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Expansion Draft Issues: Several Teams Have Moves To Make Before July 17

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The trade deadline may have come and gone, but that doesn’t mean that there won’t be any more trades over the courses of the remainder of the league year. The NHL Expansion Draft is right around the corner, with protection lists due on July 17, ahead of the draft on July 21. By that time, all 30 participating teams must be able to submit a protection list that complies with the exposure requirements of the draft. As a reminder, teams may protect seven forwards, three defensemen, and a goalie or eight skaters and a goalie. However, they must also expose two forwards and one defenseman signed beyond this season and who have played in 27 NHL games this season or 54 games over the past two seasons, as well as a goaltender under team control beyond this season.

For many teams, this is easier said than done though. Long-term forwards and defensemen with considerable games played who are also deemed expendable are not all that common. With the trade deadline completed, teams are stuck with the group that they have unless they decide to make a trade in the time between their regular season end or postseason elimination and the week of the draft. Some can solve their problems internally, while others may be more hard pressed. Based on their most likely protection scheme, here are the teams with work to do:

Calgary Flames

Problem Area: Forward

Internal Solutions: The Flames may be having a difficult season, but they have a talented top-six who are all signed long-term. Except, that’s where the term forwards end. If Calgary cannot convince Milan Lucic to waive his No-Movement Clause, the team will be missing both of their required forwards for exposure by protecting Looch and the top-six. Even if Lucic does waive, the team will need to make another forward available to Seattle. RFA Dillon Dube meets the games played criteria, but the team is likely to protect the young forward or, if not, will not do anything to make him more attractive to the Kraken. That leaves fellow RFA Dominik Simon and impending UFA’s Derek Ryan, Josh Leivo, and Joakim Nordstrom, as well as Brett Ritchie with six more games played, as other names who could earn extensions due to otherwise meeting the exposure criteria.

Likelihood of a Trade: Medium. With so many affordable, bottom-six role players that the team could hand new one-year deals, the Flames have options. However, if Lucic does not waive and the team feels pressured to re-sign two of those players, they may look for outside help rather than bring back too much of a forward corps that has underachieved this year.

Colorado Avalanche

Problem Area: Forward

Internal Solutions: As one of the top scoring team’s in the NHL, the Avalanche will want to keep as much of their forward corps as they can and with the likes of Gabriel Landeskog and Brandon Saad heading to free agency and not in need of protection, the team can do just that. However, if Colorado does protect their top nine scoring forwards minus Landeskog and Saad, that leaves them with, at best, one forward to expose and zero if they choose to protect both Valeri Nichushkin and J.T. Compher. If the Avs do choose to protect the duo, that should leave RFA Tyson Jost unprotected, who they could extend in order to meet the exposure requirement. However, Jost has arbitration rights and may not rush into a new deal. Other candidates to re-sign would be UFA’s Pierre-Edouard Bellemare, Carl Soderberg, or Matt Calvert. Fortunately, the Avalanche have an even easier internal fix and that is simply playing Logan O’Connor five more times before the end of the season.

Likelihood of a Trade: Low. Between playing O’Connor and exposing one of Nichushkin or Compher, Colorado may not have to make any move at all. If they do, they have options. Who wouldn’t want to re-sign in Colorado right now, even if its only for the purpose of being expansion draft fodder.

Columbus Blue Jackets

Problem Area: Forward

Internal Solutions: It’s easy to guess six forwards that the Blue Jackets will protect, but the seventh is a bit trickier. Do they expose star Gustav Nyquist, who has missed the whole season due to injury and is on a substantial contract and on the wrong side of 30? Or do they expose Eric Robinson, who has been a hard-working depth presence this season but has limited upside? Well, if they choose to protect either one, it only leave the other as meeting exposure criteria. Only if both are exposed is Columbus good to go and that scenario seems unlikely. However, the only forward currently meeting the requirements other than term is RFA Kevin Stenlund, though UFA Mikhail Grigorenko requires only two more games played (and a new contract).

Likelihood of a Trade: High. The Blue Jackets surely want to bring Stenlund back, but he has arbitration rights and may not be keen to sign quickly just to help with expansion requirements. If a Stenlund deal can’t be reached sooner rather than later, Columbus may not have a choice but to bring someone in from the outside. A Grigorenko extension seems unlikely, as does exposing both Nyquist and Robinson.

