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Scott Darling Trade Reactions

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The Chicago Blackhawks and Carolina Hurricanes hooked up yesterday for a rare April trade, with pending UFA goaltender Scott Darling departing the Windy City in return for a third-round draft pick in the 2017 entry draft. The Hawks get the third-rounder originally acquired by Carolina at the trade deadline from Ottawa in exchange for veteran winger Viktor Stalberg. The Canes, meanwhile, bring in Darling, who played well as Corey Crawford’s understudy and was likely going to depart Chicago as a free agent to pursue a starting job elsewhere. Now it appears he’ll have that opportunity in Carolina, presuming he agrees to sign with the team rather than test the open market, of course.

On the surface this deal certainly wouldn’t qualify as a blockbuster, but all one has to do is look north to Edmonton to see what can happen when a quality backup goalie is given a chance to be a #1. Cam Talbot, previously Henrik Lundqvist’s #2 in New York, has developed into a quality starter for the Oilers and has so far guided his team to a surprising 2 – 0 lead over Anaheim in their Western Conference semifinal match. Talbot also led NHL netminders this season in several categories, including games played, wins and shots against. While there is no guarantee Darling will follow Talbot’s career trajectory, the latter’s success is evidence that deals like this can sometimes pay off.

Here’s a rundown of reactions from around the league:

  • Mark Lazerus of the Chicago Sun Times likes the deal from both perspectives, arguing that the Hawks got solid value for a player they had no room to re-sign while the Hurricanes add a potential long term starter between the pipes. Lazerus does, however, opine that the move, albeit inevitable, leaves the club perilously thin in goal. Beyond Crawford, Chicago has no goaltender in the organization with NHL experience, though Jeff Glass is around to meet the team’s expansion draft requirement of exposing one goalie under contract for 2017-18. The scribe also adds that Chicago gave no thought to extending Darling while attempting to move Crawford. Lazerus suspects Darling could get close to $4MM on the open market but the potential cap savings evidently wasn’t compelling enough to cause Chicago to reconsider their goaltending situation.
  • Adam Gretz of NBC Sports Pro Hockey Talk writes that Carolina’s acquisition of Darling is “worth the risk,” borrowing a quote from Hurricanes GM Ron Francis. As Gretz notes, Carolina has long received substandard play between the pipes and it was more of the same in 2016-17. Cam Ward and Eddie Lack combined for a S% of just 0.901, good for just 26th in the league. In fact, Carolina has fared no better than 25th in that category in any of the previous five seasons. For a team looking to break an eight year playoff drought, improved play in net would go a long way to improve their postseason chances in 2017-18. Gretz also points out that the Hurricanes boast an impressive amount of 2017 draft capital, with their own first-rounder, three seconds and two thirds even after acquiring Darling’s rights. As a result, the team can afford to take this gamble given their enviable entry draft wealth.
  • Luke DeCock of The News & Observer is satisfied to at least see Carolina attempt to make changes in goal, even if the team fails to extend Darling, after what he describes as “two unsatisfying years of the Cam Ward/Eddie Lack tandem.” According to DeCock, a third-round pick may be a substantial price to pay for just two months of exclusive negotiating rights but considering Carolina still has six choices in the first three rounds and 10 overall in 2017, it’s a reasonable cost assuming the Hurricanes can lock the 28-year-old goalie to a long term deal. The scribe feels Darling is just entering his prime and has the potential to solve the team’s longstanding issues between the pipes. DeCock believes the deal also means Carolina already has an agreement in place or feels confident in their ability to consummate one with the Vegas Golden Knights that would result in one of Ward or Lack being selected in the expansion draft. The duo accounts for a combined $6MM cap charge and with Darling expected to command around $4MM annually, a budget team like Carolina simply cannot afford to keep all three in the organization. Ultimately, DeCock feels entering the 2017-18 campaign with the Ward/Lack duo would have been “utter folly,” and considers any change “an improvement.”

“Completely Disappointed” Blackhawks Clean Out Lockers

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Hands up if you predicted the Chicago Blackhawks would be involved in a sweep during the post-season. Now, keep your hand up if you thought it would be them getting swept.

The Blackhawks cleaned out their lockers on Saturday morning after a disappointing end to a promising season. After a 109-point season, the first-seed Blackhawks scored just three goals in four games against the eighth-seed Nashville Predators.

