Snapshots: Lapierre, Ritchie, Steen
The Washington Capitals did not enter the 2024-25 preseason with an abundance of NHL roles up for grabs, but that hasn’t stopped some roster hopefuls from making their mark on the team’s leadership. NHL.com’s Tom Gulitti relayed word from Capitals head coach Spencer Carbery that 2020 first-round pick Hendrix Lapierre has had an impressive preseason and may have played his way into the team’s third-line center role. Carbery told Gulitti that his level of confidence that Lapierre can play the center position and potentially earn “that third-line center role” has led to him considering alternate options for how to deploy other players – namely Connor McMichael moving back to the wing.
Should Lapierre claim the third-line center role, it’d be a significant, positive development for a player in need of exactly that. Lapierre looked like he was on the way to establishing himself as a full-time NHL player in 2023-24, scoring 22 points in 51 games. But he failed to build on that momentum in 2024-25: he was strong in the AHL (32 points in 32 games) but only played in 27 NHL games and only registered eight points. While at this stage it appears more unlikely he’ll meet his draft-year projection of becoming a top-six center, his progress so far this season is an encouraging sign that he still could become an impactful middle-six pivot, which remains a strong return for a first-rounder in the early 20’s range.
Some other notes from across the NHL:
- The New York Islanders announced that young center Calum Ritchie has suffered a lower-body injury that will sideline him for at least one-to-two weeks. The 20-year-old pivot is entering his first season of professional hockey, something that is overwhelmingly likely to occur with the AHL’s Bridgeport Islanders. Ritchie is one of the Islanders’ top prospects and is widely considered to be a potential future top-six center. While this injury will slow him down, his performance in the OHL suggests he could be one of the top rookies in the AHL this season, assuming he does not play his way into the NHL too quickly.
- The St. Louis Blues announced that special assistant to GM Doug Armstrong (and future GM) Alex Steen has been named to the management team of Sweden in advance of the 2026 Winter Olympic Games in Italy. According to a press release, Steen “will assist with scouting and roster selection” for his native Sweden. The move is notable in part due to the fact that Steen’s boss, Blues GM Doug Armstrong, has long been the top management figure for Hockey Canada’s men’s teams and will continue in that role for the 2026 Olympics. Sweden is among the top contenders to win a gold medal at the upcoming Olympics, alongside Canada and the United States.
Blues Extend Doug Armstrong, Promote Alexander Steen
The Blues have shored up the future of their hockey operations department, keeping general manager Doug Armstrong in the organization past the expiration of his current deal in 2026. He’s signed a three-year extension to serve as president of hockey operations through the 2028-29 season, while longtime player Alexander Steen will replace Armstrong as GM for 2026-27 and beyond. Steen, who spent this season with the Blues as a team consultant and European development coach, has been promoted to special assistant to the GM for the next two seasons.
St. Louis also announced that Tim Taylor, their director of player personnel, has been promoted to assistant GM. Taylor has served in the role for the past two seasons after initially joining the organization as their director of player development in 2011.
Armstrong, 59, will conclude his run as Blues GM at 16 seasons when all is said and done. He’s guided the Blues to 10 playoff appearances in his 14 seasons at the helm thus far, and his roster construction yielded the club’s only Stanley Cup championship in 2019.
One of the key veteran members of that Cup-winning team was Steen, who was effective in a checking role and had five points in 26 postseason games. A Stanley Cup ring was a spectacular way to bookend a lengthy and fruitful career in St. Louis, where Steen had 195 goals and 496 points in 765 games and was one of the better defensive wingers in the game in his prime in the mid-2010s.
Armstrong wasn’t the GM who acquired Steen via trade from the Maple Leafs in 2008 – that was Larry Pleau – but he did acquire most of the core. Just one summer before winning it all, he swung a blockbuster trade with the Sabres to acquire center Ryan O’Reilly, who broke out for a career-high 77 points and took home the Selke and Conn Smythe trophies in his first year under the Gateway Arch.
Needless to say, they’re big shoes for Steen to fill as he enters a top-level executive role six years after retiring as a player in 2020. While unusual, it’s not surprising for them to announce a clear, long-term succession plan to aid in his development as a manager while keeping a sense of stability in the organization while he and Armstrong work to retool a roster currently mired in mediocrity.