Dallas Stars

Problem Area: Forward

Internal Solutions: The Stars’ protection scheme at forward is fairly obvious, as they have seven core forwards who stand out above the rest. However, those seven are also the only regular forwards with term on their contracts. Of all other expansion-draft eligible forwards for Dallas, only Joel L’Esperance has additional time on his current deal and he cannot reach the games played requirement. As a result, the Stars must find two forwards to expose, whereas most of these other problematic teams can at least scrounge up one forward. Among the options to re-sign are veteran UFA’s Blake Comeau and Andrew Cogliano or younger UFA’s Tanner Kero and Justin Dowling. However, it may be easier to re-up an RFA like Jason Dickinson or, with three more games, Nicholas Caamano. 

Likelihood of a Trade: Medium. The Stars have a number of options, many of whom will likely re-sign at some point anyhow or else Dallas will have to rebuild their bottom-six from scratch. However, with two slots to fill there is always a chance that acquiring a player could be easier than negotiating a pair of early extensions.

New Jersey Devils

Problem Area: Forward

Internal Options: A rebuilding Devils team has a number of regular forwards who are ineligible for the draft and many others, protected or not, who are restricted free agents. What they lack is many term forwards, especially of the the expendable variety. While New Jersey could go in a few different direction with their protected list, the reality is simply that they have only five draft-eligible forwards who are signed beyond this season and at least four of those are locks to be protected. The x-factor is Andreas Johnsson. The first-year Devil has fallen well short of expectations and it would not be a surprise to see him exposed, leaving the team with just one spot to fill to meet the quota. However, if they are determined to give Johnsson a second chance and not lose him for nothing, then that becomes two slots that must be filled. The other problem in New Jersey is that the team doesn’t want to give Seattle any added incentive to steal some of their promising young players. Michael McLeod, Janne Kuokkanen, Yegor Sharangovich, and Nathan Bastian would all meet the exposure criteria if extended, but it’s safe to assume that the Devils will protect two or three of that group and may not be too excited to lose any of the others. Nick Merkley, who requires seven more games played and a new deal, could be seen as more expendable and may be okay with accepting a quick extension, even if it just for expansion purposes.

Likelihood of a Trade: High. With the possibility that New Jersey could protect Johnsson and, in any scenario, will want to steer the Kraken away from their young forwards if at all possible, the Devils seem like a prime candidate to bring in some outside help with meeting exposure criteria.

San Jose Sharks

Problem Area: Forward

Internal Options: Much like the Stars, the Sharks are not an elite team right now, but possess a solid group of top-six forwards who will all be protected. Also like Dallas though, the team has complete lack of long-term commitment to any forward outside of that group. The only other eligible forward signed beyond this season is Jayden Halbgewachs, who has not played a single NHL game, nevertheless enough to meet the requirement. There is not a great list of internal options to re-sign either. Of the players who would meet exposure criteria with an extension, Patrick Marleau is likely to retire, Marcus Sorensen seems to need a fresh start in free agency, and one of Rudolfs Balcers and Dylan Gambrell is likely to be the seventh forward protected. That really leaves UFA Matt Nieto as the lynchpin. If the Sharks can re-up Nieto and whoever they don’t protect between Balcers and Gambrell, they are good to go. If Nieto isn’t keen to re-sign and if Balcers or Gambrell wish to pursue arbitration, the Sharks will be stuck without any forwards to expose.

Likelihood of a Trade: High. The Sharks are in as tough a position as any team on this list. If left exposed, Washington native Gambrell seems like a very likely pick by Seattle, but San Jose needs to meet the exposure quota all the same. That could involve bringing in one if not two forwards before the draft. There simply aren’t many other options on the roster.