Usually when teams are eliminated, we find out the injuries that key players were dealing with; famously, Patrice Bergeron played in the 2013 Stanley Cup Finals (vs the Blackhawks) with a separated shoulder, cartilage tear in his ribs, and a punctured lung. However, there have been no notable injuries revealed today. Per Chris Hine of the Chicago Tribune, coach Joel Quenneville said that a few “key guys” were dealing with minor injuries, including Artem Anisimov, who was battling limited mobility. At this point, no players will require off-season surgery, according to Mark Lazerus of the Sun-Times.

General Manager Stan Bowman called the early end to his club’s season a “complete failure” compared to their expectations. The sweep “completely overshadowed” the 50-win season; Bowman promised changes would be coming, but did say that Quenneville will be back as head coach, according to Lazerus. However, Hine reports that Quenneville doesn’t foresee any changes to his coaching staff. Bowman promised that he and Quenneville “are going to work together to make sure this never happens again.”

Roster-wise, the Blackhawks have a few notable players up for new contracts: Richard Panik, Michal Kempny, and Scott Darling are all pending free agents. Bowman refused to comment on their statuses while also not commenting on the possibility of any roster moves involving “core” players. Realistically, Jonathan Toews, Patrick Kane, Artemi Panarin, Duncan Keith, and Brent Seabrook are all un-tradable, either due to their importance to the club or the size of their contracts, or both. The one interesting name could be Corey Crawford; while the sweep is not his fault (the Blackhawks scored just three goals in four games), Bowman played coy when asked whether Crawford would be the starting goaltender next season. Per Hine, Bowman replied, “I’m not going to speculate on anything—who’s going to be here, who’s not going to be here.”

With the expansion draft upcoming and a few teams looking to move goaltenders, it could be difficult to find a taker for Crawford’s $6MM salary, especially at the likely asking price in a trade. Making that move would clear some significant cap space and allow them to keep Darling, who appears to be ready to take on a starting job. It would be the blockbuster of the summer. But as Bowman told Scott Powers of The Athletic, “We didn’t score any goals. It’s hard to win games when you get shutout.”

No matter what happens, it will be a long summer for a team that was expecting a long spring.

Cap Problems Loom – A Look Ahead For Chicago

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The Chicago Blackhawks’ management will have to take a deep, long look in the mirror this off-season. Their core is locked up and in their primes. With an offense boasting Artemi Panarin, Patrick Kane, Jonathan Toews, grizzled Marian Hossa, and a resurgent Artem Anisimov, there were many predictions around the league for Chicago to reclaim another cup. Instead, the comparatively deep lineup Nashville iced completely dominated Chicago, sending them packing in a 4 game sweep – the first ever time an “8th seed” has swept a “1 seed”.

This is an analysis of Chicago’s cap frustrations, and what has led to them.

Jonathan Toews and Patrick Kane each account for $10.5 MM towards the team cap, and are both under contract until the 2022-23 season. With a cap ceiling that is expected to remain in the ballpark of its current $73 MM, this is a massive $21 MM, 28.8% of the team total. In past seasons, contributions from players on ELCs and cheap one-to-two year deals made this issue far less concerning. Success will do a lot to mask poor planning on management’s part.

Looking at their roster situation next year, the squad looks something like this (numbers represent $MM towards cap):

Nick Schmaltz (0.925) – Jonathan Toews (10.5) – Marian Hossa (5.275)

Artemi Panarin (6.0) – Artem Anisimov (4.550) – Patrick Kane (10.5)

Dennis Rasmussen (RFA) – Marcus Kruger (3.083) – Richard Panik (RFA)

Ryan Hartman (0.863) – Tanner Kero (0.750) – __________

*******

 

Nik Hjalmarsson (4.1) – Duncan Keith (5.538)

Brent Seabrook (6.875) – Trevor van Riemsdyk (0.825)

Michal Kempny (RFA) – Gustav Forsling (0.873)

************

Michal Roszival (0.650)

 

Corey Crawford (6.0)

_________

 

A few things to note: there are still 4 likely vacancies on this roster, and the team would probably prefer to have at least one more extra skater on hand for the season. Before the RFA contracts are negotiated, this comes to a total of $67.307 MM already spent. Brian Campbell and Johnny Oduya are not likely to return, considering the former’s price and the latter’s struggles. Roszival is not likely to be trusted with 7th defenseman duties. With Panik’s stellar season, he is nearly sure to command a sizable raise. The 26 year-old had what can only be described an incredibly over-achieving breakthrough – he notched 44 points, 22 of which were goals. The expectation should be that, even under team-friendly RFA negotiations, he will earn upwards of $2 MM, likely in the $2.5 MM range. Assuming the other two RFAs (Rasmussen and Kempny) receive somewhere around $1 MM each, this brings the grand total to $71.807 MM with at least 3 slots to fill, probably 4.