As for Taylor – per the team, his responsibilities won’t change much. His duties as AGM will still revolve around managing day-to-day player personnel activities.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports.
St. Louis Blues Hire Alexander Steen
The St. Louis Blues are bringing back a familiar face, hiring Alexander Steen as a European Player Development Consultant. He will normally work overseas but will be back in town to help with the upcoming prospect camp.
Steen, 39, retired from the NHL in 2020 after 1,018 regular season games, 765 of which came with the Blues. Never a star player, he was one of the most consistent, versatile members of the St. Louis roster for a decade, setting a career-high with 33 goals in 2013-14. He played in all 26 games of the club’s 2019 Stanley Cup run, providing his usual strong defensive play even in a limited role.
Selected 24th overall by the Toronto Maple Leafs in 2002, Steen knows how the process goes for exciting European prospects. It took him three full seasons in Sweden before he was ready to come to North America, but that development time was well worth it.
He scored 18 goals and 45 points as a rookie and would never look back. Steen never played a single game in the minor leagues—the epitome of NHL-ready.
He’ll now try to help get the Blues’ new prospects to that point, assisting European players in developing the habits they need to succeed in North America.
Snapshots: Willander, Steen, Sheahan
The vast majority of high-end draft prospects that head to American collegiate hockey after their draft year do so after playing prominent roles either with the United States National Development Team Program or excelling in the USHL. Swedish defenseman Tom Willander, a likely first-round selection in next week’s 2023 NHL Draft, will buck that trend. He told NHL.com last weekend he’s now committed to spending 2023-24 at Boston University after spending all of last season with Rogle BK J20 in the J20 Nationell, Sweden’s top junior league.
Willander’s strong performance at the 2023 IIHF U18 World Championship with Sweden saw him rocket up most public draft boards, displaying his high-energy two-way play en route to scoring eight points in seven games and posting a +6 rating. The 6-foot-1, 179-pound defender is ranked 12th among European skaters by NHL Central Scouting but has been rumored as an option some teams are considering in the early teens of the first round. Willander dressed for two SHL games with Rogle early in the season, but he didn’t ever touch the ice – maintaining his collegiate eligibility in the process.
Other tidbits from the NHL news cycle today:
- 2019 Stanley Cup champion Alexander Steen could return to NHL work in some capacity, surmises Bally Sports Midwest’s Andy Strickland. The 2002 first-round selection of the Toronto Maple Leafs would go on to play just over 1,000 NHL games, 765 of which came in a St. Louis Blues jersey. A revered versatile two-way forward, Steen retired 18 months after lifting the Stanley Cup for the first time in his career. If he is to join the ranks of NHLers to keep working in the league in front-office roles, it’s hard to imagine it being with another team than the Blues.
- NHL coaching hopeful Brock Sheahan will have to wait a little longer for his first role on an NHL bench, as he’s rejoined the University of Notre Dame in an associate head coaching role. Sheahan, 39, rose to prominence behind the bench of the USHL’s Chicago Steel, guiding them to a Clark Cup in 2021 and coaching many high-end NHL prospects, including 2023 draft-eligible center Adam Fantilli, Calgary Flames winger Matthew Coronato, Montreal Canadiens center Sean Farrell, and Florida Panthers winger Mackie Samoskevich. He joined the Carolina Hurricanes in 2022-23, taking over as head coach of their AHL affiliate, the Chicago Wolves. With the Wolves deciding to operate independently of an NHL organization next season, Sheahan found himself on the open market after just one year there. He returns to Notre Dame, where he played four seasons from 2004 to 2008 and spent the 2013-14 campaign as an assistant coach.
Central Notes: Dach, Boqvist, Steen, Wheeler
It looks like Team Canada may have to go without one of their top forwards on their team after all as Chicago Blackhawks center Kirby Dach will not be joining the team in Czechoslovakia for this month’s World Junior Championships. TSN’s Bob McKenzie reports that the Blackhawks will not be releasing the 18-year-old.
