minors, collecting four goals and six assists in a dozen games at that level.  If the Bruins decide not to tender him an NHL offer, it’s likely that he will look to return to the KHL where he has spent the past five seasons.

Elsewhere around the league:

  • Prior to Philadelphia relieving Ron Hextall of his duties as GM, the Flyers were in discussions regarding a contract extension for winger Wayne Simmonds, notes Sam Carchidi of the Philadelphia Inquirer and Daily News (Twitter link). However, Hextall indicated that the two sides were not close.  Simmonds is a pending unrestricted free agent but given his style of play and tendency to play through injuries, locking the 30-year-old up long-term will carry some risk.
  • Rangers defenseman Adam McQuaid is getting closer to returning from his lower-body injury. Head coach David Quinn told Larry Brooks of the New York Post that the 32-year-old is likely a couple of weeks away from getting back into the lineup.  McQuaid has missed 16 straight games with the injury and has played just eight times so far this season.
  • Stars coach Jim Montgomery provided an update on some of their injured defensemen to Matthew DeFranks of the Dallas Morning News (Twitter link). Connor Carrick (lower body) and John Klingberg (hand) are expected to miss about three more weeks each while Marc Methot (lower body) is more uncertain.  He’s slated to undergo more testing that will hopefully determine how much longer he’ll miss.

Snapshots: Nyquist, Pettersson, McQuaid

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With the Red Wings expected to be sellers between now and the trade deadline, winger Gustav Nyquist is likely to come up in trade speculation in the weeks to come.  Speaking with Helene St. James of the Detroit Free Press, the pending UFA acknowledged that the chatter involving him is likely to pick up compared to previous years:

“It’s a business and that’s part of the game. I’m sure my name will pop up. It will be a little bit new situation for me because this is my last year of the contract. It’s different, but it’s nothing I’ve thought about. Probably more as I get closer to the deadline. We’ll see.”

Fortunately for both Nyquist and the Red Wings, the 29-year-old is off to a strong start to his season with a dozen points through the first 14 games which is the second-most on the team.  If he can maintain that level of play between now and the deadline, not only will that help his negotiating leverage for the summer as he looks to improve upon his current $4.75MM AAV but it would also help Detroit land another notable asset in their rebuilding process.

Elsewhere around the league:

  • Canucks center Elias Pettersson is off to a very strong start to his rookie season with nine goals and six assists through his first nine games. Accordingly, he is quickly becoming a candidate to hit more than just his Schedule ‘A’ bonuses.  Sportsnet’s Chris Johnston provides the breakdown of his Schedule ‘B’ bonuses and notes that the full $2MM can be reached by winning any major award other than the Calder Trophy or being top-ten in the league in goals, assists, or points per game.  Fortunately for Vancouver, they sit with nearly $6MM in cap space so if Pettersson’s torrid run continues and he hits one of those marks, they will be able to absorb it this season without having to worry about using the bonus cushion to defer it to next year.
  • It seems like Rangers defenseman Adam McQuaid will be out longer than expected. Head coach David Quinn acknowledged to reporters, including NHL.com’s Dan Rosen (Twitter link), that the lower-body injury the blueliner is dealing with is different than what they had originally thought.  As a result, he has been downgraded from day-to-day to week-to-week.  New York does not plan to bring someone up from the minors to take his spot on the roster as Fredrik Claesson (upper body) is nearing a return to the lineup.

Injury Notes: Luongo, Dubinsky, Jost, McQuaid

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Not much has gone right for the Florida Panthers this season, but the team hopes that they may have good news on the horizon after goaltender Roberto Luongo was on the ice Sunday taking shots, according to NHL.com’s Jameson Olive. The team lost the oft-injured netminder during the second period of the season opener when teammate Frank Vatrano fell on him, forcing him out of the game with a lower-body injury.

The 39-year-old has fared well when healthy, but he hasn’t played more than 40 games since the 2015-16 season, which isn’t great considering the team is paying him $4.53MM per year for four more years. Head coach Bob Boughner was thrilled to see Luongo back on the ice, but has no intention of bringing him back until he is 110 percent healthy.

“He’s a huge part of this team. And you can see, no slight to anybody else, this team’s missed him,” Boughner said. “We’re a different team when he’s playing.”

