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Brett Connolly

West Notes: Patrick, Connolly, O’Connor

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After a tough season with the Flyers, it seemed a trade was all but inevitable for Nolan Patrick and one eventually came to fruition as he was flipped to Vegas as part of the three-team deal that saw Cody Glass head to Nashville in return.  Speaking with Justin Emerson of the Las Vegas Sun, the 22-year-old acknowledged that a fresh start was probably the best thing for him.  Last season, the 2017 second-overall pick returned from missing an entire year due to migraines but managed just four goals and five assists in 52 games.  The Golden Knights still need to sign Patrick who is a restricted free agent but it’s hard to see him getting much more than his qualifying offer of just under $918K.  He should get an opportunity to play a regular role in their bottom six next season and a more consistent performance will be needed for him to have a shot at being an impact player.

Elsewhere in the West:

  • While he’s only two seasons removed from a 46-point campaign, Brett Connolly has seen his stock dip sharply since then to the point where Florida paid the Blackhawks to take on his contract. Now, as Ben Pope of the Chicago Sun-Times observes, the 29-year-old appears to be the odd one out in terms of making Chicago’s opening roster as things currently stand.  With two years left on his contract at $3.5MM, he’s a lock to go through waivers unclaimed and an assignment to the minors would only free up $1.125MM in cap space.  That said, if he’s only going to be a reserve player, going that route and bringing someone up making close to the minimum would likely be worthwhile from a cap perspective.
  • Avalanche winger Logan O’Connor missed more than two months with a lower-body injury last season with the team never revealing the nature of it. O’Connor clarified to Mike Chambers of the Denver Post that he had undergone sports hernia and groin surgery to fix an issue that had crept up early in the season.  The 25-year-old was able to return for the final two games of the playoffs and will have a chance for a bigger role in 2021-22 with the departures of Brandon Saad (free agency) and Joonas Donskoi (expansion).  He’s in the final year of his contract, one that carries an AAV that’s actually $25K below the league minimum.

Trade Deadline Summary: Central Division

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The NHL Trade Deadline has come and gone. A relatively slow day ended with a late burst, as many teams jumped into the mix at the last minute. How do you think your team did? Share your deadline grades in the comments for teams in the Central Division.

Carolina Hurricanes
Status: Buyer

In – F Cedric Paquette, D Jani Hakanpaa, D David Warsofsky, F Yegor Korshkov, 2022 sixth-round pick (ANA), 2022 seventh-round pick (CLB)
Out – F Ryan Dzingel, D Haydn Fleury, F Gregory Hofmann

Chicago Blackhawks
Status: Neutral

In – F Brett Connolly, F Vinnie Hinostroza, F Adam Gaudette, D Riley Stillman, F Henrik Borgstrom, F Josh Dickinson, F Ryder Rolston, 2021 second-round pick (VGK), 2022 third-round pick (VGK), 2021 fourth-round pick (MTL), 2021 seventh-round pick (FLA)
Out – F Mattias Janmark, F Carl Soderberg, F Matthew Highmore, F Lucas Wallmark, D Madison Bowey, D Lucas Carlsson, F Brad Morrison, 2021 fifth-round pick, 2022 fifth-round pick

Columbus Blue Jackets
Status: Seller

In – D Mikko Lehtonen, F Gregory Hofmann, 2021 first-round pick (TOR), 2021 first-round pick (TBL), 2022 third-round pick (TBL), 2022 fourth-round pick (TOR), conditional 2022 seventh-round pick (TOR)
Out – F Nick Foligno, D David Savard, F Riley Nash, G Veini Vehvilainen, 2022 seventh-round pick

Dallas Stars
Status: Neutral

In – None
Out – None

Detroit Red Wings
Status: Seller

In – F Jakub Vrana, F Richard Panik, F Hayden Verbeek, 2021 first-round pick (WAS), 2022 second-round pick (WAS), 2021 fourth-round pick (TBL), 2022 fourth-round pick (COL), 2021 fifth-round pick (OTT via MTL)
Out – F Anthony Mantha, D Patrik Nemeth, D Jon Merrill, D Brian Lashoff

Florida Panthers
Status: Buyer

In – F Sam Bennett, D Brandon Montour, F Lucas Wallmark, D Lucas Carlsson, F Brad Morrison, 2022 sixth-round pick (CGY)
Out – F Brett Connolly, F Vinnie Hinostroza, D Riley Stillman, F Henrik Borgstrom, F Emil Heineman, 2022 second-round pick, 2021 third-round pick, 2021 seventh-round pick