Dach burned, the third overall pick in the 2019 NHL Draft, has already burned the first year of his entry-level contract and has already scored five goals and 10 points in 26 games with Chicago. The 6-foot-4 center has been a solid mainstay as a bottom-six center as he gets used to playing with adults in the NHL. The only reason the why Team Canada was holding out hope is that Dach seems to have hit a rookie wall as he hasn’t scored a goal in 12 games.
- The Athletic’s Scott Powers reports that the Blackhawks haven’t yet made a decision on defensman Adam Boqvist, who is also a candidate to be loaned to Sweden for the World Junior Championships. The eighth overall selection in 2018, Boqvist is a different story as he has appeared in eight games so far and has not burned his entry-level contract yet. The team must decide on whether to keep him on their roster and burn that first year of his contract or whether to send him to the WJC and then perhaps let him develop more in the AHL for the remainder of the year. The team will announce their decision after they have come to one.
- The St. Louis Blues are expected to get a much-needed addition as the team announced they are expecting forward Alex Steen to return to the lineup tonight. Steen has been out since Nov. 6 with a high ankle sprain and has missed 16 straight games, but should add some depth to the bottom-six. The 35-year-old has yet to score a goal in 17 games with the Blues this season, but should add some experience and defensive acumen to the St. Louis’ lineup.
- Despite rumors that Winnipeg Jets forward Blake Wheeler was injured after missing practice Saturday, The Athletic’s Murat Ates reports that the Jets forward will play Sunday against the Philadelphia Flyers. The 33-year-old has eight goals and 23 points this season for the Jets.
Snapshots: Schwartz, Wilson, Doughty, Scarlett
The St. Louis Blues were rolling along just fine a year ago, but when winger Jaden Schwartz went down with an injury on Dec. 9th and missed six weeks with a lower-body injury, the team fell apart and had trouble finding its offense even after he came back as they found themselves outside a playoff spot.
Now, the team is in the exact same situation as Schwartz took a puck off the same leg he injured last year from his own teammate, Vladimir Tarasenko. While this injury is not considered to be as serious, the team feels more confident that they can survive without the winger this season with their improved depth, according to The Athletic’s Jeremy Rutherford.
The scribe points out that the team used Dmitrij Jaskin and Vladimir Sobotka in their top-six after last year’s Schwartz injury and the team’s third line featured Ivan Barbashev, Magnus Paajarvi and Patrik Berglund, which wasn’t a very deep team. Four of those players aren’t even with the team anymore.
This year, the team moves Sammy Blais into the top-six and still boast several key players on the third line, including Jordan Kyrou, Alex Steen and Tyler Bozak and that’s not including 19-year-old Robert Thomas. With the depth much deeper, the Schwartz injury shouldn’t have as significant effect as it did a year ago.
- Washington Capitals winger Tom Wilson, currently sitting out 20 games for a preseason hit against St. Louis Blues’ Oskar Sundqvist pending appeal, was asked Sunday whether he intends to change the way he plays. “Yeah, for sure,” Wilson told The Athletic’s Chris Kuk. “The hitting aspect of the game is definitely changing a little bit and I have to be smart out there and I have to play within the rules.”
- Los Angeles Kings defenseman Drew Doughty took much of the blame as he said he “failed” in making a difference during the team’s 5-1 embarrassing loss to the Ottawa Senators Saturday as well as their 2-2-1 start. However, Fox Sports’ Jon Rosen writes that Doughty has hardly failed the team as no goals have been scored when Doughty has been on the ice this season and had a plus-1 rating in their loss to the Senators.
- The Athletic’s Sean Shapiro reports that the Texas Stars, the AHL affiliate of the Dallas Stars, announced that defenseman Reece Scarlett will miss the rest of the season after tearing his ACL. The 25-year-old had a strong camp with Dallas and was expected to have a big season with the Texas Stars.
Salary Cap Deep Dive: St. Louis Blues
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.