Toronto Maple Leafs

Problem Area: Forward OR Defense (Scheme-Dependent)

Internal Options: It should come as no surprise that a team build entirely on a small, expensive core group and veterans on affordable, one-year deals is not well-prepared for the expansion draft. Of the ten Toronto skaters who currently meet the exposure criteria, four are forwards that will be protected in any scenario and three are defensemen that will be protected in any scenario. This leaves Alex Kerfoot at forward and Justin Holl on defense(with Pierre Engvall as the odd man out will likely be exposed regardless); only one can be protected and the other is the most likely Leaf to be selected. If the Maple Leafs value Holl more than Kerfoot, they will go with eight skaters in their protection list. In this scenario, they will not have any defensemen who meet the exposure criteria. Fortunately, any of RFA Travis Dermott or UFA’s Zach Bogosian or Ben Hutton could re-sign and fill that role. Alternatively, if the team values Kerfoot more than Holl, they will go with the standard 7-3 protection scheme. This would allow them to protect Kerfoot as well as extend and protect others like Zach Hyman, Joe Thornton, or Jason Spezza. Those three would all meet exposure requirements as well with a new deal, but Toronto will not offer them up to Seattle. Wayne Simmonds, Riley Nash, or Alex Galchenyuk could be more likely though. Unfortunately, these are all unrestricted free agents and not as easy to re-sign before the off-season as a restricted free agent. The Leafs could find themselves in a bind as a result.

Likelihood of a Trade: Low. There is still so much to be determined about the Leafs’ approach to the draft and they have options either way and player who would likely be eager to re-sign. It’s not a straightforward situation by any means, but they should be able to figure it out without taking the risk of adding salary that they can’t spare by making a trade.

Winnipeg Jets

Problem Area: Forward

Internal Options: The Jets are known for their depth at forward and eight of their top-nine meet the exposure criteria as a result, with RFA Andrew Copp not fitting the bill but almost certain to be protected anyway. The decision for the seventh and final protection slot is likely between the recently-extended Adam Lowry and upstart Mason Appleton. Whoever isn’t protected fills one of the two exposure roles. However, no one else is currently eligible. Extension candidates include UFA’s Mathieu Perreault, Trevor Lewis, and Nate Thompson, but Winnipeg may not necessarily want to commit further to any of those three. The solution: Jansen Harkins is signed through next season and requires just four more games to meet exposure level.

Likelihood of Trade: Low. Just play Harkins and move on. The list of teams in trouble is already long enough.

 

Trade Rumors: Pearson, Flames, Capitals, Bruins

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As the Vancouver Canucks’ season descends further and further into an inescapable disappointment, TSN’s Darren Dreger states on “Insider Trading” this evening that no impending free agent in Vancouver is off limits to suitors. However, that doesn’t mean that all current impending free agents will remain as such through the trade deadline in just over five weeks. Dreger notes that the Canucks would prefer to re-sign forward Tanner Pearson, who is coming off a career year in 2019-20. Negotiations on a new contract have not yet begun, but GM Jim Benning would like to start talks as soon as possible in order to have a clear picture ahead of the deadline. If there is no meeting of the minds on a potential extension and seemingly little chance of progress ahead of the deadline, the Canucks will have to trade Pearson. The two-way winger is their most valuable rental trade chip, as depth options Brandon Sutter, Sven Baertschi, and Jordie Benn have lofty cap hits relative to their value and veteran defensemen Alex Edler and Travis Hamonic have No-Movement Clauses that they may not be eager to waive. If the Canucks can’t re-sign Pearson before the deadline, or at least get a handshake agreement in place, trading him to a contender is their best chance of leaving the deadline with a nice haul of picks or prospects without having to move a term player.