  • The Columbus Blue Jackets also had good news as winger Brandon Dubinsky participated in Sunday’s morning skate, according to The Athletic’s Aaron Portzline (subscription required). Dubinsky has been out since Oct. 8 with a partially torn oblique muscle, but there remains no timetable for his return. The original diagnosis for Dubinsky’s injury was four to six weeks. He hasn’t been out three weeks yet, but the 32-year-old said that he’d be disappointed if he didn’t play on the team’s upcoming road trip, starting Thursday and going through Sunday. “I would say I’m ahead of schedule, but I don’t want to come back early and set myself back a few weeks,” Dubinsky said. The veteran had only played in two games before getting injured, but already had a goal and an assist.
  • The Colorado Avalanche may be without one of their top youngsters for a while as BSN’s Adrian Dater reported that the team will be without center Tyson Jost indefinitely. Jost, who suffered a head injury Friday in the third period against Ottawa, has a goal and an assist in 11 games so far this season. The 20-year-old scored 12 goals in his rookie season last year, but had worked his way higher up in the lineup this year.
  • Newsday’s Colin Stephenson reports that New York Rangers head coach David Quinn said that defenseman Adam McQuaid is day-to-day with a lower-body injury he sustained in the first period Thursday. He is not expected to play Sunday against Los Angeles, which could open up another chance for defenseman Anthony DeAngelo, who has only appeared in two games for the Rangers this season.

2018-19 Season Primer: Boston Bruins

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With the NHL season now just underway, we continue our look at what each team has done this summer and what to watch for in the year to come. Next up is a look at the Boston Bruins.

Last Season: 50-20-12 record (112 points), second in the Atlantic Division (lost in second round to Tampa Bay Lightning)

Remaining Cap Space: $5,246,849 per CapFriendly

Key Additions: F Martin Bakos (free agent, Liberec – Czech Rep.), G Jaroslav Halak (free agent, NY Islanders), D Steven Kampfer (trade, NY Rangers), D John Moore (free agent, New Jersey), F Joakim Nordstrom (free agent, Carolina), F Chris Wagner (free agent, NY Islanders)

Key Subtractions: F Kenny Agostino (free agent, Montreal), D Tommy Cross (free agent, Columbus), F Austin Czarnik (free agent, Calgary), F Brian Gionta (retirement), D Nick Holden (free agent, Vegas), G Anton Khudobin (free agent, Dallas), D Adam McQuaid (trade, NY Rangers), F Rick Nash (free agent, unsigned), F Riley Nash (free agent, Columbus), D Paul Postma (free agent, Kazan – KHL), F Tim Schaller (free agent, Vancouver), F Tommy Wingels (free agent, Geneve – NLA)

[Related: Bruins Depth Chart From Roster Resource]

Player To Watch: F Ryan Donato – Rookie forward Donato made his NHL debut last year in the midst of a season most only dream of. Donato wrapped up a stellar collegiate career with Harvard University by leading the NCAA in goals per game with 26 tallies – and 43 points – in 29 games. The effort made Donato a finalist for the Hobey Baker Award, given to the top player in college hockey. Donato also starred for his country, playing a major role for Team USA at the Winter Olympics where, again, he led the tournament in goals per game, potting five in six contests. He then stepped right into the NHL, notching five goals and four assists in 12 regular season games down the stretch and even skating in three playoff games. After such an impressive campaign, the question now is can he keep it up?

The ceiling for Donato is clear: as a supremely talented shooter and intelligent offensive player, Donato is able to seamlessly transition into a regular scoring role on a skilled Boston lineup. Donato is currently skating on the off-wing, something he did little of in college, on the Bruins’ second line with veteran center David Krejci and impressive sophomore winger Jake DeBrusk. He’s also been tasked with first unit power play work, getting to share the ice with the NHL’s best line of Patrice Bergeron, Brad Marchand, and David Pastrnak. If he adjusts well to this role, Donato could be looking at 30+ goals and not only in the conversation for the Calder Trophy, but perhaps the favorite.