St. Louis Blues
Current Cap Hit: $79,915,155 (under the $79.5MM Upper Limit)
Entry-Level Contracts
F Robert Thomas (three years, $894K)
F Zachary Sanford (one year, $875K)
G Ville Husso (one year, $848K)
F Jordan Kyrou (three years, $758K)
F Ivan Barbashev (one year, $742K)
D Vince Dunn (one year, $723K)
F Samuel Blais (one year, $673K)
Potential Bonuses:
Kyrou: $183K
Dunn: $183K
Sanford: $50K
Blais: $3K
Total: $419K
Considering the amount of veterans this team has, its surprising to see so many young players on the team as the Blues have done a nice job over the years of drafting quality players and developing them. Perhaps the most interesting of the lot will be Thomas, the team’s first-round pick in the 2017 draft. The 19-year-old dominated his junior league last season and many people believe he has a great shot at winning a roster spot this season as the team feels that there is no reason to return him back to his junior team. The team also has Kyrou, another top-rated prospect, but the team is more likely to send him to their AHL affiliate as he no longer needs to be returned to juniors. Regardless, however, if he fares well, he could see time with the Blues throughout the season.
Dunn has been a major revelation after surprising a few when he made the Blues out of training camp last season. He had a remarkable season, playing solid defense, producing five goals and 21 points and eventually quarterbacked the team’s top power play line. The team may also start seeing more of Husso, who is their goalie of the future, but needs more seasoning in the AHL. The 23-year-old had a .922 save percentage in 38 games in the AHL last year.
Other interesting prospects include Sanford, Barbashev and Blais who will have to fight for playing time, but all have the skill to work their way in at some point this season.
One Year Remaining, Non-Entry-Level
D Jay Bouwmeester ($5.4MM, UFA)
D Joel Edmundson ($3MM, RFA)
D Carl Gunnarsson ($2.9MM, UFA)
F Patrick Maroon ($1.75MM, UFA)
G Chad Johnson ($1.75MM, UFA)
D Robert Bortuzzo ($1.15MM, UFA)
F Dmitrij Jaskin ($1.1MM, RFA)
F Robby Fabbri ($925K, RFA)
F Chris Thorburn ($900K, UFA)
F Nikita Soshnikov ($800K, RFA)
F Oskar Sundqvist ($700K, RFA)
F Jordan Nolan ($650K, UFA)
The team should find themselves with extra money next season as the contracts of several defenseman expire, including Bouwmeester’s $5.4MM deal and Gunnarsson’s $2.9MM. Both have been excellent players in the past, but the with emergence of younger defensemen, the team is likely to move on from them or look for them to return at a significantly reduced rate. Some of that available money could end up in the hands of Edmundson who has done an excellent job of replacing Bouwmeester on the top defensive line.
The team also will be keeping a close eye on Fabbri, who has spent much of last year training and conditioning his knee for the upcoming season after undergoing two procedures on his knee. If the scoring winger can stay healthy, he could provide the Blues with an extra dose of offense they weren’t counting on. The team also has high hopes for Maroon, who opted to take less to return home to St. Louis this year. There are rumors that the team will reward him next season for being willing to accept much less than he was worth.
Johnson has been working on one-year deals for a little while, but the veteran backup could be needed if Allen falters in goal this year. While his numbers in Buffalo were horrible, many believe that he could easily bounce back considering the quality defense he’ll have in front of him in St. Louis.
Two Years Remaining
D Alex Pietrangelo ($6.5MM, UFA)
F Brayden Schenn ($5.13MM, UFA)
D Jordan Schmaltz ($700K, RFA)
The team has been thrilled with the play of Pietrangelo, who continues to improve offensively as the team’s No. 1 defender. He is used that way too as he averaged 25:44 of ice time last year, ranking him sixth in the NHL. The 28-year-old has now posted double-digit goals for the second straight years and posted a career-high 54 points this season. He’s finally receiving that respect around the league as he was voted to the all-star game as well as got some consideration for the Norris Trophy this past season.
