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Anton Stralman

Anton Stralman Signs With Boston Bruins

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Oct 12: The contract has been officially filed and announced by the Bruins, confirming the $1MM salary.

Oct 11: Defenseman Anton Stralman has converted on his PTO with the Boston Bruins, signing a one-year, $1MM contract, according to TSN’s Pierre LeBrun.

Stralman brings 930 games of NHL experience to a Bruins blueline that’s battered with injuries, missing two of their three best defensemen in Charlie McAvoy and Matt Grzelcyk. While he’s no longer the player he was at his peak with the Tampa Bay Lightning in the mid-2010s, he’s still a capable right-shot man who can log bottom-pairing minutes comfortably. He’ll be supporting Brandon Carlo, Connor Clifton, and Jakub Zboril on the team’s right side with McAvoy remaining out until around Thanksgiving.

Playing last season with the Arizona Coyotes, Stralman notched eight goals, 15 assists, and 23 points in 74 games, his best offensive totals in six years. He won’t be asked to play the 21-plus minutes per game he did in Arizona last season, either, and with a bit more support around him, expect him to play comfortably on the Bruins blue line.

Stralman could easily form a shutdown third pairing alongside Derek Forbort to begin the season, or he could also be a defensive anchor on the team’s second pairing alongside a more offensively-minded Mike Reilly.

Boston Bruins Sign Anton Stralman To PTO

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Saturday: The Bruins have made the PTO official with a release on their site this morning. Boston visits the Philadelphia Flyers this evening for their first preseason contest, but it doesn’t appear Stralman will draw in, as he wasn’t skating at practice this morning, details The Athletic’s Fluto Shinzawa.

Friday: The Bruins have made a late addition to their training camp roster, signing veteran defenseman Anton Stralman to a professional tryout agreement, per The Athletic’s Pierre LeBrun.

Stralman had been lingering on the market as an unrestricted free agent to this point, and while some speculated that retirement could be a possibility for the 36-year-old Stralman communicated a clear desire to continue his career.

In Boston, Stralman will vie for a chance to reinforce a blueline that will be without two crucial players at the start of the regular season. Both Charlie McAvoy and Matt Grzelcyk are expected to remain unavailable by the time the Bruins take on the Capitals on October 12th. This could give Stralman a leg up as he competes for a role on the Bruins’ defense, as the team could prefer to have Stralman, who has nearly 1,000 games of NHL experience, in their lineup rather than less experienced in-house options such as Jakub Zboril or Jack Ahcan.

Stralman isn’t the quality top-four blueliner he once was, but on a talent-poor Arizona Coyotes team last season Stralman scored a healthy 23 points in 74 games and played more than 21 minutes per night. In a more limited role in Boston, he could find success.

For Stralman, this PTO signing leaves him less secure in his future than a regular NHL contract would, but he nonetheless has a strong opportunity in front of him to earn NHL time.

The Bruins are a good team who also, at least on paper, look to have room for him to win a spot on their blueline. If Stralman can have a good camp and show up well in the preseason, he could see himself wearing Bruins colors for longer than just the preseason.

Snapshots: Senators Defense, Couture, Stralman

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The Ottawa Senators are intent on competing for a playoff spot next season, and their offseason moves have reflected that intention. The team spent major resources in both cap space and draft picks to add some star talent, and the result of those expenditures is that Claude Giroux and Alex DeBrincat will be wearing red and black this upcoming season. But while the team’s offensive attack is significantly improved from last season, less attention has been paid to their defense.

In an interview with Postmedia’s Bruce Garrioch, Senators coach D.J. Smith revealed what his plans are for the team’s defense corps. Smith stated that he intends to pair top prospect and rookie defenseman Jake Sanderson with veteran blueliner Travis Hamonic to start camp. That pairing would go along with a more established pairing of Thomas Chabot and Artem Zub, one that will presumably handle the team’s toughest minutes. This news is not a major surprise, although it could be to those who are low on the current makeup of the Senators’ blueline. Much had been made about the Senators’ pursuit of an additional top-four defenseman this summer, but it seems that those pursuits have concluded, at least for the time being.