  • The rival Calgary Flames are currently buyers and their biggest need is a winger, but Pearson doesn’t meet their most important criteria. TSN’s Frank Seravalli reports that Calgary GM Brad Treliving is on the hunt for a right winger and, more specifically, a natural right-handed shooting right winger. The Flames’ best right-shot forward is Elias Lindholm and, while he has played on the wing many times before, the team prefers his fit at center. Unfortunately, that leaves the club with a lack of top-six caliber righties to put on the wing. Josh Leivo, Brett Ritchie, and the recently-waived Dominik Simon (a lefty) have not been the answer. The team also prefers to keep top-nine lefties like Andrew Mangiapane and Dillon Dube on the left side if possible and certainly do not want both on their off side. As a result, Calgary is seeking a trade partner. Seravalli does not address whether the Flames are only seeking rentals or if, seeing as the righty problem isn’t going away, they are looking at all options. The team already faces some difficult Expansion Draft decisions in regards to its deep forward corps, so a term acquisition could prove problematic. Among rentals, New Jersey’s Kyle Palmieri and Nikita Gusev or Detroit’s Bobby Ryan stand out as the few top available options at a shallow position on the market.
  • Seravalli notes that another team with a very specific need could be the Washington Capitals. While Washington has received a stellar performance in net from rookie Vitek Vanecek, pressed into the starting role temporarily while Ilya Samsonov was sidelined, both Samsonov and Vanecek lack a crucial component to playoff success: experience. Seravalli wonders if the Capitals trust the young tandem enough to ride them into the playoffs, with veteran Craig Anderson as the third-string, or if the team needs to make a trade. Bob McKenzie echoed this same concern on NBC Sports on Wednesday. Experienced rental options include Devan Dubnyk, Antti Raanta, Jonathan Bernier, and possibly Pekka Rinne. But the question becomes whether or not any of these older goalies are an upgrade to Vanecek based only on experience, as only Rinne has outplayed him this season.
  • While it should come as no surprise to anyone who has reviewed their salary cap status, Bob McKenzie appeared on NBC Sports’ broadcast on Wednesday night and essentially stated that the Boston Bruins have the cap flexibility to do whatever they want at the trade deadline. He added that the team is in this situation “by design” and that GM Don Sweeney is open to any and all possibilities. The Bruins have dealt with injuries on defense and at forward and have experience concerns on the back end and scoring issues up front, so fans were happy to hear McKenzie say they could add a prominent defenseman or forward, “or both”. Currently pressed by injuries, the Bruins have just under $3.5MM in cap space which still prorates to nearly $8.7MM at the deadline, per CapFriendly. However, the Bruins banked cap space earlier this season when they had fewer injuries and could still get healthier before the trade deadline. With no one on the injured reserve eating up cap space at the deadline, CapFriendly estimates that Boston could have upwards of $12.7MM in prorated cap space. For context, that could be enough to add top-priced rental Taylor Hall and a defenseman like Ryan Murray while staying under the cap. The Bruins will be a team to watch over the next five weeks.

Three Players Clear Waivers

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March 4: All three players have cleared waivers and can now be assigned to the taxi squad or minor leagues.

March 3: The waiver wire is busy again today, with three players up for grabs. Chris Johnston of Sportsnet reports that Dominik Simon (Calgary Flames), Valtteri Filppula (Detroit Red Wings), and Mason Geertsen (New York Rangers) have all been placed on waivers today.

Geertsen’s presence on the list means that he has signed a new NHL contract with the Rangers, since he had previously been on an AHL deal with the Hartford Wolf Pack. He last had an NHL deal during the 2018-19 season but has never actually made it to the highest level. A fourth-round pick of the Colorado avalanche in 2013, he has spent several years in the minor leagues racking up penalty minutes, never afraid to drop his gloves to defend a teammate. This year he has 11 PIM and one point in four games for Hartford.

Filppula is the latest veteran Detroit has passed through waivers, following Danny DeKeyser and Frans Nielsen earlier in the year. The 36-year-old forward has registered just five points in 20 games and is nearing the end of what has actually been quite a successful career. A third-round pick by Detroit back in 2002, Filpulla has 520 points in 1,038 career games. He took home the Stanley Cup with the Red Wings in 2008 and has been an excellent playoff performer, racking up 86 points in 166 postseason games.

Waivers then might actually increase Filppula’s trade value, considering he’s on an expiring contract. If a team wanted to add some more experience for a playoff run, but didn’t have an immediate spot in the lineup, the ability to move Filppula to the taxi squad would come in handy.

Simon, 26, hasn’t been a perfect fit in Calgary this season, failing to record a point in his nine appearances. The depth forward was supposed to add a little scoring punch at the bottom of the lineup after recording 50 points over the last two seasons, but that hasn’t happened. Still, for the league minimum of $700K and Simon’s RFA rights, perhaps a team will take a swing and bring him in on waivers. If not, he’ll likely be another candidate to rotate through the taxi squad in Calgary, helping them bank cap space.