Schenn is another key player that the team got a tremendous amount of production from this year after acquiring him from Philadelphia in the offseason. Schenn, who likely will move to the second line this year, posted career-highs in goals (28) and points (70) and was a big hit in St. Louis. Read more
The Contract Each Team Would Most Like To Trade: Part III
Nearly every team has one of those players: a top talent they were excited to sign and never thought could do anything but help them. In hindsight, history shows that more often than not, expensive, long-term free agent contracts don’t work out. It may look good at first (or it may look bad right away to the outside observer), but players struggle to make their value last throughout a lengthy contract. Those contracts come back to bite teams and are hard to get rid of. As teams begin to finalize their rosters at this point in the off-season, many are struggling to make everyone fit under the salary cap and are regretting these past signings that exasperate a cap crunch that can be tough for even a mistake-free club. We already took a look at the first third and second third of the league; here are the contracts that each of the final ten teams would most like to trade, from Philadelphia to Winnipeg:
Philadelphia Flyers: Andrew MacDonald – two years, $10MM remaining
Based purely on salary versus what he brings to the table, Jori Lehtera‘s $4.7MM contract is the worst on the Flyers. However, Philadelphia is far from cap trouble this season, currently among the five lightest payrolls in the league, and Lehtera’s deal expires after this season. However, next year the Flyers will need to re-sign or replace Wayne Simmonds, hand new deals to Ivan Provorov and Travis Konecny, and likely find a new starting goalie. The cap crunch will be much more real and the over-inflated $5MM contract of Andrew MacDonald will hurt. MacDonald’s six-year, $30MM contract was immediately panned by the public and it wasn’t long after that he was buried in the minors for cap relief and to keep him out of the lineup. MacDonald simply is not the player he was with the New York Islanders earlier in his career when he could eat major minutes, was stellar in man-to-man defense, and could block shots with the best. What he is being paid now is far beyond what he is actually worth. Some would say that Radko Gudas is worse, but that is an argument that suffers from recency bias. Combining the past two seasons, Gudas actually has the same amount of points as MacDonald in fewer games and less ice time, a better plus/minus rating, far more shots, and of course infinitely more hits. At $3.35MM for the next two years, Gudas is a far better deal.
Pittsburgh Penguins: Carl Hagelin – one year, $4MM remaining
The real answer is that GM Jim Rutherford would not like to trade any more players. He already ditched two of his worst contracts by sending Matt Hunwick and Conor Sheary to the Buffalo Sabres and he isn’t eager to make another salary dump. However, the reality is that Rutherford is going to find it hard to manipulate his roster this season with just over $1MM in cap space. As such, it is likely that another Penguin could be on the move. An outside observer could easily point to the Jack Johnson contract as one that stands little chance of maintaining its value over the term and the same argument could be made for Patric Hornqvist as well. However, Rutherford just signed those deals and wouldn’t move them even if he could. That leaves a short list of players who could be moved and the only one that sticks out as being overpriced is Carl Hagelin. Hagelin has played an important part of the Penguins’ reign over the past few years, but at $4MM he has not cracked 40 points in any of the three seasons and can go cold for weeks at a time. Rutherford won’t make a move unless it can benefit the team, but if he can get another scoring winger in exchange for a package that dumps Hagelin’s salary, he’ll do it.
San Jose Sharks: None
Mikkel Boedker, Joel Ward, and Paul Martin are all gone. Two top forwards, the two best defensemen, and the starting goalie are all locked up long-term at a reasonable rate. The Sharks have almost $4.5MM in cap space this season, giving them room to add. Congratulations to GM Doug Wilson and his staff. This roster is the epitome of cap compliance mixed with depth and talent. There is not one contract that the team would be interested in dumping.
St. Louis Blues: Alexander Steen – three years, $17.25MM remaining
The Blues currently have all but $285K of their cap space committed to 24 players. The team may send Chris Thorburn or Jordan Nolan down to the AHL, but will only gain marginal space. Something else has to give. If they could target any player to move to alleviate some pressure, it would be Alexander Steen. With just seven forwards and three defensemen (as of now) signed beyond next season and the majority of players in line for raises or free agent replacements, these cap woes aren’t going away anytime soon and an expensive long-term deal needs to be shipped out. Understandably, St. Louis is all in this season and wouldn’t be eager to ship out an important top-six piece. However, Ryan O’Reilly, Vladimir Tarasenko, Brayden Schenn, and Jaden Schwartz are the new young core up front now and paying 34-year-old Steen $5.75MM for three more years for declining production just doesn’t make sense. The Blues could potentially land some nice pieces from another contender for Steen as well. Admittedly, the Tyler Bozak contract looks even worse than Steen’s, but the Blues won’t be looking to trade a player they just signed.