Nashville Predators
Status: Neutral

In – D Erik Gudbranson
Out – D Brandon Fortunato, 2023 seventh-round pick

Tampa Bay Lightning
Status: Buyer

In – D David Savard, D Fredrik Claesson, D Brian Lashoff, F Antoine Morand, conditional 2023 seventh-round pick
Out – F Alexander Volkov, G Magnus Chrona, 2021 first-round pick, 2022 third-round pick, 2021 fourth-round pick

Trade Rumors: Florida, Chicago, Toronto, Hall, Iafallo

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The Florida Panthers’ trade of Brett Connolly earlier today was seemingly a precursor to something more, perhaps even a lot more. The trade opens up even more cap room for a Panthers’ team that already had substantial space, seemingly allowing them to do whatever they want at the trade deadline. With an estimated $16.4MM in full-season cap space per CapFriendly, no one is off limits to the Cats, who are looking to make the most of their firm playoff position in the Central Division. TSN’s Pierre LeBrun reports during the latest edition of “Insider Trading” that Florida is seeking both a top-six forward and top-four defenseman and with this additional space, there is no reason why they can’t address both if they can find reasonable trades. LeBrun notes that the Panthers were one of the teams discussing Kyle Palmieri with the New Jersey Devils prior to yesterday’s deal and will have to look elsewhere for help up front. On the blue line, LeBrun believes that rookie GM Bill Zito could look to reunite with David Savard, one of his former players in Columbus and a player heavily expected to be dealt before the deadline. One way or another, the Panthers are absolutely a buyer and a team to watch as Monday’s deadline approaches.

  • As for the other side of this morning’s trade, the Chicago Blackhawks are expected to continue to use their cap room in hopes of adding other assets, LeBrun reports. Today’s deal not only landed a serviceable forward in Connolly, but also two nice young assets in Riley Stillman and Henrik Borgstrom. GM Stan Bowman would like to make as many of these types of deals as he can before the deadline. With so many teams across the league struggling with cap space, the Blackhawks could net several other pieces by offering up their financial flexibility. Specifically, LeBrun notes that Bowman has been talking to the Maple Leafs about a trade that would free up some space in Toronto.
  • The Maple Leafs have been searching for a forward for some time, but it has not been going well. Not only are the Leafs dealing with a cap crunch, but their targets keep disappearing from the market too. Frank Seravalli reports that Toronto had previously shown strong interest in both Palmieri and Nashville’s Mikael Granlund; Palmieri is now an Islander and the Predators are in playoff position. The team will have to look elsewhere, but don’t expect them to turn to Taylor Hall. While Darren Dreger notes that interest in Hall is picking up with Palmieri off the market, Seravalli notes that the Leafs are not a suitor. Both Hall’s cap cost and the asking price to acquire him are thought to be too much for GM Kyle Dubas. That could change if Toronto finds a way to open up cap space and the bidding war for Hall fizzles out, but it seems unlikely that a deal will come together by Monday if the Leafs have shown no interest thus far.
  • Tanner Pearson has finally signed a new contract with the Vancouver Canucks, but don’t worry a new extension-or-trade drama has already rose up to take it’s place. Seravalli reports that the Los Angeles Kings have been working hard to re-sign impending UFA forward Alex Iafallo and have previously turned away trade offers. However, the two sides have not been able to reach an agreement and time is running out. L.A. is now finally listening to offers for Iafallo, though extension talks continue. The Kings still hope to re-sign the 27-year-old scorer, but will have no choice but to trade him if a deal is not in place by Monday. L.A. is too far outside of a playoff spot right now to justify keeping Iafallo only to watch him walk for nothing as a free agent.

Chicago Blackhawks Acquire Brett Connolly

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The deadline is now just a few days away and the trade action is heating up. The Chicago Blackhawks have worked out a deal that will bring in Brett Connolly, Henrik Borgstrom, and Riley Stillman from the Florida Panthers. The Blackhawks will also receive a seventh-round pick, while the Panthers get Lucas Carlsson and Lucas Wallmark in return.

Chicago has been open with their willingness to take on bad money at the deadline, and Connolly would certainly qualify. The 28-year-old forward signed a four-year, $14MM contract with the Panthers in 2019 after his career-best 46-point season in Washington but has been a huge disappointment in 2020-21. Through 21 games, Connolly has just two goals and four points for the contending Panthers and has been pushed out of the lineup by several newcomers. At the end of February, his $3.5MM cap hit even got him through waivers.