However, the floor for Donato is also apparent. The Bruins have recently seen what can happen when a talented offensive player with a knack for putting the puck in the net during his developmental years fails to transition that ability to the NHL. Frank Vatrano, traded late last year to the Florida Panthers, was a goal-scoring phenom in the AHL and was expected to take over a top-nine role last season, only to struggle with scoring, too often get exposed defensively, take too many bad penalties, and ultimately end up as an extra skater later jettisoned away. While Donato is a far superior prospect to Vatrano and is in no way at risk of being dealt, his rookie year could go similarly to Vatrano’s final season in Boston. The Bruins ask all of their forwards to play a responsible, two-way, forechecking game. Donato is still developing those skills and, if he isn’t scoring enough on the second line, could find it hard to get play time in the bottom-six. Danton Heinen and Anders Bjork already have a pro experience, and more importantly two-way IQ, to their credit and could push Donato for an opportunity in the top-six or even force him out of the lineup entirely. The Bruins also have their eye on a Stanley Cup this year and could seek to replace a disappointing Donato via trade if it comes to that down the line.

It says a lot that the Bruins let several middle-six free agent forwards walk without finding viable replacements this off-season, as they clearly trust Donato, as well as DeBrusk, Heinen, Bjork, and other options in the AHL, to be reliable NHL scorers. Already, through just three games, secondary scoring has been an issue for Boston and Donato needs to prove management right that he is ready to take on his current role. The Bruins’ season rests with the ability of their young forwards to continue improving and provide stable secondary scoring. Of that group, Donato is the most important, having been handed the second-line opening early on, and bears watching all season long.

Key Storyline: For much of last season, the Boston Bruins were neck-and-neck with the Tampa Bay Lightning for the top spot in both the division and the conference and at times even the league’s best record. Boston ended up only one point behind the Bolts in the final standings and then fell to their foes in the second round of the playoffs. Part of the reason that Tampa was able to relatively easily dispatch the Bruins: their trade deadline additions of Ryan McDonagh and J.T. Miller, both of whom remain on the team moving forward. The Bruins added Rick Nash, who was a good fit while healthy but a bust overall, as well as several depth pieces. None of those players are donning the black and gold this year.

Then, this off-season the Toronto Maple Leafs, who finished third behind the Bruins in the division last season and proved to be a difficult first round opponent, landed the biggest fish in free agency, superstar center John Tavares. The Bruins were in on Tavares as well, but after they missed out, opted not to pursue any other prominent free agent scorers.

The Atlantic Division has improved right before the Bruins’ eyes, with many calling the Lightning and Leafs favorites not only to win the division, but the Stanley Cup. And that isn’t even considering the improvements made by the Florida Panthers and Buffalo Sabres as well. Meanwhile, Boston continues to rely on their current core and the young players they have shuffled into the lineup. Without many noticeable external improvements – outside of a top backup goaltender in Jaroslav Halak and a reliable, versatile defenseman in John Moore – can the Bruins keep up? Is this team as good as the patient front office thinks they are?

Overall Outlook: The answer, of course, is yes. This Bruins team is great. Ignore an ugly opening night loss to the banner ceremony-fueled Washington Capitals and Boston still enters the season with some of the highest expectations in the NHL. The best line in the league is supported by young, exciting scoring forwards, dependable veterans like Krejci and David Backes, and several capable fourth line options. The defense is anchored by a legend in Zdeno Chara and a wunderkind in Charlie McAvoy, not to mention offensive dynamo Torey Krug and young Brandon Carlo. Tuukka Rask and Halak could also prove to be the best goalie tandem in the league and not a stretch as Jennings Trophy favorites behind a possession-dominant, defensively responsible lineup. Not to mention, the Bruins have ample cap space and will almost assuredly be a top suitor come trade deadline time. Yes, the Bruins are great. But is “great” enough in a division that is stacked at the top with arguably three of the NHL’s top five teams? Or to make it out of the Eastern Conference, which features the past three Cup winners in the Capitals and Pittsburgh Penguins?

New York Rangers Acquire Adam McQuaid

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The New York Rangers have added some help on the blue line, acquiring Adam McQuaid from the Boston Bruins. The Bruins in return will receive a 2019 fourth-round pick, conditional seventh-round pick and Steven Kampfer.

