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Metropolitan Notes: Hayes, Flyers, Faulk

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Between the draft and the early days of free agency, it has become clear that quality centers are in more and more demand. Accordingly, Larry Brooks of the New York Post opines that the Rangers may soon face a crossroads with Kevin Hayes.  The restricted free agent is one year away from unrestricted free agency and is coming off the type of season that would have a lot of teams interested in him; he had a career-high 25 goals in 76 games last season.

With that in mind, Brooks thinks that a $6MM or more payday will be on the horizon if Hayes makes it to the open market next summer. That means the Rangers will have to decide in the coming weeks whether they want to be the ones to give him that type of contract or look to cash in on the demand for centers around the league and make a trade instead.

More from the Metropolitan:

  • The Flyers pursued some help at center in free agency but the term that was being sought was too long for them, notes Dave Isaac of the Cherry Hill Courier-Post. Instead, they appear set to try to fill the void that was vacated by Valtteri Filppula’s departure internally with returning players like Scott Laughton and Jordan Weal potentially getting a chance to take on a bigger role. Philadelphia also had interest in adding a veteran defender but again, they have decided now to keep a spot open for a youngster such as Travis Sanheim to make a run at a full-time role.
  • Even though they don’t play the same side, Tuesday’s addition of defenseman Calvin de Haan could help push Carolina towards trading blueliner Justin Faulk, suggests Luke DeCock of the Raleigh News & Observer. The Hurricanes now have Dougie Hamilton and Brett Pesce locked up for at least the next three years on the right side which could make Faulk, who carries a $4.833MM cap charge for two more seasons, expendable. There is high demand for top-four right-shot defenders so it stands to reason that they could get a strong return if they do indeed decide to deal the 26-year-old. In the same column, DeCock reports that de Haan turned down more lucrative offers than the four-year, $18.2MM deal he signed with Carolina.

Carolina Hurricanes Sign Calvin De Haan

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The Carolina Hurricanes, known for their depth and talent on defense, continue to surprisingly add top blue line names to the roster this off-season. After previously trading for right-handed scoring threat Dougie Hamilton, the team has reportedly agreed to a deal with arguably the top defender on the free agent market, left-landed shutdown defenseman Calvin de Haan. The Raleigh News & Observer’s Luck DeCock first reported that the team has signed de Haan to a four-year, $18.2MM contract – a $4.55MM AAV. The team confirmed the deal soon after.

De Haan, 27, was No. 9 on PHR’s Top 50 Free Agents List. Although he missed the majority of last season due to injury, de Haan has shown a high-end defensive ability in his pro career. The 12th overall pick in 2009 by the New York Islanders, de Haan has proven to be one of the best shot blockers in the NHL and an extremely reliable presence on the back end. Yet has has also improved his offensive production with each year, including a career-best scoring rate prior to his injury last season. While many may have balked at a $4.55MM value for de Haan in a vacuum, he is clearly superior to nearly every other defenseman in this free agent market.

Carolina is a surprise landing spot for the defensive standout though. De Haan’s arrival in Raleigh will only add to a formidable corps of rearguards that includes Hamilton, Justin Faulk, Jaccob Slavin, Brett Pesce, Trevor van Riemsdyk (an RFA), young pros Haydn Fleury and Roland McKeown, and elite prospects Jake Bean, Luke Martin, and Adam Fox. De Haan’s signing very well could be a sign of more changes coming in Carolina under new ownership and new GM Don Waddell. 

New York Islanders Agree To Terms With Thomas Hickey

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The New York Islanders looked like they would be supplying the market with two of the top free agent defensemen, but now one has decided to stay home. Darren Dreger of TSN reports that the team has an agreement with Thomas Hickey on a four-year contract worth $10MM.

With Calvin de Haan and Hickey as two of the top blueliners on the free agent market and the Islanders being considered to have one of the weakest defenses in the league, re-signing at least one of their defenseman was crucial. Hickey posted five goals and 25 points in 69 games last season for the Islanders and was relied on more than in previous years as he averaged 18:04 of ATOI. The six-year veteran has played for the Islanders his entire career.