It’s not like Connolly has struggled his entire time in Florida. During the 2019-20 season, he recorded 19 goals and 33 points in 69 games but was invisible in the Panthers’ four postseason contests and hasn’t found his game at all this year. A move to Chicago could potentially get him back on track, but for Florida, it is more about getting some salary off the books.

It may feel like Stillman has been around for years, but the young defenseman only turned 23 last month. Selected in the fourth round in 2016, he didn’t even go a full AHL season before making his NHL debut in 2018-19, and now has 43 games under his belt. Still, as a pending restricted free agent that hasn’t been able to establish himself yet, Stillman isn’t a huge prize for the Blackhawks.

The focus for Blackhawks fans should be Borgstrom, who was a first-round pick in 2016 and has 58 games under his belt at the NHL level. While he hasn’t made the immediate impact that some expected after dominating at the University of Denver, the 23-year-old center still has a lot of upside. That potential does come with risk though, as Borgstrom currently isn’t signed to an NHL contract. Instead, he spent this season playing for HIFK in Finland while remaining a restricted free agent here in North America. The Blackhawks would need to sign him to a new contract if he’s to make an impact next season.

Though the Panthers’ goal here was clearing cap space, Carlsson and Wallmark shouldn’t be completely overlooked. The former is a 23-year-old defenseman who has played in 12 games this season for the Blackhawks, and though he doesn’t have a lot of experience, could likely fill the same injury-replacement role that Stillman held.

Wallmark meanwhile is very familiar with the Panthers organization, having spent the end of last season with the team after a trade from Carolina. The 25-year-old forward had two strong seasons with the Hurricanes as a lineup regular, but hadn’t really found his place in Chicago. His $950K contract will expire at the end of this season, leaving Wallmark a restricted free agent. Of course, the Panthers didn’t qualify him last year, which means he might actually be heading for unrestricted free agency once again unless he can impress the front office down the stretch.

Pierre LeBrun of The Athletic was first to break the trade on Twitter.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images

Snapshots: Blue Jackets, Islanders, Stastny, Yamamoto

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The Columbus Blue Jackets were forced to trade away center Pierre-Luc Dubois, who demanded a trade. Their return was very good in Patrik Laine and Jack Roslovic, however, neither player fulfilled the team’s biggest hole — the one that Dubois left — the No. 1 center. And now, the Blue Jackets are looking for a way to fill that hole, which could be challenging, according to The Athletic’s Aaron Portzline (subscription required).

The team has a history of looking for a No. 1 center in the past as they struggled to find a top center to put next to Rick Nash. Not much has changed as the team has looked like they found their answer in Ryan Johansen and eventually Dubois. However, with Dubois gone and Max Domi playing on the wing at the moment, there again is quite a hole in the top of their lineup. However, Columbus general manager Jarmo Kekalainen said he’s looking outside the organization for help.

“We’ll keep searching and doing our job and building a team. We have some very good potential center ice men growing into that role within our team. But we’re also going to look for ways to strengthen that position from the outside.”

  • The New York Islanders are looking for some help for their third line, according to The Fourth Period’s David Pagnotta. The team is looking for a left wing they can pair with Jean-Gabriel Pageau and rookie Oliver Wahlstrom. However, the problem for New York and general manager Lou Lamoriello is that New York has little to no cap space to work with. So, in order to acquire that forward, the team will have to move out equal salary which will be challenging. Up until now, there has been no interest in Leo Komarov. According to Pagnotta, there had been some discussion of swapping Komarov for Brett Connolly, but talks stalled since Florida wasn’t willing to retain some of Connolly’s salary to make the money fit.
  • When asked in his most recent mailbag whether the Winnipeg Jets should consider trading Paul Stastny at the trade deadline, Sportsnet’s Ken Wiebe was quick to answer ’no.’ Stastny, who has moved to the wing and suddenly finds himself next to Mark Scheifele and Blake Wheeler, has played quite well in that role. With his quiet leadership and stability on the team, Wiebe believes the team will attempt to sign Stastny to a one-year extension to bring him back next year at a cheaper cost rather than trade him away.
  • Edmonton Oilers forward Kailer Yamamoto has been fined $3,854 by the Department of Player Safety for tripping Calgary Flames defenseman Rasmus Andersson. The fine is the maximum allowable under the collective bargaining agreement. The incident (video here) occurred at 14:12 of the first period when Yamamoto pulled the legs out from underneath Andersson in front of the Flames net. He was assessed a two-minute minor for tripping.