Calgary Flames Sign Dominik Simon

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The Calgary Flames have added another option for their forward group, signing Dominik Simon to a one-year, $700K contract. Simon did not receive a qualifying offer from the Pittsburgh Penguins, making him an unrestricted free agent.

Simon, 26, is another example of a mid-round pick turning into a useful piece for the Penguins, even if he never quite did excel offensively. The fifth-round selection from 2015 has played 173 games in his NHL career, scoring 19 goals and 64 points. The usefulness came more from his versatility, as Simon bounced all over the lineup, even spending time next to Sidney Crosby for a period.

Though he isn’t likely to be a difference-maker in the Flames top-six, he is a valuable addition to a team that hasn’t been able to get over the playoff hump. Simon didn’t participate in the Stanley Cup run in 2017 but was part of the Penguins “Black Aces” that saw exactly what was required to win.

For Calgary, this gives them a 12th NHL forward (including Dillon Dube, who is still on his entry-level deal) and only increases the competition for minutes in the bottom-six. The team still has to sign restricted free agent Oliver Kylington but could even make another one of these depth moves with their remaining cap space. With the free agent market standing still, players like Simon will likely be happy just to get a job, even if it does pay the league minimum.

East Notes: Weegar, Simon, Bonus Overages, Dubinsky

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Panthers pending RFA defenseman MacKenzie Weegar isn’t the most well-known player but he is coming off of a career season and is one year away from UFA eligibility.  As Florida looks to overhaul its back end, Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman suggests (Twitter link) that teams are starting to show an interest in trading for the 26-year-old.  Weegar had seven goals and 11 assists in just 45 games last season while seeing his ATOI jump up by more than three minutes per game over his career average as he logged 20:07 per game.  He was tendered a qualifying offer of $1.6MM but stands to make a fair bit more than that on his next contract as he is arbitration-eligible.

More from the Eastern Conference:

  • Despite non-tendering him earlier this week, the Penguins have interest in re-signing forward Dominik Simon, report Josh Yohe and Rob Rossi of The Athletic (subscription link). The 26-year-old has spent his entire career in Pittsburgh and put up 22 points in 64 games this season while logging a career-best 14:24 per game.  While his qualifier was for under $800K, Pittsburgh’s concern was a possible arbitration award so while any new deal will almost certainly come in higher than what his tender would have been for, it should come in lower than had it gone to a hearing as well.
  • In a pair of tweets, PuckPedia reports that the Hurricanes and Capitals will both take their full bonus overage penalties this coming season instead of amortizing them over two years which was a one-time option in the new CBA. As a result, Carolina’s cap space for 2020-21 will decrease by just over $1.367MM while Washington’s goes down by just under $420K.
  • After clearing out Alexander Wennberg, Ryan Murray, and Markus Nutivaara yesterday, the Blue Jackets may not be done moving players yet as Aaron Portzline of The Athletic reports (subscription link) that Columbus is also trying to move Brandon Dubinsky’s contract. The center isn’t expected to play again due to wrist issues but they’re hoping a team that’s set to go into LTIR anyway could be interested in adding the contract to stack their LTIR space, similar to what Toronto did last season by acquiring David Clarkson.  Dubinsky has one year left on his deal with a $5.85MM AAV.

Ten Notable Non-Tenders

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Lost in the shuffle on the marathon second day of the draft is that Wednesday also represented the deadline for qualifying offers to be tendered.  The flattening of the salary cap increased the concerns about salary arbitration which has certainly affected the quality of players that are now set to hit the open market on Friday.  As these players will not be a part of our annual Top-50 UFA Rankings, here’s a rundown of ten notables to keep tabs on over the coming days, listed in alphabetical order.

Andreas Athanasiou (Edmonton)

Back at the trade deadline, the Oilers dealt a pair of second-round picks and Sam Gagner to secure the speedster, one that GM Ken Holland had plenty of familiarity with from his own days with Detroit.  While the winger was having a tough season, he’s only a year removed from a 30-goal campaign.  In a normal salary cap world, his $3MM qualifier would have been tough to swallow but still would have happened.  Instead, he hits the open market with Edmonton not getting much return for those two fairly high picks while becoming an intriguing bounce-back target for some teams.  He won’t get paid like a 30-goal scorer but as a third-liner with upside, he’ll land one of the bigger contracts out of this group of players if not the biggest.