From here, Chicago could go one of two routes. They could try to fill out the remaining spots with the absolutely cheapest possible players, and hope they strike gold with another prospect or free agent. They went down this road last year, and one could reasonably assume they may not have liked the results. The other option would be to move a sizable contract out in the name of increased depth. A few options would be Seabrook or Hjalmarrson on the back-end, or perhaps Hossa up front. Although the captain’s relative cost efficiency is arguably not good, I don’t see a scenario where the Windy City management would be willing to move on from Toews. Anisimov’s play and chemistry with Kane at a cheap 2C price-tag make him unlikely to be moved, and Kruger was just signed to a cost-efficient deal.

It should be noted that if Chicago would be (for whatever reason) unable to move a contract, they could opt to leave a player unprotected for Vegas to take. This is not a likely scenario, however. Many believe that van Riemsdyk will be left unprotected, but exposing such a cheap and effective youngster seems counter-productive at this point. The problem with ditching Seabrook or Hjalmarrson is that it opens up a huge hole that is not likely to be filled much cheaper – top 4 defensemen don’t come cheap, especially considering this year’s limited UFA class. Hossa, it should be noted, has a No Movement Clause, which would severely complicate any sort of transaction involving the veteran winger.

Decisions lie aheaad for Chicago management, and the decisions may be even tougher than they were after their Cup win in 2010. That off-season, they were forced into moving Dustin Byfuglien, Andrew Ladd, and Kris Versteeg. Those tough decisions laid the groundwork for their next two titles. This is the cost of success in the post-cap era, and Chicago will again need to make sacrifices if they wish to see any more.

Playoff Puzzle: Western Goaltending Experience

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Corey Crawford must feel like an old man these days. When the Chicago Blackhawks goaltender looks around at the creases of his main rivals in the Western Conference, one thing is constant: inexperience. He knows it well, from when he took on the Vancouver Canucks in 2011 as a rookie. At the other end of the rink was a 31-year old Roberto Luongo, who had already been through three playoff runs and was about to win the Jennings trophy for dominating in the regular season.

Crawford and the Hawks would lose in seven games, but it was an important step towards their cup win in 2013 when he would post a .932 save percentage—still the best mark of his career. It’s not easy to backstop a team to the Stanley Cup, even if you do have an excellent group in front of you. Just ask Martin Jones, who actually played his best hockey last year in the Finals against Pittsburgh, despite losing. It took a while for him to really find his groove and even then it wasn’t enough.

So when Crawford sees the standings and notices a trend among the biggest contenders, it might make him even more confident heading into this year’s tournament. Perhaps even if he is a bit older, that experience will pay off in the toughest two months of any sport.

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Central Notes: Elie, Blackhawks’ Success, Jurco

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The Dallas Morning News’ Mike Heika lists a number of quotes from Stars bench boss Lindy Ruff regarding rookie Remi Elie. Out of all the quotes, the one regarding Elie’s staying power with the big club was probably the most telling. Ruff via Heika:

“Well, I look at what we need on the road to be a better team, a harder team to play against. I think that he fits what I think can help us. I thought the line of Eakin, him and Hemsky did a real good job. You look at the number of chances he created, the duress he put their defense under and the fact that he’s a physical player. I think there’s been some situations where we haven’t been hard enough to play against. You take Roussel of our lineup and I think that’s a good replacement to continue down that path where we’re hard to play against.”

The Stars’ second round pick in 2013, Elie has appeared in only two games for the Stars, but from the sound of it, may be lacing up for more. Ruff said more about the rookie, saying that his speed is something Dallas has “missed” in its lineup and that with “more polish” in his game, Elie is the perfect fit for the Stars’ style of play.