Brett Connolly Clears Waivers

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Mar 1: Like almost every other skater this season, Connolly has cleared waivers. He can now be assigned to the taxi squad or sent to the minor leagues.

Feb 28: The Florida Panthers put forward Brett Connolly on waivers, according to Sportsnet’s Chris Johnston. The one-time Stanley Cup champion with the Washington Capitals has struggled in Florida this year as the team hopes to move him to their taxi squad if he goes unclaimed.

The 28-year-old forward has put up just one goal and three points in 16 games with Florida this year, which likely isn’t good enough for head coach Joel Quenneville, who is trying to build a winner in Florida. Connolly has been relegated to fourth-line duties and now has been scratched four of the last five games.

Connolly is just another veteran who finds himself on waivers. The forward helped lead Washington to the Stanley Cup title back in 2018. He then took his game up a level with Washington the next season, scoring career-highs with 22 goals and 46 points in his free-agent year. The Panthers swooped in and signed him to a four-year, $14MM contract in the summer of 2019. He posted solid numbers in his first year under Quenneville, scoring 19 goals and 33 points. However, this year has been a totally different story.

Connolly, despite his experience as a solid bottom-six forward, isn’t a likely candidate to be claimed due to his $3.5MM AAV and the fact that he has another two years on his contract after this year. That should be enough to scare teams away from claiming him.

Florida Panthers Part Ways With GM Dale Tallon

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Aug 10: The Panthers have officially parted ways with Tallon, announcing that a search for their next GM has begun. In a short statement, owner Vinnie Viola explained what Tallon has meant for the club and why they were now moving on:

For the last decade, Dale raised the team’s profile, attracted key players to South Florida and brought character and class to our franchise. When we purchased the Panthers in 2013, we did so with a singular goal–to win a Stanley Cup. We have not seen our efforts come to fruition. We will now begin an organizational search for the next general manager.

Aug 7: The Florida Panthers were very unlikely to have made the playoffs this season under the standard format and few gave them a chance of an upset over the stout defense of the New York Islanders in the qualifying round. Yet, the organization is still not taking their elimination earlier today lightly. Fox Sports’ Andy Strickland reports that the hammer is set to drop on long-time executive Dale Tallon. The team is expected to move on from their GM shortly.

Tallon, hired as GM in Florida in 2010, had previously served in the same role with the Chicago Blackhawks and had a hand in the team’s Stanley Cup win the season prior to his departure. Tallon served as GM for the Panthers until 2016, when he was elevated to President of Hockey Operations. He then resumed GM duties as well in 2018. Having been around for a decade, Tallon’s influence can be found in every corner of the roster, even in long-time homegrown stars Aleksander Barkov, Jonathan Huberdeau, and Aaron Ekblad, who were all drafted by Tallon.

However, Tallon’s mistakes have also made a lasting impression on the roster. This past off-season in particular, Tallon gambled with the Panthers’ salary cap space, spending big on goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky, forward Brett Connolly, and defenseman Anton Stralman. It is hard to argue that any of the three have lived up to expectations in yet another disappointing season for the franchise, which has not won a playoff series since 1996. Yet, they are all multi-year deals and will continue to impact the team for seasons still to come. With little cap space heading into this off-season, top scorers like Mike Hoffman and Evgenii Dadonov could prove difficult to re-sign and the club could take another step backward next season. Other lasting mistakes have included a botched Expansion Draft strategy that saw the team give away Reilly Smith in order to ensure Jonathan Marchessault was selected by the Vegas Golden Knights, only to see both become reliable top-six forwards, not getting enough for forward Vincent Trocheck from the Carolina Hurricanes at the trade deadline this year, and simply flip-flopping on their organizational strategy too frequently.

In finding Tallon’s replacement, the Panthers need to find someone with a long-term outlook on the position and a concrete plan on how they will rebuild the club. Having made just three playoff appearances in the past ten years, Florida fans will likely be happy to miss the postseason for another year or two if it means sustained success down the road. That could start with some lottery luck in the form of the No. 1 overall pick and Alexis Lafreniere. Maximizing their four picks in the first three rounds one way or another will also be imperative for the new GM in his first draft. Finding a way to shed some dead weight salary and to add much-needed depth at all positions will also be key.