The defensive specialist, who can be prone to making mistakes, will re-join veteran Johnny Boychuk, Nick Leddy, Scott Mayfield, Adam Pelech and Ryan Pulock, who many think will be given a much bigger role with the Islanders next season.

 

Free Agent Rumor Round-Up: Maroon, Grabner, De Haan, Rieder

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Teams are free to speak with impending free agents prior to the official opening of free agency on Sunday, July 1st. As usual, that has produced a flurry of rumors regarding which teams and how many teams are talking to each of the biggest names. Here is an update on some of those rumors:

  • Unsurprisingly, winger Patrick Maroon has been linked to his hometown St. Louis Blues. Jeremy Rutherford of The Athletic reports and Jim Thomas of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch confirms that the Blues have reached out to Maroon’s camp in hopes of bringing him back to where his hockey aspirations first began. Maroon is coming off a career-high 43-point season and especially looked strong after a Trade Deadline deal from the Edmonton Oilers to the New Jersey Devils. Blues beat reporter Andy Strickland adds that Maroon has not closed the door on a return to either Edmonton or New Jersey, but that the Blues are one of at least six other teams who are pursuing the power forward.
  • The Boston Bruins were busy making their pitch to John Tavares today, but that doesn’t mean that they weren’t also thinking a few steps ahead. Mark Divver of the Providence Journal says that the Bruins have “checked in” on two-way speedster Michael Grabner, another Devils deadline acquisition. Not only do the Bruins need another veteran right-shot forward and want to continue to add quickness to the roster, but it also might not be a coincidence that Grabner spent years playing alongside Tavares with the New York Islanders.
  • In a shallow class of top-four defenseman, Calvin de Haan is drawing a lot of interest despite missing most of the season with the New York Islanders due to injury. The 27-year-old former first-round pick is one of the more reliable and younger options among defenders on the market and is set to cash in as a result. Kings beat writer Dennis Bernstein reports that Los Angeles is the latest team to show interest in de Haan, bringing the speculated total number of teams interested in the blue liner into the double-digits.
  • When the Kings declined to offer Tobias Rieder a qualifying offer yesterday, it was only a matter of time before teams came calling on the new UFA. Sportsnet’s Rick Dhaliwal states that the Vancouver Canucks are one of those interested teams, but that four or five other suitors have already emerged. The two-way winger is one of the youngest and most versatile options available on the market.

Free Agency Notes: De Haan, Bernier, Stastny, Vanek

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While early reports that quite a bit of interest has been directed towards John Tavares, another New York Islanders’ unrestricted free agent has garnered attention too. David Pagnotta of The Fourth Period reports defenseman Calvin de Haan has received significant interest from upwards of 10 teams so far.

While Lou Lamoriello has made it clear that it is his mission to convince Tavares to stay with the Islanders, the team has two key defensive free agents to worry about as well, including de Haan and Thomas Hickey. De Haan, however, is an interesting situation as the blueliner has shown a lot of promise over the years since being drafted in the first round back in 2009, which includes some flashes of brilliance at times, but he’s never been able to put it all together in a full season for the Islanders. He did put up career highs in 2016-17 with five goals and 25 points and may well have been on his way to break that this year, but went down with a season-ending injury on Dec. 16. He posted one goal and 11 assists in 33 games.

Many teams feel that a change of scenery and the fact that the free agent is still just 27, would make him an ideal player who could become a quality top-four defenseman.