In Boston there had been a log jam on defense since John Moore was signed this summer, with eight healthy NHL defensemen on the roster. The idea of sitting at least $4MM in cap space every night never seemed appealing, and by moving out McQuaid they’ve added some flexibility for the rest of the season. That doesn’t mean the move is risk free though, as we’ve seen several of the Bruins defenders deal with injury in the past and as Stanley Cup contenders they’ll need all the depth they can take. McQuaid, though not exactly an offensive dynamo, was a warrior on the ice who could bring an incredibly physical game and be counted on to stand up for his teammates. He was also incredibly well-liked among the fan base, though it was obvious he didn’t have a full-time role going forward.

For the Rangers, the team adds a respected veteran presence to the blue line to help what will be an incredibly young club over the next few seasons. McQuaid is under contract for just this season at a $2.75MM cap hit, but it wouldn’t be entirely surprising to see the Rangers re-sign him to a short-term deal before the end of the year. New York is in a clear rebuild mode, though after acquiring several impressive trade packages last year could turn things around in short order.

McQuaid is now 31 and played just 38 games last season as he dealt with a broken leg early in the season. His career-high in points, 15, is almost a decade behind him and likely out of reach moving forward. Losing his presence in Boston won’t change their outlook for the season, but he also didn’t come at much of a cost for the Rangers. Kampfer, who will return to the Boston organization that signed him as a college free agent after four years at the University of Michigan, doesn’t have a ton of NHL upside and will likely spend the season in the minor leagues. He could be depth if the Bruins find themselves dealing with multiple injuries, but there are other younger defensemen in the organization that he’ll need to battle for that right.

Bruins Notes: Seguin, Heinen, Krejci, Leach, McQuaid

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With Dallas Stars’ Tyler Seguin showing unhappiness recently that he hasn’t signed an extension yet, speculation is beginning to increase that Seguin may be considering taking the same course that John Tavares took this offseason before eventually signing a seven-year, $77MM deal. Seguin, who is coming off a 40-goal, 78-point season and at 26 years old, could garner as much as Tavares after his contract expires at the end of the year.

The Boston Herald’s Steve Conroy writes that while the team did make an offer to Tavares, he doesn’t think it would make sense to make a similar offer to the former Bruin. The scribe does admit that Peter Chiarelli made a big mistake when he and Boston’s brass traded away Seguin, who at 21, showed immaturity and a lack of professionalism. A more mature Seguin has shown over the last five years that the Bruins probably should have held onto him. Regardless, Conroy said Seguin wouldn’t be worth such a big, long-term deal, although a rental situation at the trade deadline might be a different story.

NBC Sports’ Joe Haggerty adds that he also wouldn’t recommend for Boston to attempt to bring Seguin back despite the fact that he still has several friends on the team, including Brad Marchand and Patrice Bergeron. While current GM Don Sweeney was just an assistant GM when Seguin was traded, there are still enough personnel remaining in the organization that probably wouldn’t want Seguin to return to the franchise. However, he added never say never.

  • Joe McDonald of The Athletic (subscription required) writes that the Bruins are still considering whether they want to break up their top line after their super line of Bergeron, Marchand and David Pastrnak were shut down by the Tampa Bay Lightning, and no other line was able to step up. The idea has been suggested to move Pastrnak to the second line to create a more balanced attack. If that’s the case, McDonald feels that Danton Heinen might be ready to replace Pastrnak on the first line. Heinen had a solid rookie season, scoring 16 goals and 47 points last season.
  • Haggerty also wonders how much longer center David Krejci can hold onto the No. 2 center position? The team made an obvious attempt to sign Tavares this offseason, suggesting that they are interested in eventually moving on from Krejci in that spot with the hopes of dropping him to their third line. However, at the moment, they lack a player who is ready to challenge him for that spot. The team’s third-line center position is going to be a battle among rookies, including Jakob Forsbacka Karlsson, Jack Studnicka and Trent Frederic.
  • The Athletic’s Fluto Shinzawa (subscription required) writes that Providence Bruins’ coach Jay Leach continues to work to develop those three prospect centers. The coach has been sending Forsbacka Karlsson, Studnicka and Frederic videos of Bergeron, the young Bergeron, for the three to study in hopes of teaching them everything they need to know about adjusting to the NHL. “Honestly, if you’re looking for a centerman to show you how to do things,” Leach said of Bergeron, “this is the guy. Just little things of nuances this guy can do.”
  • In another article, Haggerty questions whether defenseman Adam McQuaid will remain with the Boston Bruins. With eight viable blueliners on the roster, McQuaid, who has played nine seasons in Boston, could find himself elsewhere by the start of the season. The 6-foot-4 physical grinder only saw 38 games last season and with a plethora of right-shot defensemen, he could be the player to sit in the press box on most nights unless the team attempts to find him a better home. The team already has Charlie McAvoy, Brandon Carlo and Kevan Miller on the right side, which also was a reason why McQuaid saw his minutes drop from 18:15 to 15:42 last season. However, the 31-year-old still managed to get 80 hits and block 56 shots last season, which could make him an option for a team looking for defensive depth and a penalty killing option.