Now, for some other notes from across the NHL:

  • While the San Jose Sharks’ new era under GM Mike Grier began with a trade of veteran defenseman Brent Burns, don’t expect a similar departure for other Sharks star veterans, namely Logan Couture. In speaking to Corey Masisiak of The Athletic, Couture said that when asked, as Burns was, about potentially being traded, Couture “didn’t think twice about it.” (subscription link) Couture is seemingly all-in on the Sharks returning to contention next season, and for the team to have any chance of success next season they’ll need their veteran centerman to continue to play like a quality top-six center.
  • The Montreal Canadiens made some moves to shake up their team this summer, and their most significant move on defense came with the trade of Jeff Petry to the Pittsburgh Penguins. In addition to losing Petry, the Canadiens also dealt Alexander Romanov to the New York Islanders. The team added Mike Matheson in the Petry deal, but is still short one NHL defenseman from where they were last year. That has led some, including The Athletic’s Marc Antoine Godin, to suggest that the Canadiens add a veteran defenseman before this upcoming year. (subscription link) Godin specifically names veteran defenseman Anton Stralman as someone the Canadiens should target, given his experience and track record of reliability. Stralman skated in the third-most minutes per game of any Arizona Coyotes player last season and would compete for a role on Montreal’s right side with Chris Wideman, David Savard, and Justin Barron.

Free Agent Profile: Anton Stralman

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At the peak of his game, defenseman Anton Stralman was possibly the most underrated two-way defenseman in the league. In his late 20s, his first few seasons in a Tampa Bay Lightning uniform were his best, receiving some Norris votes and flourishing in a top-four role on an emerging Tampa team looking to win. Since signing a well-paid free-agent deal with the Florida Panthers in 2019, though, his point production and his defensive play have declined severely.

Fresh off his 36th birthday at the beginning of the month, Stralman is still looking for an NHL contract next season. Spending the final season of that three-year contract signed with Florida with the Arizona Coyotes, Stralman did have his highest point total since 2015-16. It also came with an increase in ice time, though, which saw his defensive game decline even further from where it had in Florida.

Stralman still carries value in his leadership and experience, and given he’s 70 games away from 1,000 in the NHL, it’s a fair bet to assume he still has the drive to play in the NHL. On a contending team, though, he’s likely not more than a sixth or seventh defenseman at this stage. He does have the added value of being a right-shot defenseman, which some teams could surely use some added depth at. His play-driving ability, at least offensively, is still strong, but would likely need a sound two-way partner to have a lot of effectiveness.

Stats

2021-22: 74 GP, 8-15-23, -16 rating, 12 PIMs, 95 shots, 44.4 CF%, 21:20 ATOI
Career: 930 GP, 63-230-293, +49 rating, 285 PIMs, 1314 shots, 51.3 CF%, 20:00 ATOI

Potential Suitors

One team looking to make the next step that needs some added security at right D is the Vancouver Canucks. A bottom-pairing role could be a good fit for Stralman here alongside a solid, young two-way partner in Travis Dermott. It’s a win-win, allowing Dermott to benefit from Stralman’s leadership, and Stralman’s play on its own is likely an upgrade over that of Kyle Burroughs or Tucker Poolman. The Canucks already have a lot of depth defensemen in the organization, though, and with Jack Rathbone fighting for NHL ice time, it might be too much for the organization to add to at this point.

The Edmonton Oilers are also a team without much defensive depth outside of their top six, which is fairly locked in at this point. With no great options to carry around as an extra on the NHL roster, Stralman could look to head to Alberta for a chance to win his first Stanley Cup.

With the Florida Panthers losing both MacKenzie Weegar and Ben Chiarot this summer, a return to the Sunshine State may also be a good fit for Stralman, who could join a depth contingent there that includes Marc Staal and Lucas Carlsson.

Projected Contract

At this stage, unless he’s joining a team not expected to make a huge playoff bid, Stralman’s contract would likely be a one-year deal close to, if not exactly, the league minimum $750K. All of the above-mentioned suitors are teams right up against their salary cap limits, and fitting Stralman in would be a tough ask if he’s not on the cheap.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images

Anton Stralman Hopes To Continue Playing, Open To Arizona Reunion

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In talking with Jose Romero of Arizona Central Sports, Arizona Coyotes defenseman Anton Stralman emphasized his desire to continue playing, adding that he is open to returning to the Coyotes (link). Stralman, who just finished the final year of a three-year, $16.5MM contract that he signed with the Florida Panthers prior to the 2019-20 season, was traded this past offseason to Arizona in what amounted to a salary cap dump, with Arizona also receiving a second-round pick and prospect Vladislav Kolyachonok in exchange for just a seventh-round pick.