Matt Benning (Edmonton)

There was a time that the Oilers hoped that Benning could step into a role on their second pairing but it didn’t come to fruition.  However, he has been a serviceable third-pairing player over the past few years but a cap-strapped Oilers team couldn’t justify qualifying him at $1.95MM.  Given that he’s a right-handed shot in a market that doesn’t have a lot of them, he should have interest from a few teams.

Nick Cousins (Vegas)

On the surface, a $1MM qualifying offer to a player who had 25 points in 65 games and got into 17 postseason contests doesn’t seem too pricey.  But this is a case where the potential for a higher award through arbitration is a risk that Vegas didn’t want to take with Cousins.  It’s the second-straight year that the 27-year-old was non-tendered for this reason after Arizona did the same thing a year ago.  A versatile depth player, he should be able to land somewhere for around the same contract as he played on this past season.

Anthony Duclair (Ottawa)

Despite finding an opportunity to play a bigger role than he had at any other point in his career, it seems as if Duclair may have overplayed his hand in contract talks.  After scoring 23 goals this season, he opted to represent himself in contract negotiations against the recommendation of GM Pierre Dorion who indicated that a sizable raise was offered before getting to this point.  Still just 25, Duclair becomes a very interesting addition to the open market but having bounced around the league already (he has played for five different teams in six NHL seasons), it’s hard to tell how strong his market may be.

Vinnie Hinostroza (Arizona)

A year ago, it looked like the 26-year-old was set to be a useful part of Arizona’s long-term plans.  He was coming off of a career-best 16-23-39 stat line and was pushing for a spot in their top six.  Things went sideways this year though as he potted just five goals in 68 games which made a $1.5MM qualifier untenable.  Hinostroza could fit on a third line for some teams and should have a fair bit of interest.

Dominik Kahun (Buffalo)

This was one of the more surprising non-tenders of the group.  Although Kahun has just two years of NHL experience, he’s arbitration-eligible since he’s 25.  He followed up a 37-point rookie campaign with 31 points this pandemic-shortened season (including four in six games with Buffalo after being acquired in a deadline day deal from Pittsburgh) while he also missed time with a concussion and a knee injury.  With his point per game average, he played at a 45-point full-season pace.  Buffalo GM Kevyn Adams has indicated they are interested in retaining the winger but if he makes it to the open market, he should be one of the most sought-after players from this list.

Mark Jankowski (Calgary)

While he had shown progress in his development over his first two full NHL seasons, things went off the rails in 2019-20.  Jankowski scored just five times in 56 games and while he wouldn’t have been able to get much more than his $1.75MM qualifier in arbitration, that was still too high of a price tag for Calgary’s liking.  Still just 26, Jankowski now heads to an open market that isn’t exactly loaded in available centers so while a pay cut is likely, he should have no issues finding a new team.

Dominik Simon (Pittsburgh)

A natural center, Simon has spent the majority of his time with Pittsburgh on the wing, playing on all four lines along the way.  While not a gifted point producer, he has surpassed 20 points in each of the last two seasons while posting above-average possession numbers.  Owed a qualifier of less than $800K, the fear of arbitration sealed Simon’s fate on a cap-strapped Penguins squad.

Troy Stecher (Vancouver)

In 2018-19, Stecher looked to be on the verge of securing a spot in Vancouver’s top four after averaging nearly 20 minutes a night and chipping in with 23 points.  But the return of a healthy Chris Tanev and the addition of Tyler Myers helped push the 26-year-old onto the third pairing and a much lower ATOI than usual.  A $2.325MM qualifier is a bit high for someone in that role but there should be a few teams that see him as a potential fourth or fifth option which makes him a notable addition to the UFA market.

Lucas Wallmark (Florida)

One of the notable parts of the Vincent Trocheck deal, Wallmark was coming off of a league-minimum salary which means this non-tender was solely arbitration related.  The 25-year-old only has two full NHL seasons under his belt, putting up 25 and 23 points in each while posting a faceoff percentage that’s a bit above the 50% mark each time.  There is still some upside with Wallmark and with a weak market down the middle, he’ll have no trouble generating interest.