Salary Cap Deep Dive: Boston Bruins

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Navigating the Salary Cap is probably one of the more important tasks for any general manager to have. Teams that can avert 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 2018-19 season. This will focus more on those players who are integral parts of the roster versus those who may find themselves shuttling between the AHL and NHL. All cap figures are courtesy of CapFriendly.

Boston Bruins

Current Projected Cap Hit: $76,540,667 (under the $79.5MM Upper Limit)

Entry Level Contracts

D Charlie McAvoy (one year, $917K)
D Brandon Carlo (one year, $789K)
F Jake DeBrusk (two years, $863K)
F Danton Heinen (one year, $873K)
F Ryan Donato (one year, $900K)
F Anders Bjork (two years, $925K)

Potential Bonuses:

McAvoy: $500K
DeBrusk: $425K
Heinen: $213K
Donato: $850K

Total: $1.99MM

Under $5.5MM in salary and under $2MM in potential bonuses for that group of players? It would be hard to find any team in the league who wouldn’t be excited about that scenario. Carlo has played a top four role for the Bruins for two seasons already and McAvoy asserted himself not only as the top defenseman on the team as a rookie last year, but one of the best defenders in the league; they’re both just beginning to show what they can be. The other four forwards will likely make up the bulk of the top nine in Boston this season. Heinen and DeBrusk finished fourth and sixth respectively among Bruins forwards in scoring last year, each with 40+ points, and noticeably improved as the season wore on. Bjork began the year in the top six and scored at a pace that would have put him at 30+ points on the year, if not for a roster crunch and later on an injury that kept him out of the lineup for much of the year. The latest addition is Donato, who joined the team down the stretch after leading both the NCAA and Winter Olympics in goals per game. If the Bruins’ top prospect finds chemistry with a scoring line and earns substantial ice time, he could be a legitimate Calder Trophy threat.

Of course, the caveat to all of this is that the Bruins can only enjoy most of these bargain deals for one more year. All but DeBrusk and Bjork will be due extensions by this time next year. McAvoy is in line for an expensive, long-term contract that could easily surpass the six-year, $29.7MM contract just recently signed by the Calgary Flames’ Noah Hanifin. Carlo will be due a much more modest raise, but a raise nonetheless. The real intrigue lies with Heinen and Donato. If Heinen is again the best non-first line forward on the Bruins this season, he will have cemented himself as a crucial piece of the core and will be able to command a hefty bump in salary. A regression and being overshadowed by other young forward could keep his next cap hit at a more comfortable level. The same goes for Donato, who could meet his lofty expectations as a rookie and significantly raise his asking price or could fail to stand out against Boston’s other young forwards and sign a more modest second contract. Perhaps even the Bruins don’t know which outcome they would prefer: their impending RFA’s playing incredibly well and boosting their value or instead playing secondary roles and staying reasonably priced? Either way, the team will at least be glad to have DeBrusk and other incoming prospects at ELC cap hits in 2019-20.

One Year Remaining, Non-Entry Level

D Zdeno Chara ($5MM, UFA)
D Adam McQuaid ($2.75MM, UFA)
F Noel Acciari ($725K, UFA)

Not much is going to change on the Bruins roster between 2018-19 and 2019-20 if unrestricted free agency is any indicator. Given how few current players are impending unrestricted free agents and the number and value of the likely RFA contracts that they will need to hand out, it will probably be a quiet summer in Boston next year.