The veteran defenseman told Romero that he came to the Coyotes hoping to prove he could still play in the NHL, and he believes he did that this season. It would be hard to disagree with Stralman’s assessment of his season, as the 35-year-old turned in a 23 point campaign over 74 games, the most points he has had since 2015-16, combining that with steady defense and veteran leadership on a young and rebuilding Coyotes team. He may not be the player he was when he helped lead the New York Rangers and Tampa Bay Lightning in consistently deep playoff runs between 2012 and 2018, but Stralman has shown this season that he still has something to offer.

As a free agent for the first time since 2019, it’s hard to say what Stralman’s next contract could look like, or what kind of team would pursue him. It’s unlikely he would get more than a year or two max given his age and recent decline, however given his presumptive affordability, Stralman could parlay his free agency into an inexpensive contract with a team looking for depth and leadership as it pursues a Stanley Cup. On the other hand, Stralman could maximize his potential, signing with a team that is looking for leadership for its young players as they rebuild, trying also to hit the salary cap floor, such as a reunion with Arizona.

As for Arizona, it’s not insignificant that Stralman would want to return. The Coyotes are slated to play their home games at Arizona State University next season in a much smaller arena, not necessarily desirable for NHL play. Having a veteran like Stralman, who also has the option to retire or perhaps chase a Stanley Cup, express desire to stay with the team through an uncertain time, in an odd situation, and during a rebuild, speaks to the upsides of the organization from a player’s perspective.

Snapshots: Coyotes, Canucks, Kuzmenko, Pillar

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The Coyotes are set to get their top defenseman back in the lineup as Jakob Chychrun has cleared COVID protocol, relays Jose M. Romero of the Arizona Republic.  Chychrun had been out with an upper-body injury sustained back in December and was close to returning before testing positive.  Head coach Andre Tourigny, defensemen Anton Stralman and Kyle Capobianco, and goalie Scott Wedgewood all also cleared protocols and are with Arizona on their road trip.  However, they will be without winger Antoine Roussel who entered COVID protocol today and will miss at least the next five days.

Elsewhere around the hockey world:

  • While the attendance restrictions in Vancouver have been extended through the middle of February, the Canucks will not be having any games on their upcoming three-game homestand rescheduled, mentions Postmedia’s Ben Kuzma (Twitter link). Vancouver already has seven games that need to be rescheduled with at least some of those changes expected to be announced very soon.
  • Free agent winger Andrei Kuzmenko won’t be deciding on which NHL team he’ll sign with anytime soon. TSN’s Darren Dreger reports in the latest Insider Trading segment that the 25-year-old will wait until the end of his season in Russia before choosing where to sign with.  Kuzmenko is on Russia’s training camp list for the upcoming Olympics and as the second-leading scorer in the KHL, it’s quite likely that he’ll make it.  Ottawa is among the teams known to be interested although Dreger relays that almost every team has at least reached out to his agent (Gold Star’s Dan Milstein) to inquire about Kuzmenko.
  • Wild prospect Josh Pillar was traded from Kamloops to Saskatoon at the WHL trade deadline on Monday. The 2021 fourth-round pick has averaged just over a point per game for the second straight season with 11 goals and 20 assists in 29 games.  However, the two picks the Blazers are receiving are conditional as the winger is currently dealing with a private medical situation and the move was made to allow Pillar to recover closer to home.

Coyotes Cancel Practice, Add Six To COVID Protocol

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Another coronavirus outbreak is starting in the NHL, this time affecting the Arizona Coyotes. The team canceled practice earlier today after receiving test results and this afternoon announced that Scott Wedgewood, Jakob Chychrun, Cam Dineen, Anton Stralman, head coach Andre Tourigny, and goaltending coach Corey Schwab have all been placed in the COVID protocol.