Not all of Tallon’s tenure in Florida has been bad – including the aforementioned homegrown standouts and a pair of division titles – but at the end of the day the Panthers have had no postseason success and they have their work cut out for them to change that any time soon. Tallon’s replacement will have plenty of work to do to undo some of the GM’s mistakes and to reverse the curse on the Florida franchise.

Trade Rumors: Pysyk, Goligoski, Flames

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The Florida Panthers did not enter this past off-season with all that much space under the salary cap ceiling, yet still went and handed out over $20MM in AAV to Sergei Bobrovsky, Anton Stralman, Brett Connolly, and Noel Acciari. As a result, the team has just $788K in cap leeway and no way to alleviate that pressure without making a move. Seeing as defenseman Mark Pysyk heard his name on the rumor mill last season, when the Panthers had ample cap space, the pressure on him has increased tenfold to prove that he is a valuable contributor to the team and not just $2.73MM in wasted space. Pysyk, an impending unrestricted free agent at year’s end, likes Florida and would like to stay with the team. However, he’ll find it hard to make his case that he should stick around when he is not on the ice. As The Athletic’s George Richards writes, Pysyk has found himself in a unfamiliar spot through the team’s first two games as a healthy scratch. New head coach Joel Quenneville opted to go with MacKenzie Weegar and Josh Brown as his bottom pair to begin the year, leaving Pysyk in the press box. Fortunately for Pysyk, he’s expected back in the lineup on Tuesday according to Quenneville. “He was always in consideration. He has some experience, gives us some versatility on the back end and can play both sides,” the veteran coach remarked. Yet, the trick is that even if Pysyk plays well in his return to the lineup, it doesn’t guarantee his safety from a trade. With his contract expiring, the 27-year-old is an expendable asset, especially for a team that hopes to contend for a playoff spot and could be eyeing cap space to make a trade addition of their own on the blue line later this season. If Pysyk is playing well and drawing attention from other teams, he could very well be on his way out of town. The two-way defender has heard those rumors before though, and all he can do is continue to focus on brining his best to the Panthers’ lineup whenever he’s active in hopes of proving he’s worth more as a long-term fit than as a cap dump.

  • Optimism was high to begin the season in Arizona and Coyotes GM John Chayka isn’t about to overreact to an 0-2 start to the year. However, The Athletic’s Craig Morgan admits that one valuable member of the team could become expendable if the team’s struggled do continue. The status quo has changed for Alex Goligoski, as the veteran defenseman’s No-Movement Clause expired last season and has been replaced with a Modified No-Trade Clause of a mere eight-team no-trade list. Morgan is adamant that the team has shown no desire to move Goligoski to this point, but at 34 years old and with only one year remaining on his contract beyond this season, Goligoski could be more valuable to a contender than to Arizona, especially if this season proves to be yet another step in the rebuilding process rather than the much-awaited jump to contender status. With a field of 22 possible suitors, there would surely be interest in the reliable puck-moving defender, even with his $5.475MM cap hit. The Coyotes hope it doesn’t come to that, but Goligoski will be a name to keep an eye on later this year if Arizona’s season begins to slip away.
  • It’s not strange for a team to be painfully close to the salary cap this season, and the Calgary Flames are just one of many teams who will have to manipulate the cap constantly this season to maintain what little flexibility they have. However, an easier solution would be to trade a high-salary player and Sportsnet’s Pat Steinberg writes for SB Nation that the team is actively looking to make a “financially-motivated trade”. The name that has come up in trade conversation for more than a year now is back in the rumor mill already: Michael Frolik. Steinberg notes that Frolik has not looked great through the team’s first two games and his $4.3MM cap hit isn’t earning him the benefit of the doubt. Steinberg believes that the Flames should not hesitate to move Frolik if the opportunity arises, as he feels the likes of Andrew Mangiapane, Tobias Rieder, Austin Czarnik, and Alan Quine could easily make up for Frolik’s absence. If there isn’t a market for Frolik, Steinberg adds that the team could consider moving Mark Jankowski as well. The 25-year-old center is not as much of a salary cap stinger, but Steinberg writes that the drop-off in salary between he and Quine is a larger gap than the drop-off in talent, believing the AHL veteran to be more than capable of taking over for Jankowski. With solid depth to make up for potential trade casualties, the Flames could make a move sooner rather than later and work on banking cap space for later in the year, as the team was criticized for not adding more at the deadline last year ahead of their short-lived playoff run.

