Drew Doughty

Snapshots: Doughty, Nylander, Altybarmakyan

October 15, 2018 at 8:15 pm CDT | by Zach Leach 6 Comments

The Toronto Maple Leafs ended up landing the biggest fish of free agency in John Tavares, but long before the Tavares sweepstakes even began, the team was linked to Los Angeles Kings defenseman Drew Doughty. Doughty, a Toronto area native, ended up signing an eight-year, $88MM extension early this off-season, ending any thoughts that he might be a free agent in the summer of 2019. So where did the homecoming rumors come from? Doughty has now admitted, via TSN, that he never seriously considered moving on from L.A. Instead, he floated the idea of departing the Kings for the Maple Leafs as a negotiation tactic. Doughty negotiated his latest deal without an agent and, in order to ensure he wasn’t taken advantage of, made sure he had some leverage on his side. The rumors that he might leave if able to test the free agent market surely encouraged the Kings to give him what he wanted on his latest extension, the largest contract for a defenseman in NHL history.

Another player who has no interest in signing with the Maple Leafs, at least not at their current offer, is restricted free agent forward William Nylander. Toronto and their young forward seem to be at an impasse in contract negotiations and the December 1st deadline, after which Nylander would be prohibited from playing in the NHL this season, is starting to look like a real possibility. Should that come to fruition, Nylander would likely turn to the KHL for his paycheck this season. Nylander’s rights are held by Avangard Omsk, currently led by former NHL head coach Bob Hartley, who recently spoke to TSN about his excitement about the possibility of having Nylander on the roster this season. Avangard already added Cody Franson, Alexei Emelin, David Desharnais, and Kris Versteeg this off-season and could really make waves in the KHL by adding Nylander to the mix. Nylander is currently skating in his native Sweden and could make the short trip over to Russia rather than the trip back across the Atlantic this season, if talks continue to go poorly with the Maple Leafs.
Staying in the KHL, Chicago Blackhawks prospect Andrei Altybarmakyan is on the move. The 20-year-old winger was traded today, swapped by SKA St. Petersburg to HK Sochi for fellow young forward Ivan Larichev, the league reports. Both Altybarmakyan and Larichev are fringe KHLers with limited experience at the highest level, but Sochi appears to be the long-term winner in this deal, acquiring the 2017 third-round pick. There has been no indication that Altybarmakyan is heading over to North America any time soon and could continue to develop into a bona fide starter for Sochi down the road.

Snapshots: Schwartz, Wilson, Doughty, Scarlett

October 14, 2018 at 5:56 pm CDT | by Holger Stolzenberg 3 Comments

The St. Louis Blues were rolling along just fine a year ago, but when winger Jaden Schwartz went down with an injury on Dec. 9th and missed six weeks with a lower-body injury, the team fell apart and had trouble finding its offense even after he came back as they found themselves outside a playoff spot.

Now, the team is in the exact same situation as Schwartz took a puck off the same leg he injured last year from his own teammate, Vladimir Tarasenko. While this injury is not considered to be as serious, the team feels more confident that they can survive without the winger this season with their improved depth, according to The Athletic’s Jeremy Rutherford.

The scribe points out that the team used Dmitrij Jaskin and Vladimir Sobotka in their top-six after last year’s Schwartz injury and the team’s third line featured Ivan Barbashev, Magnus Paajarvi and Patrik Berglund, which wasn’t a very deep team. Four of those players aren’t even with the team anymore.

This year, the team moves Sammy Blais into the top-six and still boast several key players on the third line, including Jordan Kyrou, Alex Steen and Tyler Bozak and that’s not including 19-year-old Robert Thomas. With the depth much deeper, the Schwartz injury shouldn’t have as significant effect as it did a year ago.