The Coyotes are scheduled to take on the Toronto Maple Leafs on Wednesday, before a home-and-home series against the Colorado Avalanche on the weekend. The team already had Kyle Capobianco and assistant coach Mario Duhamel in the protocol, placed there a few days ago.

While Chychrun was already out with an injury, losing the other players–especially Wedgewood–is certainly a challenge for the Coyotes. The team has so many injuries and absences even before these players were ruled out, that icing a competitive lineup will be even tougher.

Of course, the Coyotes were having trouble icing a roster like that anyway as they go through a scorched earth rebuild. The team has won just seven times in 33 games and sit last in the entire NHL.

Arizona Coyotes To Acquire Anton Stralman

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Florida Panthers defenseman Anton Stralman has waived his no-trade clause and will be heading to the Arizona Coyotes, according to Pierre LeBrun of The Athletic. Stralman has just one year remaining on his current contract, which carries a $5.5MM cap hit. Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet reports that the Coyotes will also receive prospect Vladislav Kolyachonok, and a 2024 second-round pick. The Panthers will receive a 2023 seventh-round pick in return.

The Coyotes have made move after move this summer to weaponize their cap space, using it to acquire future assets in preparation for a rebuild. Many of their key players remain in the fold, but the team has taken on bad contracts like Andrew Ladd, Loui Eriksson, Jay Beagle, and Antoine Roussel. They even received two draft picks to bring in Shayne Gostisbehere, who will likely be asked to play big minutes given how many vacancies there are on the back end. Oliver Ekman-Larsson was shipped out of town, Niklas Hjalmarsson retired while Jason Demers, Alex Goligoski, Jordan Oesterle, Aaron Ness and Jordan Gross are all pending unrestricted free agents.

That means Stralman would be joining a group that includes only Gostisbehere, Jakob Chychrun, and Ilya Lyubushkin on the back end. That’s not a group that should be very imposing, at least not anymore. The 34-year-old Stralman (who turns 35 in just a few days) was once the perfect defensive complement to high-end offensive players, but has declined rapidly in recent years. His minutes were slashed this season in Florida, where he recorded just nine points in 38 games.

Arizona meanwhile now holds five second-round picks for the 2022 draft and have now added another one for down the road, which should help them restock a bereft prospect pipeline. The team had traded away top prospects to acquire players like Taylor Hall and Phil Kessel, while also being stripped of draft picks thanks to scouting violations. GM Bill Armstrong has obviously decided that building that part of the organization back up was a priority this offseason, but it could very well come at the cost of a competitive season.

The Coyotes have just five players signed to one-way contracts for the 2022-23 season (six, if you include Ladd, who has played just five NHL games over the past two years), and have been rumored to be listening even on some of those. Unless the team is extremely aggressive in free agency, this appears like it will be quite a lean year for the roster, relying on aging veterans or fringe NHL players to fill several key spots.

For Florida, getting rid of Stralman’s cap hit is a huge boost, given their recent acquisition of Sam Reinhart. The team signed RFA Sam Bennett earlier this morning and didn’t have a lot of room left to get the 25-year-old Reinhart done. Now, with an extra $5.5MM in room, the team can not only get Reinhart under contract but could potentially look for further upgrades through free agency. Giving away a prospect and a pick is never easy, but the Panthers are in a win-now mode with their deep, relatively young roster that looks poised to do some damage in the Atlantic Division.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images

Trade Rumors: Hall, Flyers, Panthers

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While he stopped short of stating that there is a lot of interest in Buffalo Sabres winger Taylor Hall, TSN’s Darren Dreger noted on “Insider Trading” this evening that the team is receiving different varieties of offers for the former MVP. While some teams see Hall strictly as a rental, Dreger reports that GM Kevyn Adams has also received calls from teams with interest in a trade-and-sign potential. Despite Hall’s struggles this season, it seems that there are clubs who still believe in his long-term value once he escapes Buffalo. Normally, these teams would not necessarily need to inform the opposing GM of their post-trade intentions. However, given Hall’s No-Movement Clause there seems to be more transparency from suitors in hopes that Hall would waive to come to their team. Dreger relays that Adams and Hall’s agent, Darren Ferris, recently met to discuss these offers as well as those from teams who have not yet expressed interest in an extended relationship with Hall.