  • CBS Sports’ Cody Benjamin details how the Chicago Blackhawks have hit their stride later in the season. Calling it “no surprise” that the Hawks are surging in early March, Benjamin points to a couple stalwarts upping their game, Jonathan Toews, and Patrick Kane. Kane has tallied 21 points (14-7) while Toews has added 20 points of his own during Chicago’s 12-1 run. Corey Crawford, according to Benjamin, has been stellar in net while the Hawks have been “resilient” during a season that’s tested them with injuries to key players, and a defense that hasn’t included the dominant pairings of years past. Regardless, Chicago has been one of the better teams in the West this season and is certainly working itself into a good position for the playoffs.
  • In other Blackhawks news, newly acquired forward Tomas Jurco is starting to acclimate himself with his new surroundings. Though head coach Joel Quenneville calls him a “work in progress,” CSN Chicago’s Tracey Myers reports that Jurco is “thankful” to have a chance with the Blackhawks and that Jurco isn’t putting a time table on getting comfortable with his new team. Instead, the young forward has the backing of his coach and the front office, who are more than willing to give the promising 24-year-old more than enough time to catch on in Chicago.

Snapshots: Coyotes, Glass, Nestrasil

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The Arizona Coyotes are in a fight in the standings of their own. Even though the players aren’t giving up, they front office is likely desperately hoping they finish in the bottom two once again and get the chance to select a top prospect. They got some bad (or good, I’m unsure at this point) news today when Dave Vest of NHL.com reported that Kevin Connauton should be considered week-to-week with an upper-body injury suffered last night.

  • Vest also passed along a few choice quotes from Dave Tippett on the future of Anthony Duclair, who will get back into the NHL lineup tonight. “We want him to play to his potential. He set a standard for his play last year that he has to get back to,” said Tippett who is not alone in hoping Duclair gets back to his 2015-16 form. Coyotes fans everywhere were hoping to see more of the 20-goal man that was around last season, instead of the 9-point Duclair they’ve seen this year. Despite being rumored in trades all year, the Coyotes will hang onto the former New York Ranger for at least the rest of the season, hoping he can regain his form. Expect his name to be thrown around plenty at the expansion and entry drafts.
  • The Chicago Blackhawks have recalled recently signed goaltender Jeff Glass from the Rockford IceHogs today, and will be the backup tonight against the New York Islanders. Both Corey Crawford and Scott Darling took part in practice today and seemed fine, though apparently Darling will be held out with an upper-body injury of some sort.
  • The Detroit Red Wings have some goalie news of their own, as Ansar Khan of MLive reports that Jimmy Howard will be loaned to Grand Rapids Griffins on a conditioning stint and will start Saturday for the AHL squad. The netminder is trying to work his way back from an injury that has kept him out of NHL action since late December due to multiple setbacks.
  • The Carolina Hurricanes have assigned forward Andrej Nestrasil to the Charlotte Checkers of the AHL today, after using him in Wednesday’s loss to the Tampa Bay Lightning. The 26-year old forward has played 19 games for the Hurricanes this year, registering five points.
  • The Philadelphia Flyers may have Travis Konecny back sooner than expected, as Dave Isaac of the Courier-Post reports. Konecny says he’s ready to go and that he’s hoping to get back into the lineup on Saturday against the Washington Capitals. Out since February 6th, the 19-year old Konecny has been a revelation for the Flyers this season with 22 points in a 51 games. In any normal year, that would be extremely impressive from a teenager in the NHL.

Injury Updates: Skinner, Hjalmarsson, Rangers, Enstrom

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After taking the morning skate today, the Hurricanes have sent left winger Jeff Skinner back to Raleigh to be evaluated for an upper body injury, Chip Alexander of the Raleigh News & Observer reports (Twitter link).  The exact nature of the injury was not disclosed but he did take a hit to the head on Sunday night against the Flames.

Skinner leads Carolina in scoring this season with 20 points and 20 assists through 57 games.  There’s no word on how much time he’ll miss but it’s safe to say he’ll be out tomorrow against Tampa Bay as well.  As a result of the injury coupled with Viktor Stalberg’s trade to the Senators, the Hurricanes only dressed 11 forwards against the Panthers tonight.

Other injury news from around the league:

  • Blackhawks blueliner Niklas Hjalmarsson will miss at least the next three games as a result of an upper body injury sustained against the Coyotes last Thursday, notes CSN Chicago’s Tracey Myers. Chicago has four days off following Saturday’s game and head coach Joel Quenneville is hopeful that Hjalmarsson will be ready to return at that time.  He was placed on IR earlier today to make roster room for the recently-acquired Johnny Oduya.  Also with the Hawks, goalie Corey Crawford (illness) returned to practice today but will not start tomorrow against the Blues to give him a couple of extra days to recover.
  • Rangers center Mika Zibanejad was a late scratch for tonight after taking the warmup, the team announced via their Twitter page. He took a hit to the wrist late Sunday against the Blue Jackets.  New York will also be without defenseman Dan Girardi for the next two weeks to allow right ankle to fully heal up, reports Newsday’s Steve Zipay.  Fellow blueliner Kevin Klein remains out with back spasms and there’s no word yet on when he’ll be able to return to the lineup.
  • Jets defender Toby Enstrom is expected to suit up tonight after missing the last five games after undergoing minor surgery for a lower body injury back on February 16th, Ken Wiebe of the Winnipeg Sun reports.  The 32 year old hasn’t produced much offensively this season (just 14 points in 55 games) but logs the third most minutes of any Winnipeg skater, behind only Dustin Byguglien and Jacob Trouba (who serves the second game of his suspension tonight).

Snapshots: Carter, Crawford, Faulk

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The Minnesota Wild have signed forward Ryan Carter to a one-year, two-way contract, according to Michael Russo of the Star Tribune. The deal is worth a pro-rated $575K at the NHL level and $250K in the AHL.

Carter had major shoulder surgery in October to repair a torn labrum in his right shoulder. Many believed this was it for the 33-year-old left winger due to his age and the seriousness of  his injury. Carter has been skating with the Wild for the better part of a month, and told Dane Mizutani of TwinCities.com that he couldn’t give up his career without at least trying to come back.

“I wanted to be a part of it, and for awhile it hurt a little bit that I wasn’t a part of it. It’s good to be here now.”

Carter was reportedly in talks with the Wild for the past month, and last week signed a Professional Try-Out (PTO) with the Iowa Wild of the AHL. He is without a point in three appearances with the AHL club.

In a related news item, the Wild have recalled center Zac Dalpe from Iowa. The big forward has three points in nine games with the Wild this season, and two goals in 12 games with their AHL affiliate.

  • The Chicago Blackhawks will be without starting goaltender Corey Crawford when they take on the St. Louis Blues this afternoon, according to Chris Kuc of the Chicago Tribune. Crawford is battling an illness and won’t be able to dress. Coach Joel Quenneville told the media that Crawford does not have the mumps. Chris Hine, also from the Tribune, quoted Quenneville as saying that Lars Johansson will likely get the emergency call up from Rockford to backup Scott Darling.
  • The venerable Postmedia reporter Jim Matheson reported that Hurricanes defenseman Justin Faulk is in play at the trade deadline. Faulk is having a poor year with 25 points (just one assist in his last six games), but has a history of being a point-producing defenseman. Matheson cites the play of Jaccob Slavin, Brett Pesce, and Noah Hanifin as the reason that Faulk is on the market. The Hurricanes would be need a young center in return, Matheson believes. Despite the fact that plenty of teams would be interested in Faulk even though he’s having a poor season, any potential deal may have to wait until after the season; Faulk makes $4.83MM and has three years left on his contract after this season.

Central Notes: Darling, Subban, Tarasenko, Maurice

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The Chicago Blackhawks defeated the Boston Bruins 1-0 Friday night thanks to another stellar game from Scott Darling. Darling has been superb this season, and as it usually goes for the Blackhawks, is due a pay raise when his contract expires after this season. Mark Lazerus writes that even with all the success, Darling is quick to credit his teammates for any one of his performances while also counting Corey Crawford as “one of the best goalies in the world.” In Darling’s mind, Lazerus reports, there is no goalie controversy, no matter how strong Darling continues to play.

In other Central Division news:

  • The return of P.K. Subban will continue to be a  delicate process writes the Tennessean’s Adam Vingan. Subban was supposed to play less in last night’s game but ended up logging 23 minutes of ice time. Vingan also reports that just having Subban’s presence in the lineup proves to be an immediate boon for the Predators’ possession game. With the Preds winning five of their last six, Vingan adds that there’s no rush for Subban to return to pre-injury form.
  • Stuck on 20 goals for a half dozen games, Jeremy Rutherford reports that Blues bench boss Ken Hitchcock will move Vladimir Tarasenko in an effort to generate scoring. Tarasenko will move to a line with Patrik Berglund and Robby Fabbri since Berglund has notched 10 goals in his last 16 games. Rutherford adds that Berglund cannot recall ever being on the same line with Tarasenko in his five years with the Blues.
  • The Winnipeg Sun’s Paul Friesen doesn’t envy  Jets bench boss Paul Maurice in having to deal with all of the different personalities on the team. But he is “puzzled” by Maurice’s approach. Friesen compares Maurice’s handling of 20-year-old Nik Ehlers with that of 31-year-old Dustin Byfuglien, and just how different it is working with a veteran and a rookie. Friesen reports that while Maurice was quick to explain Ehler’s shortcomings, he’s unsure as to why a veteran like Byfuglien is immune to the same critiques. He just wonders how Maurice will get a more consistent effort out of both players.