Of this group, the one departure that seems certain is McQuaid. As it stands now, McQuaid might not only be a bench player for the Bruins this season but could even be considered the team’s #8 defenseman and very well could land on the trade block or even waivers over the course of the campaign. The loyal veteran is one of the remaining holdovers from the team’s 2011 Stanley Cup title and has only ever played hard-nosed, competent hockey in Boston. However, frequent injuries paired with the development of Kevan Miller into a better version of McQuaid has all but made the original superfluous. Now, Boston may not carry eight defenseman all season long and if someone other than McQuaid is traded, that would open up some more opportunity for the physical veteran. However, it still seems that – given the players signed on the blue line as it is and the crop of prospects in Providence (AHL) pushing for play time – that McQuaid’s days in Boston are numbered one way or another.

Counting the days until Chara retires may be a pointless effort, though. The 41-year-old continues to defy nature in every regard. Chara led all Boston skaters in ice time with 23 minutes per night and has been the team’s average ice-time leader for a whopping twelve years straight. While his offense remains in decline, his defensive game made a major comeback last season and the league’s oldest defenseman even garnered Norris Trophy votes. In all likelihood, the Bruins will look to reduce Chara’s role this year in an effort to make him even more effective in limited minutes. If that proves successful, don’t be surprised to see Boston give Chara incentive-laden one-year contracts until he finally decides to hand up his skates. At this rate, it could be another year or two after this current contract expires.

Some may discount what spark plug Acciari brings to the Bruins and consider his impending free agency to not be much of a factor. Yet, Acciari is considered by many to be one of the more underrated defensive forwards in the league. A versatile player and punishing checker, Acciari is an ideal fourth-liner who frustrates the opposition without landing in penalty trouble or ending up on the wrong side of turnovers. Acciari logged 152 hits last season versus just four minor penalty minutes and recorded 20 takeaways to just nine giveaways. Few players in the league are so efficient with their defensive play. Acciari is a local product who fits the style and culture of the Bruins well and could certainly wind up with a multi-year extension. With that said, the Bruins’ addition of Chris Wagner this summer adds a lot of the same ability that Acciari brings to the table. If cap space or roster space becomes an issue, Acciari is not guaranteed a new contract.

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Options For The Oilers To Replace Andrej Sekera

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Normally, it takes training camp before any teams begin scrambling for an unanticipated injury replacement among the leftovers of the market. It is unclear how long the Edmonton Oilers knew about the injury to defenseman Andrej Sekera – they announced the surgery today indicating they knew of the injury prior – but what is clear is that the team will need to add another body to the mix in Sekera’s stead. Out indefinitely with a torn Achilles tendon, Sekera is likely to miss a substantial amount of time and extremely unlikely to be back at 100% at any point in the 2018-19 season. It is no coincidence that with Sekera missing most of last season due to a knee injury, the Oilers defense struggled on all fronts. Sekera had easily been the team’s top defender over the two years prior and this will now be the second straight season where he cannot be relied upon. The team must do something to avoid another frustrating campaign on the blue line, but what?

In replacing Sekera, Edmonton will likely target a right-handed defenseman. Although Sekera is a lefty himself, the team is set on the left side regardless with Oscar Klefbom, Darnell Nurse, and Kris Russell. There is also free agent addition Kevin Gravel, also a left-handed defenseman, though he is best suited for his current extra man slot. The right side however poses questions behind Adam Larsson, with Matt Benning likely slated for the second pair and now a hole on the third pair. It is unlikely that the Oilers want to press Benning into a top-four role this season, nor do they want a left-handed depth option like Gravel, Ryan Stanton, or Keegan Lowe as a regular on the right side. As such, they are likely looking for a second-pair caliber righty.

The easy answer is the free agent market. In a relatively stagnant summer, there remains ample talent available in unrestricted free agent defensemen. However, the Oilers are not in the most flexible of positions. The team currently has all but approximately $5MM in cap space committed to their roster which doesn’t include restricted free agent defenseman Nurse, still in need of a new contract. If and when Nurse re-signs, the team will be left with little to no cap space. Fortunately, at this point in the summer they face little competition on the free agent market and could negotiate several tryout deals with available defenders, signing one or more after the start of the season once Sekera’s $5.5MM cap hit can be buried on injured reserve. Yet, the pickings are slim on the right side. Cody Franson could be the team’s best bet with Paul Postma potentially as the next-best option. Ryan Sproul or Frank Corrado could be younger dark horse candidates, while the team could possibly look at veteran Kevin Bieksa. However, if the Oilers consider overloading on lefties as they would have anyway with Sekera, then Toby Enstrom, Luca Sbisa, Alexei Emelin, Johnny Oduya, or even old friend Brandon Davidson jump out as attractive options.