Tampa Bay Lightning: Ryan Callahan – two years, $11.6MM remaining
The long-term implications of several other deals aside, the Lightning’s Stanley Cup window is wide open and their focus is on the here and now. The one player really impeding their ability to add freely to the roster is Ryan Callahan. While GM Steve Yzerman has excelled at extending most of his core below market value, the six-year, $34.8MM contract for Callahan was a mistake. Injuries limited Callahan to just 18 games in 2016-17, but last year he played in 67 games yet he only managed to score 18 points. Callahan’s days as an impact player are over, but he is still being paid like one at $5.8MM. While Tampa Bay can manage this season with close to $3MM in cap space, they would have more to work with without him. However, Callahan’s contract will really present a major road block next summer, when the Bolts need to re-sign Brayden Point, Yanni Gourde, Anton Stralman, and more. There is no doubt that Yzerman will look to unload Callahan’s contract before it comes to that point.
Toronto Maple Leafs: Nikita Zaitsev – six years, $27MM remaining
The Maple Leafs severely jumped the gun when they rewarded Nikita Zaitsev with a seven-year deal after his rookie season in 2016-17. Although Zaitsev was an import, making his NHL debut at 25 years old, his situation epitomizes why bridge deals exist. Toronto sought to lock him up long term and gave him nearly a maximum term at $4.5MM, just $500K less per year than top defender Morgan Rielly. In his encore performance last season, he showed that he is not worthy of the salary nor length of that contract, dropping from 36 points to 13 points for the year, turning the puck over at an alarming rate, and eventually becoming a healthy scratch. This team simply can’t afford the type of long-term mistake that they made with Zaitsev. While it’s nice that they have Reilly, John Tavares, and Nazem Kadri signed long-term, it’s Auston Matthews, Mitch Marner, and William Nylander they need to worry about. The Maple Leafs will have to balance multiple expensive, long-term deals moving forward and would love for Zaitsev’s to not be one of them.
Vancouver Canucks: Loui Eriksson – four years, $24MM remaining
It seems unlikely that the recently-signed deals for Jay Beagle and Antoine Roussel will work out well, but they at least deserve some time. Loui Eriksson has had his time and has done nothing with it. While the Canucks aren’t under any cap pressure, they can’t enjoy seeing Eriksson’s $6MM cap hit – the highest on the team – on the books for four more years, especially when the bulk of his front-loaded salary has already been paid out. Eriksson was brought in with an expectation that he would be the ultimate fit with Daniel and Henrik Sedin. Instead, he has scored just 47 points combined over two seasons, less than his final season total with the Boston Bruins. The Sedins are now gone, the team is trying to get both younger and more physical and defensive-minded, and Eriksson is simply an expensive poor fit. There’s not much more to say about a player who desperately needs a change of scenery and a team that wants him gone.
Vegas Golden Knights: None
The Golden Knights are riding high after an outrageously successful first season in the NHL. It is highly unlikely that they see anything wrong with their current contracts, almost all of which were either hand-picked or signed by GM George McPhee. Give it some time and that could change. Reilly Smith is notorious for a significant drop in production in his second year with a team, but is signed for four more years at $5MM. Paul Stastny for three years at $6.5MM per seems like a solid deal, but he has always produced better surrounded by equal talent. Does Vegas have enough to justify his signing? A $2.775MM cap hit for Ryan Reaves doesn’t seem to make a whole lot of sense. Finally, there’s the three-year, $21MM extension for heroic goalie but also 33-year-old well-worn vet Marc-Andre Fleury, which could end poorly. And this isn’t even counting what could be a massive reactionary contract for one-year breakout star William Karlsson. The Knights don’t see any problems right now after finding immediate success, but if they slide significantly in year two, things could get ugly.
Washington Capitals: T.J. Oshie – seven years, $40.25MM remaining
No, it’s not Tom Wilson. The call of the question is which contract each team wants to trade, not which is objectively the worst. Wilson’s contract does seem excessive, but he is just 24 and could grow into that salary (doubtful but possible). Plus, the organization loves what he brings to the team. T.J. Oshie on the other hand is heading in the wrong direction. Oshie has done what he was brought in to do: help the Capitals win the Stanley Cup. It took a max eight-year term to keep Oshie off the market last summer and now Washington has their Cup but also has a 31-year-old with diminishing returns signed for seven more years. Oshie could absolutely still help the Capitals over the next few years, but it’s doubtful that he will be back in 60-point range in that time. He also will be nothing more than a cap space vacuum when he’s in his late thirties making $5.75MM. Oshie is a great player and one of the more likeable guys in the league, but this contract has little upside left. The Capitals would at the very least consider trading Oshie now, which can’t be said for most of their other core players.