Central Division Snapshots: Blackhawks, Avalanche, Korpikoski

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The Chicago Blackhawks roster still boasts many of the key contributors who have led the team to three Stanley Cup championships since 2010. And as long as Jonathan Toews, Patrick Kane, Duncan Keith and Corey Crawford are healthy, the Hawks will be on the short list of Western Conference contenders even as the front office constantly juggles the rest of the roster to augment that core while remaining compliant with the salary cap.

That doesn’t mean the Blackhawks aren’t in need of reinforcements as the March 1st trade deadline approaches, however. Mark Lazerus of the Chicago Sun Times argues Chicago desperately needs a top left wing in order to help pull Toews out of his season long scoring slump. For his career, Toews has averaged 0.86 points/game but so far this season he is nearly three-tenths-of-a-point behind that rate. Lazerus believes that the acquisition of a proven top-six winger would allow Vinnie Hinostroza to slot into the team’s bottom-six, further bolstering that group. In conjunction with the expected return of Marcus Kruger, the Blackhawks would be able to ice four solid and balanced lines in this scenario.

Lazerus lists Matt Duchene and Gabriel Landeskog, who have both been frequently mentioned in trade rumors of late, as two potential options. Though given the team’s current salary cap situation – $65.7MM in commitments to just 14 players – it’s far more likely that Chicago will stick to shopping in the rental bin as opposed to adding a player with term remaining beyond this season.

James van Riemsdyk was also listed by Lazerus as a possibility though Toronto would likely hold onto the winger as long as they remain in the hunt for a playoff spot. He also has one more year remaining on his deal, representing an additional sticking point in this scenario. Jarome Iginla is undoubtedly available but at 39 and with just five goals through 41 games this season, Chicago would probably exhaust other alternatives before pivoting in this direction.

If Dallas decides to sell at the deadline, former Blackhawk Patrick Sharp could represent an interesting option, though that is just my speculation. Sharp has missed time this season on two separate occasions with concussions and has just two goals on the season but tallied 20 last year for the Stars. He’s in the final year of his contract with a cap hit of $5.9MM and given Chicago will only have roughly $3.3MM of available space at the deadline, the Stars will either have to retain salary or take back a contract to facilitate a trade.

Elsewhere in the Central Division:

  • The Colorado Avalanche, in the midst of a second straight dismal season, appear to be on the verge of a major shakeup, whether that occurs at the trade deadline or during the summer. Multiple high-profile players could be shipped elsewhere as management attempts to fix what ails the roster. The Denver Post’s Terry Frei compiled a comprehensive listing of the moves the team has made since Joe Sakic took over as the organization’s top decision-maker and the results are as you would expect given the current state of the team. Like many teams, the Avalanche have blundered when it comes to the term offered to unrestricted free agents. Among the players acquired either as a free agent or via trade and then subsequently extended were Brad Stuart, Jarome Iginla, Francois Beachemin, and Carl Soderberg. All were at least 30 when added to the Avalanche roster and only Soderberg was younger than 34. Needless to say, those deals haven’t worked out as the team had anticipated.
  • A late free agent addition that has panned out far better than expected was the Dallas Stars October signing of forward Lauri Korpikoski, as Mike Heika of the Dallas Morning News writes. The Finnish forward had been bought out of the final year of his deal with Edmonton and was later released from his PTO with Calgary. In need of forward depth following the loss of Ales Hemsky and Mattias Janmark, the team inked Korpikoski to a one-year, $1M deal. While he hasn’t exactly lit up the score sheet, the nine-year veteran has contributed six goals and 15 points in 43 games. That’s solid production for a bottom-six winger and a relative bargain given the minimal investment the Stars undertook. Additionally, Stars head coach Lindy Ruff appreciates Korpikoski’s all-around game, saying: “He’s a solid contributor who is good on both sides of the puck. You’ve got a guy who is pretty diligent and plays the game the right way.” With five of his fellow forwards also set to hit unrestricted free agency this summer, it’s at least possible Dallas considers an extension with Korpikoski.

 

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