Washington Capitals winger Tom Wilson, currently sitting out 20 games for a preseason hit against St. Louis Blues’ Oskar Sundqvist pending appeal, was asked Sunday whether he intends to change the way he plays. “Yeah, for sure,” Wilson told The Athletic’s Chris Kuk. “The hitting aspect of the game is definitely changing a little bit and I have to be smart out there and I have to play within the rules.”
Los Angeles Kings defenseman Drew Doughty took much of the blame as he said he “failed” in making a difference during the team’s 5-1 embarrassing loss to the Ottawa Senators Saturday as well as their 2-2-1 start. However, Fox Sports’ Jon Rosen writes that Doughty has hardly failed the team as no goals have been scored when Doughty has been on the ice this season and had a plus-1 rating in their loss to the Senators.
The Athletic’s Sean Shapiro reports that the Texas Stars, the AHL affiliate of the Dallas Stars, announced that defenseman Reece Scarlett will miss the rest of the season after tearing his ACL. The 25-year-old had a strong camp with Dallas and was expected to have a big season with the Texas Stars.

Erik Karlsson: “They Probably Would Have Traded Me Anyway”

October 3, 2018 at 8:33 pm CDT | by Gavin Lee 5 Comments

In a spectacular interview with Sportsnet’s Christine Simpson, San Jose Sharks defenseman opens up about his exit from the Ottawa Senators and what exactly went on between him and management over the last few months. Karlsson confirms that a deal was extremely close at the trade deadline—though doesn’t give any hint on who would have acquired him—and discusses the contract offer that the Senators did make when he became eligible for an extension.

Yeah they did [make an offer]. They did.

I don’t think it ever got to the point where I had an option to sign anything, it never even got close to that. And even if I would have signed, they probably would have traded me anyway and I would have been somewhere else.

The Senators traded Karlsson, who was their captain at the time, on September 13th just as training camp was set to open and claimed that it was necessary for the rebuild that they are beginning. The team received a large package of assets including Chris Tierney and Dylan DeMelo, while the Sharks were happy to add Karlsson to a defense corps that already included Brent Burns and Marc-Edouard Vlasic.

Karlsson also spoke a little bit on the off-ice drama between his family and that of former teammate Mike Hoffman, explaining that no one else in the dressing room knew about the problems between them. Senators GM Pierre Dorion had claimed that the dressing room was “broken” at times last season, something that also needed to be addressed this summer.

Though the trade took quite a long time to actually be finalized, it seems as though—from Karlsson’s point of view at least—the Senators had made the decision to move on from their franchise defenseman months ago. A two-time Norris Trophy winner and one of the most dynamic players to ever play for Ottawa, he is still set to become an unrestricted free agent next offseason and could be out of the Senators’ price range altogether. Karlsson has been rumored to be after a Drew Doughty-like extension for his next deal, a contract that is worth $88MM over eight seasons. The Sharks can’t actually sign him to an eight-year deal until after this trade deadline given the current CBA, though they can certainly discuss it with him or ink a seven-year pact.

What Does The Future Hold For Jake Gardiner?

August 19, 2018 at 5:45 pm CDT | by Zach Leach 5 Comments

Before July 1st, few people outside of the Toronto Maple Leafs front office were too concerned about the contract status of defenseman Jake Gardiner, who enters the final year of his current deal in 2018-19. Then Drew Doughty, Oliver Ekman-Larsson, Ryan McDonagh, and Ryan Ellis all preemptively signed long, expensive extensions. Just like that, the situation for Gardiner changed completely.

Looking ahead to next summer, there is now an argument to be made that Gardiner is the second-best defenseman on the unrestricted free agent market as it currently stands. That was far from true earlier this summer. He has gone from an afterthought to an Erik Karlsson consolation prize. While the free agent class features many prominent veteran defenders – Jay Bouwmeester, Anton Stralman, Marc Methot, and Alexander Edler – it lacks many long-term pieces behind Karlsson and Gardiner. The Winnipeg Jets’ Tyler Myers and the Vegas Golden Knights’ Nate Schmidt would perhaps offer Gardiner some competition, if either unexpectedly reaches the market, but there is a strong case to be made that Gardiner would be the superior target.