While these players (among the others that were non-tendered) can become unrestricted free agents on Friday, some teams will still be negotiating with their players to try to get them at a lower salary than either their qualifying offer or their expected arbitration salary.  Usually, a handful wind up re-signing so at least for some of these players, their fates may not be completely sealed yet.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Penguins Announce Qualifying Offer Decisions

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While a buyout of Jack Johnson will steal the headlines, the Pittsburgh Penguins have also announced which restricted free agents have received qualifying offers. Pontus Aberg, Anthony Angello, Sam Lafferty, Sam Miletic and Matt Murray have all received offers and will be restricted free agents.

Graham Knott, John Nyberg and most notably, Dominik Simon, have not been given qualifying offers and will become unrestricted free agents on Friday.

Though there was some speculation that the team could leave Murray unqualified, it never did seem very likely. The goaltender’s qualifying offer was for $3.75MM, a big number for a team looking to free up cap space and retool their roster. The Penguins seem determined to make Tristan Jarry the starter next season, with Murray being all but traded already by GM Jim Rutherford. Even at $3.75MM he could still draw plenty of trade interest given his history of success—two Stanley Cup championships before your rookie status runs out will do that.

Simon though will come as a surprise to some (though his situation was reported on over the weekend by the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette) as he hits free agency despite what would have been an inexpensive qualifying offer. The reason the Penguins couldn’t afford to give him one is the risk of arbitration, where Simon likely would have received a cap hit the team deemed too high.

Simon does have 50 points over the last two seasons, even though at least some of that production can be linked directly to minutes played with Sidney Crosby. He’s much more suited to a depth role, but should attract some interest on the open market.

Free Agent Focus: Pittsburgh Penguins

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With free agency now just a few days away, teams are preparing for a frenzy of action.  There will be several prominent players set to hit the open market while many teams have key restricted free agents to re-sign.  The Penguins have some key decisions to make, but with a plan to keep their cap number down and their overall goals of making changes to keep their team in the playoff picture for the next few years, they may have to let some players go.

Key Restricted Free Agents

G Matt Murray – With the signing of Tristan Jarry on Saturday to a three-year deal, the Penguins are basically making it clear that they have chosen Jarry over Murray in net. While they could conceivably keep both as it is expected that the team will tender a qualifying offer, it still is more likely that Murray will be traded shortly. That’s a far fall for the “goalie of the future” three years back when they allowed Marc-Andre Fleury move on. Many teams are waiting for the huge free-agent goalie market to disseminate in the next week as Murray sounds like a cheaper option, but the 26-year-old’s lack of consistency likely worries plenty of teams. Murray finished the season with a 2.87 GAA and a .899 save percentage in 38 games, although the netminder did fare better in three postseason games as he had a 2.50 GAA and a .914 save percentage in three games.

F Dominik Simon – Hardly a top-six player, but the versatile Simon suddenly looks like he could be a cap casualty as The Athletic’s Rob Rossi reports that he could make as much as $1.25MM, a high price for a capped-strapped team. The 26-year-old played all over the lineup, but has never managed to post more than 30 points in his career. He tallied seven goals and 22 points last season in 64 games. The forward is also recovering from shoulder surgery in late April, which was expected to keep him out six to seven months.

Other RFAs: F Pontus Aberg, F Anthony Angello, F Graham Knott, F Sam Lafferty, F Sam Miletic, D John Nyberg.

Key Unrestricted Free Agents

D – Justin Schultz – The blueliner was singled out last month by general manger Jim Rutherford as one of the problems on the Pittsburgh blueline. That likely means that the team will allow Schultz to explore other offers around the league. The team did get an impressive year out of John Marino, suggesting the team can get along without him and $5.5MM cap hit that came with him. It’s highly unlikely he will get anything like that on the market anyway, but Schultz definitely struggled since signing that three-year, $16.5MM contract. Since posting a 51-point season with the Penguins and signing that deal, he has posted just 54 points combined in those three seasons and has dealt with a number of injuries that has affected his overall game.