If the team is set on adding a right-hander and not sold on the available free agents, they could also wait for training camp cuts. While there is no guarantee that the right player would wind up on waivers, it’s also well within the realm of possibility. Robert Bortuzzo, Nate Prosser, Jake Dotchin, Steven Kampfer, Brad Hunt, Alex Biega, and Adam McQuaid – a former favorite of Oilers GM Peter Chiarelli in Boston – are just some of the names who could wind up on the waiver wire and fit in on the right side of the Edmonton blue line. It would not be a surprise to see the team sign multiple defenders to PTO’s and also keep an close eye on who gets cut from training camps.

Finally, Edmonton could simply stand pat and attempt to replace Sekera internally. On paper, it doesn’t seem like the Oilers have the pieces to do so effectively, but some of their defensive prospects have not yet been given the opportunity to show what they can do at the NHL level. Many will clamor for recent first-round pick Evan Bouchard to get a shot at sticking with the team. Although very talented – and a right shot – it would be asking a lot for the 18-year-old to step into the top pro game and succeed. It’s not unprecedented, but it is unlikely. Recent Swedish import Joel Persson, currently on loan to his SHL club, is a 24-year-old righty who could be an intriguing experiment and has more experience with the pro game. William Lagesson, on loan in Sweden last season but now back in North America, is a left-shot defenseman but played on the right side frequently during his college days at UMass and is a very safe defensive player who could be a stopgap. Elsewhere in the system, small puck-mover Ethan Bear and hulking Ryan Mantha are both righties who could provide some different style options alongside Lagesson in the AHL. Between these young possibilities and some veteran depth, the Oilers could opt to just let camp battles decide who steps into Sekera’s shoes.

The only thing that is for sure is that Sekera is not going to be suiting up for Edmonton any time soon. Whether the team finds a way to add a capable free agent, gets lucky on the waiver wire, or trusts their young depth, the Oilers will need someone to step up in his stead. An injury to a top defenseman is not how they wanted to begin the season, but the Oilers now have some time to figure it out before the puck drops on the new campaign.

Atlantic Notes: Red Wings, Krug, Reinhart, Kotkaniemi

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With the last piece of major housekeeping completed in Detroit after the Red Wings signed star Dylan Larkin to a five-year, $30.5MM deal, the team now has to take a look at their salary cap, which they will be over, even after they move forward Johan Franzen to LTIR. General manager Ken Holland told The Athletic’s Craig Custance, they will likely be “in the neighborhood” of $1MM over the cap.

“We’re very tight,” Holland said on Friday of the cap situation. “With this deal, we’re probably a dribble over. Not a lot, but we’re over. We’re going to have to make some decisions moving forward.”

One possibility would be to bury the contracts of Martin Frk and Luke Witkowski in the minors. However, if the team believes that veteran Henrik Zetterberg could end up missing the season as his injuries haven’t improved this summer, the team could place him on LTIR as well and wouldn’t have anything else to worry about. Custance adds, however, that if Zetterberg does return, that likely would end the chances of 2018 first-round pick Filip Zadina of making the roster out of training camp.