  • The Athletic’s Craig Custance reports that unrestricted free agent goaltender Jonathan Bernier has indicated that he likes Colorado and would like to return to the Avalanche. However, after the team traded for Washington Capitals goaltender Philipp Grubauer Friday and the fact they still have Semyon Varlamov listed as their starter, that would cause an unusual logjam at the goaltending position. If Colorado would rather have a combination of Grubauer and Bernier, general manager Joe Sakic would have to make another roster move to rid himself of Varlamov, who will be an unrestricted free agent in 2019. There would almost undoubtedly be a market for Varlamov if Sakic made him available. Bernier had moments of brilliance last season, but finished the year with a 2.85 GAA and a .913 save percentage in 37 games.
  • Fox Sports Andy Strickland reports that their is mutual interest for veteran center Paul Stastny to return to the Winnipeg Jets. Stastny thrived in Winnipeg’s offense alongside Patrik Laine and Nikolaj Ehlers, but the expected cost of retaining Stastny, who is the No. 2 center on the unrestricted free agent market, is not in the team’s financial plans. Custance writes the Jets are looking for a way to keep Stastny, which would require them to move out a contract to make a deal like that work. The 32-year-old put up 16 goals and 53 points between St. Louis and Winnipeg last year.
  • Sportsnet’s Rick Dhaliwal writes that while former Vancouver Canucks forward Thomas Vanek has received some early interest from teams, the Canucks are not one of them. There had been some early talk that the team wanted to bring back the 34-year-old winger after they traded the veteran to Columbus at the trade deadline. The team liked the way he mentored the younger players. His 17 goals for Vancouver (24 total for the season) suggest he still has the ability to put the puck in the net.

Free Agent Focus: New York Islanders

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Free agency is now a little less than a month away from opening up and there are quite a few prominent players set to hit the open market while many teams have key restricted free agents to re-sign.  Here is a breakdown of New York’s free agent situation.

Key Restricted Free Agents: F Brock Nelson – Though all eyes in New York are watching a certain unrestricted free agent (we’ll get to that later), the team still has plenty of work to do with some of their restricted players this summer. One of those is Nelson, who while frustratingly inconsistent at times still has four straight seasons with at least 19 goals.

It’s not that Nelson is an integral offensive piece on a team that has plenty of weapons up front, but scoring goals in the NHL is a daunting task and those who can do it at both even-strength and on the powerplay aren’t that easy to find. For any team, secondary scoring threats like Nelson get paid exceptionally well and are a tough group to hold on to long-term. Even with his slightly reduced totals this season, he’s still heading into the summer in a strong negotiating position as this is his final year before qualifying for UFA status. That means any term the Islanders give is buying out UFA years and sending the average annual value of the contract skyrocketing.

D Ryan Pulock – It’s not just up front that the team has some tough decisions, as Pulock broke out this season and could be looking for a long-term deal. The 23-year old defenseman finally got his full-time chance in the NHL and crushed it with 32 points in 68 games. That came with the best possession stats of any defenseman on the team, while still taking his fair share of defensive responsibilities.

Pulock is only now coming off his entry-level contract and is not yet eligible for salary arbitration, meaning the Islanders could certainly wait to lock him up long-term. That said, he’s so clearly a part of their future on the blue line that the team may want to commit right away.

Other RFAs: F Ross Johnston, F Alan Quine, F Shane Prince, D Brandon Davidson, D Kyle Burroughs, F Kyle Schempp, D Devon Toews

Key Unrestricted Free Agents: F John Tavares – It all starts and ends with Tavares, who is basically holding the free agent market hostage at the moment. Though John Carlson and others are fine prizes, no one is a franchise-changing player like Tavares in the prime of his career. The three-time 80-point man is coming off one of his most successful offensive seasons and he has proven time and again to be able to carry less talented wingers to big production.

Every team in the league would love to slide Tavares into their lineup, but it’s still unclear how many would really be able to put together the kind of financial package to entice him. Even that’s only if he ends up hitting the free agent market, something that may not even be likely at this point. Recently, when the Islanders fired their GM and head coach a new bout of speculation arose about Tavares’ connection with the franchise and intention to stick around. No one—except perhaps Lou Lamoriello, who could keep a secret from his son if he needed to—knows exactly where Tavares is headed. We’ll find out in just a few weeks.