GM, agent, and player will all need to be on the same page for a deal to get done, but Hall has already stated that he is open to waiving his NMC for the right move, so it seems likely that he will end up traded. Yet, don’t be surprised if the deal doesn’t happen until deadline day. Dreger believes that Adams could hold on to Hall as long as he can, allowing Hall’s pro-rated cap hit to decrease as much as possible, as a tactic to improve or at least maintain his trade value. With so many team’s facing a salary cap crunch, a cheaper Hall is a more valuable Hall. To this point, it seems teams have balked at Buffalo’s first-round price tag for Hall, but their best chance of netting that return will likely be on deadline day.

  • As young Carter Hart continues to struggle this season, it is becoming more and more likely that the Philadelphia Flyers will have to add another goalie if they want to compete for a playoff spot down the stretch. TSN’s Pierre LeBrun reports that they are certainly considering a move, but have not made a decision yet. While the numbers for Hart as well as Brian Elliott are not appealing so far this season, bringing in a third netminder is not a simple decision. The Flyers would need to have the cap flexibility to carry three goalies and would also need to consider the mental status of Hart if they were to essentially bump the season-opening starter to a third-string role. LeBrun believes that Philadelphia will wait as long as possible to make a deal, hoping that their current tandem improves but also in order to take a realistic look at their playoff chances at the deadline and weigh whether a move in worth it. If the Flyers do opt to seek another goalie, LeBrun notes that the name they are being linked to is Detroit Red Wings veteran Jonathan Bernier.
  • It would surprise no one to hear that the Florida Panthers are looking for a defenseman in light of the season-ending injury suffered by stalwart Aaron Ekblad. However, Florida Hockey Now’s George Richards reports that the team was actually scouring the market for a top-four blue liner even before Ekblad’s injury, which only served to up their efforts. The Panthers had enjoyed strong seasons from Ekblad, MacKenzie Weegar, and Keith Yandle and had not hesitated to give considerable play time to Anton Stralman, Gustav Forsling, and Radko Gudas as well. However, the team recently waived Stralman, which just goes to show how much they value his contribution so far this season. And while Yandle and Gudas have played well, the two are somewhat of specialists, only excelling at one end of the ice. With Ekblad gone, the Panthers will have to rely on Weegar and Forsling as their most complete defensemen and neither has the experience needed to lead a contender on a deep playoff run. It is likely this concern that prompted a search even before Ekblad went down.

Anton Stralman Clears Waivers

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Saturday: As expected, Stralman has cleared waivers, reports Sportsnet’s Chris Johnston.

Friday: The Florida Panthers are in a position to compete for the Stanley Cup, and now may be trying to clear a little cap room for the stretch run. According to Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet, the team has placed Anton Stralman on waivers today. The veteran defenseman carries a $5.5MM cap hit through the 2021-22 season, $1.075MM of which can be buried if placed on the taxi squad.

Because of that contract, exposing Stralman to the rest of the league comes with virtually no risk. There aren’t any teams out there looking to bring in that much money for a veteran nearing the end of his career, even if Stralman does have plenty of playoff experience. In fact, even the Panthers aren’t playing him every night, and when they do he is receiving fewer and fewer minutes. After averaging more than 20 minutes in each of the last six seasons, Stralman has only cracked 18 once since the start of March. Last night in a 3-0 loss to the Chicago Blackhawks, he played just 14:18.

The simple fact is that the Panthers have better options than the 34-year-old at this point and could even be potentially looking to bring more in at the deadline. The team recently sent Noah Juulsen to the AHL on a conditioning loan, meaning he is nearly back from injury, and there are other names more deserving of the nightly ice time.

Still, waiving Stralman doesn’t mean they’re cutting him. Once he clears, the team will be able to move him back and forth from the taxi squad between games to bank additional cap space while still using him whenever necessary. There’s also the chance another team could be interested if the Panthers retain salary, especially should he clear waivers.

It’s been a great career for the veteran defenseman, even if it is approaching the end. The 216th-overall pick in 2005 by the Toronto Maple Leafs, Stralman proved everyone wrong when he reached the NHL as a regular just a few years later. Now, after 847 regular season games and 108 more postseason contests, he may be shifting to a part-time role with the contending Panthers.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images

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