  • In a mailbag series, Joe Haggerty of NBC Sports writes that with eight quality NHL defenseman on the roster, the team will likely make a trade before the season starts. The team has Torey Krug, Zdeno Chara, Adam McQuaid, John Moore, Kevan Miller, Matt Grzelcyk, Charlie McAvoy and Brandon Carlo on the roster. The scribe writes that could mean that the team might be ready to move Krug if the team can get a big return for the blueliner. And they would need to, as Krug is one of the top offensive defensemen in the league as only Erik Karlsson, Victor Hedman, Brent Burns and John Klingberg have more points over the last two seasons. He has 22 goals and 110 points combined in that time.
  • The Athletic’s Ryan Stimson (subscription required) wonders where restricted free agent Sam Reinhart should play next year in the Buffalo Sabres’ lineup once he signs. The 22-year-old center has been a decent center for the Sabres in the past, but saw his game blossom once he was moved up and played on the wing next to top-line center Jack Eichel. With the team moving on from Ryan O’Reilly and bringing in prospect Casey Mittelstadt, what should the team do with Reinhart? The scribe breaks down Reinhart’s game and wonders if it would be best for the youngster to take over the team’s No. 2 center position and ease Mittelstadt in.
  • The Athletic’s Mitch Brown (subscription required) ranks the Montreal Canadiens’ top five prospects with 2018 third-overall pick Jesperi Kotkaniemi listed as their top prospect. The young centerman, who flew up the draft boards in the final weeks, anchors a list of prospects that Brown believes is the most exciting in the last five or six years. He has been successful playing in the SM-liiga as an 18-year-old and is expected to fill that long-waited hole in the middle.

Negotiation Notes: Arbitration Hearings, Nylander, Islanders

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Two more players sat down for arbitration hearings today, as Sportsnet’s Chris Johnston reports that neither the Ottawa Senators and Cody Ceci nor the Dallas Stars and Gemel Smith were able to come to terms beforehand. Both situations bear watching over the next 48 hours, as they must agree to a deal in that window or else get stuck with the arbitrator’s award. Ceci’s case is similar to that of the Winnipeg Jets’ Jacob Trouba, which went through to a decision earlier this off-season. Both Ceci and Trouba filed at a number that shares few reasonable comparisons – Trouba at $7MM and Ceci at $6MM. While Trouba’s side likely tried to use several recent cases of offensive-minded defenseman who settled for $5.5MM and then argue that he is the superior defensive player, Ceci does not have the comparable offense to make as strong a case. As such, he is unlikely to get the $5.5MM award that Trouba landed, the midpoint of his case. Instead, look for Ceci to get somewhere in the $4-4.5MM range. Smith’s is a much different scenario, similar to another previously decided case this summer, that of Calgary Flames defenseman Brett Kulak. In both cases, the team offered only a minimum, two-way contract while the player filed at a higher value for a one-way deal –  Kulak at $1.15MM and Smith at $900K. While Kulak was able to land a $850K one-way deal from the arbitrator, he also played in 71 games in the platform year, while Smith only suited up for 46. Smith faces a far tougher argument that he is a bona fide NHL player at this point in his career.

  • Restricted free agent William Nylander continues to negotiate with the Toronto Maple Leafs, but the explosive young forward is not interested in a short-term bridge deal. Sportsnet’s Luke Fox suggests that Nylander is only talking about a long-term deal right now. While the Leafs might be trying to play it safe, with both Auston Matthews and Mitch Marner also in need of extensions next summer (along with the majority of their roster), Nylander doesn’t seem willing to take a bridge deal only to watch his fellow budding stars sign long-term contracts instead. Nylander may have hit restricted free agency earlier than Matthews and Marner, but the trio all have similar games played and points since Nylander only played in 22 games with Toronto in his first season before the other two joined the squad. All three have been remarkably consistent early on and, given their similarities, it is hard to blame Nylander for wanting a long-term deal when he knows that Matthews and Marner are likely to get them.
  • While it makes sense that the New York Islanders have focused on adding forwards and a new goaltender this season, after losing superstar center John Tavares and starting goalie Jaroslav Halak to free agency, Newsday’s Andrew Gross thinks it’s strange that the team has not added to the blue line at all. The team re-signed Thomas Hickey and Ryan Pulock, but have added no one else while losing Calvin de Haan and opting not to bring back Brandon Davidson and Dennis Seidenberg. Gross notes that recently re-signed center Brock Nelson, an impending free agent, could be used as a trade chip to add to a blue line that struggled greatly last season. There are certainly teams out there with a plethora of defensemen who could use Nelson up front. The Carolina Hurricanes, Boston Bruins, and Winnipeg Jets are clubs that fit the bill, but Nelson would not be nearly enough to land a Justin Faulk, Torey Krug, or Jacob Trouba and an expendable piece that he might fetch, like a Trevor van Riemsdyk, Adam McQuaid, or Tucker Poolman might not be enough to fix the Islanders blue line. New York may have to up the ante beyond Nelson to land a difference-maker on the back end.

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