The real question is whether or not Gardiner actually makes it to free agency. While nothing has changed about Gardiner’s value or ability since July 1st, his relative cost has shifted dramatically. With a potentially loaded free agent market for defensemen, Gardiner would have been taking a risk by turning down a fair extension from the Leafs to pursue other offers that may not have come once the smoke cleared from the major signings. Now that he almost certainly will be considered one of the top available names, Toronto may have to pay a premium to keep him from testing the waters, if they can. By the time Gardiner finishes next season, his career games played and offensive production will likely be superior to those currently of a player like McDonagh, who just signed a seven-year extension worth $6.75MM AAV. Granted, Gardiner is not the all-around player that McDonagh is, but given his continuously improving play and the boost of being a top available younger player, it is a fair frame of reference. For example, look at the four-year, $18.2MM contract that Calvin de Haan – considered by many to be the best defenseman in this current free agent class – signed with the Carolina Hurricanes this summer despite missing the majority of last season due to injury. The market sets the price and scarcity drives up price.

So will Toronto ante up to keep Gardiner? The Maple Leafs have to be careful with their long-term salary cap management. The team still owes William Nylander a contract this summer, as well as extensions for Auston Matthews and Mitch Marner by next off-season. Those are the three names that everyone is focused on when it comes to Toronto. Yet, in addition to Gardiner, other impending free agents that the Leafs would like to keep include forwards Kasperi Kapanen, Andreas Johnsson, and Josh Leivo, defensemen Travis Dermott, Andreas Borgman, and Connor Carrick, goaltender Garret Sparks, and even incoming imports Par Lindholm and Igor Ozhiganov who could win spots on the team this season. This is the final year that Toronto can take advantage of this massive group of bargain players, all of whom are paid $1.3MM or less and due raises. Not to mention, signing Gardiner and the other blue liners and losing veteran Ron Hainsey will still keep a massive hole open on the right side of the defense that the team will need to continue to search to fill.

The numbers simply don’t seem to add up, at least not very neatly. It would seem difficult for the Maple Leafs to pay Gardiner his market value, extend all of their other key impending free agents, fill the gap on the right side of the top pair next to Morgan Rielly, and still somehow end up under the salary cap next season. The story line to watch this season, as the John Tavares era begins, is whether the Jake Gardiner era is ending. Another career year for the capable defenseman could leave the Leafs without much choice but to let him walk next off-season and continue to work with a pieced together blue line. Do they trade him at the deadline? Do they trade a young core forward to replace him? Or instead do they somehow move salary to fit Gardiner in at any cost? Find out in 2018-19.

Salary Cap Deep Dive: Los Angeles Kings

August 18, 2018 at 5:59 pm CDT | by Holger Stolzenberg 2 Comments

Navigating the Salary Cap is probably one of the more important tasks for any general manager to have. Teams that can avert total cap chaos by walking the tightrope of inking players to deals that match their value (or compensate for future value without breaking the bank) remain successful. Those that don’t see struggles and front office changes.

PHR will look at every NHL team and give a thorough look at their cap situation heading into the 2018-19 season. This will focus more on those players who are integral parts of the roster versus those who may find themselves shuttling between the AHL and NHL. All cap figures are courtesy of CapFriendly.

Los Angeles Kings

Current Cap Hit: $77,345,227 (under the $79.5MM Upper Limit)

Entry-Level Contracts

F Alex Iafallo (one year, $925K)
F Sheldon Rempal (one year, $925K)
F Gabriel Vilardi (three years, $925K)
D Daniel Brickley (one year, $925K)
F Adrian Kempe (one year, $894K)

Potential Bonuses

Rempal: $850K
Brickley: $850K
Vilardi: $500K

With a franchise filled with veteran contracts, the team has been forced to slowly integrate some youth onto the team. What the team has recently done successfully is signing several undrafted collegiate free agents, including Iafallo, Brickley and Rempal. Iafallo made the Kings’ team out of training camp after four years at the University of Minnesota-Duluth and even started on the team’s top line, posting nine goals and 25 points. This year, the team has the same hopes for Brickley and Rempal, two of the top college free agents, who each signed earlier this year and have solid chances to make the club out of training camp.