Winnipeg Jets: Jacob Trouba – one year, $5.5MM remaining
The list ends with a tricky one. Is $5.5MM a fair value for Trouba? An arbitrator thinks so and the Jets would likely agree. However, Trouba’s contract has been a nightmare for the team. The young defenseman clearly does not want to be in Winnipeg and has set himself up for yet another arbitration clash next summer, after which he will bolt in free agency. The Jets have no long-term security with Trouba and that meddles with their future planning. With Blake Wheeler, Tyler Myers, and several others also in need of new contracts next summer, the Jets don’t need another Trouba arbitration award cutting into their cap space just so that he can walk after the season. The team will definitely look to get maximum value in a trade for Trouba over the next season.
West Notes: Duchene, Ducks, Steen, Juolevi
With the start of the regular season now less than a week away, Matt Duchene remains a member of the Avalanche and Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman suggested to 630 CHED in Edmonton (audio link) that things are currently pretty quiet on the trade front with Colorado. GM Joe Sakic has set a very high asking price and as of yet, no one has been willing to meet it so it appears there’s a good chance that this will drag out into the season. Friedman notes that Columbus remains very interested in Duchene’s services while a trio of Western teams, Edmonton, Anaheim, and Nashville have been in and out of talks at times as well. Duchene has two years left on his contract with a $6MM cap hit but aside from the Ducks, the other three teams all have the cap room to take him on without sending any money the other way.
More from the West:
- Ducks defensemen Hampus Lindholm and Sami Vatanen are progressing well from their respective offseason shoulder surgeries, head coach Randy Carlyle told Eric Stephens of the Orange County Register. Both players have been skating in recent days, albeit in non-contact jerseys. Both rearguards are expected to miss all of October but have set a target to return to Anaheim’s lineup on November 1st.
- While Alex Steen’s hand injury will keep him out for the first week of the regular season, Jim Thomas of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports that the issue isn’t expected to keep him out too long beyond that. Steen is going to be counted on to play a big role when he returns, especially with long-term injuries to center Patrik Berglund (out until December) and winger Robby Fabbri, whose season is over before it even started due to a torn ACL.
- The Canucks have not yet decided where to assign defenseman Olli Juolevi. His agent Markus Lehto told Rick Dhaliwal of News 1130 (Twitter link) that a team in Europe could be a possible landing spot. The OHL’s London Knights – where he has spent the past two seasons – seems to remain the likeliest destination for the 19-year-old for now.
Fabbri Will Miss 10 Days After Re-Injuring Knee
Already having lost several key players to injuries, the St. Louis Blues just found about another injured player in star young forward Robby Fabbri. The 21-year-old forward, who went down with a knee injury and had surgery on his ACL, re-injured his knee during Saturday’s preseason game, according to NBC Sports James O’Brien. He will miss the rest of training camp and sit out for 10 days and then be re-evaluated.
The injury is just another blow to the Blues, who have already lost several key players, including Patrik Berglund, Zachary Sanford, Jay Bouwmeester and Alex Steen. Berglund underwent left shoulder surgery on June 27 and is expected to be out until at least December. Sanford also injured his shoulder and is expected to be out for at least five or six months, while Bouwmeester fractured his ankle and will sit out for two to three weeks before being re-evaluated. Steen injured his hand and has been ruled out for the remainder of training camp and will be evaluated in two to three weeks, just like Bouwmeester.
As for Fabbri, knee injuries can be difficult to recover from, so despite just a re-evaluation after 10 days, the worry is he might be out for much longer. Fabbri, the team’s first-round pick in 2014, scored 18 goals and had 19 assists in his rookie season. He was on his way of equaling or even surpassing those totals when he went down with the knee injury. Fabbri finished the year with 11 goals and 18 assists and many were counting on him to take over the team’s second-line center spot this year, although the team left him at the wing position during yesterday’s game.