D Calvin de Haan – Amazingly, Tavares isn’t the only important free agent the Islanders have. Though they already locked up Josh Bailey, de Haan and Thomas Hickey represent a good portion of their defense corps that is currently scheduled for the free agent market. The Islanders struggled in part this season keeping the puck out of their own net because of injuries to de Haan, who played just 33 games in total.

The 27-year old defenseman has shown flashes of brilliance over the years, like when he suited up for Canada in the 2017 IIHF World Championship, but has struggled to put it all together and become the top-pairing defenseman the team once hoped for. He won’t be paid like it this summer, but there will certainly be a market for him if he ends up leaving the Islanders.

Other UFAs: F Chris Wagner, F Nikolai Kulemin (headed to KHL), D Thomas Hickey, D Dennis Seidenberg, G Jaroslav Halak, D Kane Lafranchise, F Connor Jones, G Christopher Gibson, F Stephen Gionta, D Seth Helgeson, G Kristers Gudlevskis

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images

Offseason Keys: New York Islanders

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While the playoffs are ongoing, many teams have already started their offseason planning.  What storylines lie ahead around the league?  Our Offseason Keys series continues with a look at the New York Islanders.

While the season for the Islanders started on a high note, especially on offense, the New York Islanders came back to earth in the second half as the Islanders limped to the finish line knowing they had no chance to compete for a playoff spot. Injuries to the defense as well as goaltending troubles haunted them for much of the year.

Sign John Tavares

Perhaps when the team was winning early on and the offense was one of the best in the NHL or when the team won their bid on the Belmont properties and started plans to build a new stadium there, the Islanders might have felt confident about re-signing star center John Tavares. However, after one stretch in which the team won just 17 of 55 games, the star may be ready to move on to a team that has a better shot at being making the playoffs on a more continuous basis.

Regardless, the Islanders didn’t even consider the idea of trading Tavares at the trade deadline to a point that there were few to no rumors flying around at that time. Do they have an idea that he has always intended to sign? Or is the team just hoping he will return to the franchise?

While most experts are starting to believe that Tavares is likely to move on, it also wouldn’t be that surprising if he opted to sign a long-term, maximum deal and stay on Long Island for the rest of his career. Regardless of his decision, the Islanders will either move forward with him or without him, then placing Mathew Barzal at the forefront of the franchise.

Upgrade their defense

The Islanders had few positives when it came to their defense. Looking like geniuses when they traded veteran Travis Hamonic to the Calgary Flames for a boatload of draft picks, the Islanders defense then faltered when Johnny Boychuk and Calvin de Haan went down with injuries for large chunks of the season. Instead, the Islanders found themselves with few top-four defensemen for much of the season and struggled giving up goals.

While some of the goaltending play can be blamed as well, the defense is what struggled and with a number of their blueliners hitting unrestricted free agency, including de Haan and Thomas Hickey, the team has a few decisions to make as well as have to figure out how to upgrade it. Boychuk, when healthy is a solid top-four defender, but at age 34 and four years remaining on his contract at $6MM AAV, how much can they count on him? The team needs to either move some of its picks in trades for top veterans or sign some key free agents to fill some of those gaps.

Find their goaltender

While the Islanders are finally free of starting goaltender Jaroslav Halak’s long deal and are unlikely to bring him back, the next question is where do they go to find a new starting goaltender. While they do have two talented prospects in Ilya Sorokin and Linus Soderstrom, neither is an answer for this upcoming season. Sorokin has already said he doesn’t intend to sign with the Islanders under entry-level contract conditions, while Soderstrom is coming off season-ending surgery at the beginning of 2018. Neither would likely have been ready to jump into the NHL anyway.

That will force the team to either trade for a goalie, such as Washington’s Philipp Grubauer, or more likely find a stopgap solution on the free agent market, although the free agent goalie market is quite weak this offseason. Players such as Carter Hutton or Robin Lehner aren’t sure things. The team had some success with AHL goalie Christopher Gibson, but he eventually struggled as well. The team does still have Thomas Greiss under contract for two more years, but that isn’t a better option.