Atlantic Notes: Divisional Upgrades?, McAvoy, Barre-Boulet

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Despite quite a bit of movement this offseason, it doesn’t look like much has changed in the Atlantic Division. With three teams that have dominated the division for the past few seasons, several teams were hoping to vault themselves into contention for the top of the Atlantic. However, The Athletic’s John Vogl (subscription required) analyzes each line of each divisional team and comes to the conclusion that little has changed.

The Boston Bruins are in the top half of the division on almost every line from forwards to defensemen and especially show off their defensive depth to still be ranked at the top. The Toronto Maple Leafs have also improved their team with a number of defensive additions and have quite a bit of forward depth as always, but their third-pairing depth is expected to be at the bottom of the division. Tampa Bay continues to be one of the strongest teams with a number of top lines throughout the division.

While many feel that Florida has taken that next step after the team signed goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky and added a pair of depth forwards in Brett Connolly and Noel Acciari, the Panthers find themselves in the middle of the pack for most of their lines. Even Bobrovsky doesnt’ give Florida that big of an advantage considering that he’s now in a division with Frederik Andersen, Andrei Vasilevskiy, Tuukka Rask and Carey Price.

  • The Boston Globe’s Kevin Paul Dupont writes that after the Boston Bruins inked forward Danton Heinen to a two-year deal at $2.8MM AAV, the Bruins will now focus their attention on their two most challenging restricted free agents in Charlie McAvoy and Brandon Carlo. The negotiations should prove challenging as the team hopes to keep their combined total to under $10MM per season. The team should be able to handle that. However, if they combine for closer to $11-12MM, the team will have to make some roster moves to free up some cap space. McAvoy, who has scored 14 goals and 60 points over two seasons and has proven the ability to be the team’s lead defenseman should get the most of that money, but Carlo’s development seems to have increased his value during the playoffs and he should get quite a raise as well.
  • With some openings at the bottom of their offensive depth chart, NHL.com’s Bryan Burns writes in his recent mailbag piece that there are a number of AHL players that are ready to challenge for these openings, including Alex Barre-Boulet, Carter Verhaeghe at the top of the list. Barre-Boulet, who the team signed out of the QMJHL after he went undrafted, dominated in his first season in the AHL last season, while Verhaeghe finally posted a dominant season with the Syracuse Crunch after toiling in the ECHL for several years. Tampa Bay, which has proven to be proficient in developing their players for NHL duty, also have a number of other prospects close to ready as well, including Alexander Volkov, Mitchell Stephens and Cory Conacher.

Florida Panthers Sign Brett Connolly

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Monday: As expected, the Panthers have confirmed a four-year deal with Connolly. However, the team has set to disclose the financial terms. GM Dale Tallon calls Connolly “a Stanley Cup Champion who knows what it takes to win in this league (and) brings a dimension of both size and skill to our young forward group and will strengthen our depth.” There is clearly an expectation that the scoring winger will continue to grow into a true top-six player over his time with Florida.

Sunday: While the Panthers have been linked to some of the top players in the free agent class, it appears as if they will be making some smaller free agent splashes as well.  Bob Stauffer of 630 CHED reports (Twitter link) that Florida could be signing winger Brett Connolly to a four-year contract when the market officially opens up on Monday.  Pierre LeBrun of TSN and The Athletic echoes (Twitter link) that the Panthers are expected to land Connolly while Fox Sports Midwest’s Andy Strickland adds (via Twitter) that the deal will carry a $3.5MM AAV.

The 27-year-old is coming off of a career year with Washington.  After putting up 27 points (his previous high) in 2017-18, he blew past that as he posted 22 goals and 24 assists in 81 games while chipping in with a pair of goals in the postseason.  Most notably, 44 of his 46 points came at even strength and finding players that are capable of producing without power play time are hard to find.  That helped vault him to 17th on our Top 50 UFA Rankings.

That said, this deal won’t be without its risks.  Connolly is only a few seasons removed from being non-tendered in two straight summers (2014-15 with Tampa Bay and 2015-16 with Boston) and his point production had been in the twenties for the three previous seasons before 2018-19.  If he reverts to his career averages, this contract could become an overpayment fairly quickly.  On the other hand, if he can come close to that level of five-on-five production once again, it could wind up as a bargain.

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