F Conor Sheary – The Penguins re-acquired Sheary at the trade deadline from Buffalo after trading him there back in 2018. The 28-year-old winger scored 23 goals in his second year with the Penguins back in 2016-17. Those goals, however, have declined every year to 18 to 14 to 10 last season. The team has made it clear it doesn’t want to put Sidney Crosby next to lesser players like Sheary has, meaning if they held onto him, they would more likely move him down to the third line. The question is whether Sheary is affordable enough to bring back to the team.

F Patrick Marleau – The Penguins picked up the legendary winger from the Sharks for their playoff run, but he managed to scored just one goal and two points in eight games before the shutdown and was scoreless in four playoff games. It isn’t likely that the 41-year-old will return to Pittsburgh, although a return to the Sharks for one final season isn’t necessarily out of the question.

Other UFAs: F Riley Barber, F Thomas Di Pauli, F Adam Johnson, F Kevin Roy, F Phil Varone.

Projected Cap Space

Rutherford vowed to change up his roster this offseason in hopes of giving Crosby and Evgeni Malkin every opportunity to win another Stanley Cup before their time in the NHL is up. That will require some major decisions in both free agency and through trades, something that Rutherford is an expert on. The biggest problem remains the salary cap where the team has just $2.6MM in available cap space to make all these moves.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Pittsburgh Penguins Extend Jared McCann

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The Pittsburgh Penguins have come to terms on a new contract with one of their pending restricted free agents. The team has announced that forward Jared McCann has signed a two-year extension with a $2.94MM AAV. Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman adds that the contract carries a $2.5MM salary in year one and a $3.38MM salary in year two. McCann will be a restricted free agent again when the deal expires after the 2021-22 season.

McCann, 24, is coming off of a career year and appears to have finally found a long-term NHL home. A 2014 first-round pick, McCann was traded first by the Vancouver Canucks after his first pro season and then again by the Florida Panthers midway through his fourth pro season. While those teams felt McCann was falling short of high expectations, the Penguins have gotten the most out of him. Since arriving in Pittsburgh in February 2019, McCann has recorded 52 points in 98 games, including 35 points this season, a career-high in points per game. McCann also ranks sixth among Penguins skaters in points during that span. If he continues to improve offensively and scores at a top-six level for the club, McCann’s extension will prove to be a major bargain for the Penguins.

The challenge though is where to place McCann in the lineup. While he has the versatility to play both wing and center, the Penguins have been unhappy with his performance when slotted down the middle. McCann’s record at the face-off dot leaves much to be desired, as does his ability to drive offense down the middle of the ice. If McCann is not a fit as the Penguins’ third line center, that position remains a major hole in their lineup while McCann becomes yet another of the team’s numerous wingers. Pittsburgh is unlikely to have re-signed McCann if they also planned to move him, but this deal makes it even more likely that the team could look to move another winger in order to improve elsewhere.

With McCann signed, the Penguins have just over $6MM in cap space with their situation in net still to resolve – Matt Murray and Tristan Jarry are both unsigned RFA’s – and two other RFA forwards in Dominik Simon and Sam Lafferty in need of new deals. This doesn’t leave GM Jim Rutherford much room to explore the free agent market unless another trade is still on the way.

Dominik Simon Recovering From Shoulder Surgery

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If the playoffs do resume at some point this summer, the Pittsburgh Penguins will be without the services of Dominik Simon. The team announced today that Simon actually underwent surgery on April 29th to repair a torn labrum in his left shoulder. He had originally suffered the injury in late February missing the last few games before the season was shut down.

Simon is expected to be out for six to seven months. Normally that would mean missing the start of next season, but given the uncertain start date that can’t be assumed at this point.

The 25-year old forward had seven goals and 22 points for the Penguins in 64 games this season, even spending some time alongside Sidney Crosby on the top line. With an injury ruling him out for any playoffs, the focus can now move to his next contract.

On the second season of a two-year contract with the Penguins, Simon carries just a $750K cap hit. Given that he is eligible for arbitration that number will surely increase, though just how much is still unclear. The fifth-round pick has been a useful depth piece, but still only has 19 goals in his 173-game NHL career.

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