 

 

Devils Plan To Make A Splash This Summer

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No one could have expected that the New Jersey Devils would improve by 16 wins from last season to this season, transforming from a bottom feeder to a playoff team. The team added impact rookies Nico Hischier and Will Butcher and traded for defenseman Sami Vatanen, but also lost Adam Henrique in that deal and watched 2016-17 top-six forwards Mike Cammalleri and P.A. Parenteau depart. Yet, the team took a major leap forward with only a marginal improvement to their roster. Hoping for a repeat in that trend, NJ.com’s Chris Ryan reports that GM Ray Shero has been given the “green light” by the Devils to spend in free agency this summer.

New Jersey enters the 2018 off-season with substantial cap space. A bottom-five spender this season, the team is likely to lose Patrick Maroon, Michael Grabner, Drew Stafford, and Jimmy Hayes to free agency, which will open up even more room. They will also finally be rid of Ryane Clowe’s cap hit. Even if the team was to hang on to defenseman John Moore, goaltender Eddie Lack, or forward Brian Gibbons, they would still have more than enough space to make a significant splash this summer.

Ryan addresses several players who Devils fans are intrigued by in his mailbag. He begins by throwing water on the idea that New Jersey will be in hot pursuit of John Tavares if he hits the open market. Seeing as Tavares will command a seven-year deal that could approach nine figures, Ryan rules the Devils out as a destination. New Jersey has its star center of the future in Hischier and must pay he and Hart finalist Taylor Hall in the next few years. However, Ryan does not shy away from any other recommended targets.

Among those other players the Devils could pursue are defenseman John Carlson, who would be the biggest name on the market if Tavares re-signs with the Islanders, fellow blue liners Mike Green and Calvin de Haan, and big winger James van Riemsdyk. Ryan rules out a reunion with Ilya Kovalchuk, but New Jersey could also be a destination for other stars of yesteryear like Joe Thornton or Rick Nash. Evander Kane, Paul Stastny, David Perron and James Neal are other top names who could wind up in Newark.

Ryan does add that the Devils may be content to sign just one of the big-name players on this summer’s free agent market. Given the luck he had making a blockbuster trade this year, Shero could surely explore the trade market instead of exclusively signing free agents. He may also want to give time to forward prospects like Michael McLeod and Joey Anderson, after Hischier, Jesper Bratt, and Blake Coleman found success this year. It will be a busy off-season one way or another for New Jersey and will continue to be a fun process of building a contender for team members and fans alike.

Morning Notes: O’Reilly, Maple Leafs, De Haan

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The Buffalo Sabres held their locker clean out today after another season where they find themselves at the very bottom of the standings. The Sabres will have the best chance at selecting first overall in the upcoming draft, but that didn’t cheer up Ryan O’Reilly, who spoke candidly about how he has struggled with morale this season. O’Reilly is quoted in John Vogl’s piece for the Buffalo News:

We’re stuck in this mindset of just being OK with losing. I feel it, too. I think it’s really crept into myself. Over the course of the year, I’ve lost myself a lot, where it’s just kind of get through, just being OK with just not making a mistake. That’s not winning hockey at all, and it’s crept into all of our games.

It’s disappointing. It’s sad. I feel throughout the year I’ve lost the love of the game multiple times. You need to get back to it because it’s just eating myself up and eats the other guys, too. It’s just eating us up, and it’s tough.

The Sabres have finished out of the playoffs for the last seven seasons, and haven’t had any real postseason success in over a decade. With a rookie coach and GM in Phil Housley and Jason Botterill, things will have to turn around quickly if they want ownership to stick with them long-term. Jack Eichel will begin his $80MM contract extension next season, while O’Reilly still has five years at $7.5MM left on his deal. Those two will have to be the key members of any bounce back, though they’ll certainly need some help along the way.

  • The Toronto Maple Leafs will carry $2.55MM in bonuses over to next season according to Chris Johnston of Sportsnet, who notes that they also have close to $21MM coming off the books this summer. Interestingly, that bonus number could still increase by another $2MM should Auston Matthews take home the Conn Smythe trophy. The Maple Leafs will have a reduced amount of cap room because of it, and plenty of decisions to make on unrestricted free agents like James van Riemsdyk, Tyler Bozak and Leo Komarov.
  • Calvin de Haan would welcome a return to the New York Islanders according to Andrew Gross of Newsday, but is aware of the lack of defensemen on the free agent market this summer. de Haan’s season ended in December after just 33 games, which clouds his future considerably. At one point (including on our Midseason UFA Power Rankings) he looked like he was set to hit the market as one of the best defensemen available. Now, it’s entirely unclear if he’ll be able to secure a long-term deal at all.

Islanders Notes: Losing Streak, Tavares, Gibson, Leddy

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Just over three weeks ago, the New York Islanders were clinging to a wildcard berth and now with an eight-game losing streak on hand, New York is looking up from a distance as they find themselves eight points back of a playoff spot, almost guaranteeing another disappointing year in New York. After being eliminated from the playoffs on the final game of the year last season, that makes for two disappointing years for soon-to-be unrestricted free agent John Tavares.

The Hockey News’ Jared Clinton writes that this eight-game losing streak comes at a one of the worst times of the year — right during their playoff run — which will only hurt the Islanders’ chances of re-signing the all-star, who has already broken the 30-goal plateau this year for the fourth time in his career. While it might have been exciting to play for one of the top offenses in the league earlier this year, Clinton writes that since Dec. 1, the Islanders offense has been average at best, tied 12th in the league, averaging 2.88 goals per game. Considering the holes in both the Islanders defense and goaltending, there definitely seems to be a lot of negatives that Tavares will have to sort out in the coming months.

  • Newsday’s Neil Best tries to figure out the meaning of Tavares’ comments last Monday in Vancouver after the team suffered a disappointing overtime loss. Tavares said, “Obviously, this isn’t a whole lot of fun right now,” causing a frenzy of reaction from both unhappy Islanders fans and elated NHL fans hoping their team can steal the star player for themselves. Tavares was quick to say the comment had nothing to do with his feelings about the franchise or his willingness to re-sign. “I’m sure when people look at the way our team’s going, they want to speculate,” he said. “They speculate on teams that have won eight in a row, too. I just control what I control. It’s just other people talking. I’m sure there’s interest, but I can’t worry about that. That doesn’t have really much to do with me, what other people think or what they think what I say means. I have always said how committed I am to this team, this organization, the guys in the locker room. I mean, losing eight in a row isn’t very much fun.”
  • After some impressive performances in goal for New York’s Christopher Gibson, several players were clamoring for the 25-year-old to get more playing time as the team is floundering over their past eight games, according to The Athletic’s Arthur Staple (subscription required). Gibson, who has led the team to two overtime games (both losses) has performed admirably as he boasts a 1.86 GAA and a .953 save percentage in his only two NHL appearances this season. He had a 2.31 GAA and a .909 save percentage in 33 AHL games this season. “He’s played phenomenal, starting in Pitt and again here tonight,” defenseman Brandon Davidson said. “I think he’s kind of earned the right to be the guy.” Gibson is sharing time with starter Jaroslav Halak, while backup Thomas Greiss is injured.
  • In another piece, Staple points a finger at Islanders defenseman Nick Leddy, who is most likely the team’s top defenseman, writing that his game has slowly gone south like the direction the team is heading. After putting up 20 points in his first 28 games, both his offense and defense seems to have fallen off. Leddy, who still has four years remaining on his contract, holds a plus/minus rating of -33, which is second-worst in the league next to Arizona’s Oliver Ekman-Larsson. And despite his early offensive output, he also has had just 18 points in the last 40 games. Staple writes that Leddy is a key cog to the team’s defense and probably the most important as veteran Johnny Boychuk will be 35 next year and the team is likely to lose Calvin de Haan in free agency.

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