The team also have high hopes that Kempe can continue to develop into a top-six forward after finally breaking into a full-time role with the Kings this year. The 21-year-old 2014 first-round pick posted 16 goals and 37 points last year and could be primed to take that next step next season. Vilardi, the team’s 2017 first-rounder, might have made the L.A. team last year if he hadn’t suffered a back injury at the end of the 2016-17 season. He missed half of last season, but still posted solid numbers in junior on his return, posting 22 goals and 58 points in just 32 games. He could easily win a bottom-six role immediately and work his way up the depth chart as the season rolls on.

One Year Remaining, Non-Entry-Level

F Nate Thompson ($1.65MM, UFA)
G Peter Budaj ($1.03MM, UFA)
F Jonny Brodzinski ($650K, RFA)
F Zack Mitchell ($650K, RFA)
D Oscar Fantenberg ($650K, UFA)

The team has few contracts that they have to worry about among non-entry level deals. Fantenberg may be the most intriguing of the bunch as the 26-year-old defenseman showed some offensive potential in limited action after coming over from the KHL last year. While he played in just 27 games last season, he posted 13 points and managed to play a significant role in their four-game playoff series with the Vegas Golden Knights. Other than Mitchell, who came over from Mitchell, all are unrestricted free agents and will have to prove their value to get a new contract in the future.

Two Years Remaining

F Tyler Toffoli ($4.6MM, UFA)
D Jake Muzzin ($4MM, UFA)
D Derek Forbort ($2.53MM, UFA)
F Trevor Lewis ($2MM, UFA)
F Kyle Clifford ($1.6MM, UFA)
D Kurtis MacDermid ($675K, RFA)
G Jack Campbell ($650K, UFA)

Toffoli posted solid numbers for the fourth straight year, putting up 24 goals and 47 points as he enters the second year of a three-year, $13.8MM deal. The 26-year-old flashed some offensive potential two years ago when he scored 31 goals. Hoping that he might build on that number, Toffoli has scored just 40 goals in the past two years, so the team hopes he can return to an elite level soon. Muzzin is a solid top-four defenseman on a team that is loaded in defense and proved his value by putting up a career-high in points with 42, despite missing eight games last seasons.

Three Years Remaining

F Ilya Kovalchuk ($6.25MM, UFA)
D Dion Phaneuf ($5.25MM, UFA)
D Alec Martinez ($4MM, UFA)
F Tanner Pearson ($3.75MM, UFA)

The majority of the team’s significant contracts are three years and above and the team added a critical addition in the offseason when they won the Kovalchuk sweepstakes as he chose Los Angeles over a number of other teams to sign a contract with. Many believe that Kovalchuk only signed with L.A. because they were the only ones to offer three years to the 35-year-old winger, but Kovalchuk adds a new element to the team’s top line as he made it clear that he wanted the opportunity to play next to a top-line center. Kovalchuk, might not produce the type of numbers he did five years ago when he was with New Jersey, but Kovalchuk is still expected to post at least a couple of 20-goal seasons for the Kings. He did score 63 goals in his last two seasons in the KHL, so his abilities remain high.

While the Kings took on the contract of Phaneuf in order to unload Marian Gaborik, the team may have got an overpaid player in Phaneuf, but they have a player who can play in the top-four still and immediately provided the team with some quality defensive play upon joining the team. He may no longer have the elite skills of a top-pairing defenseman, but he’s still good enough to provide important depth. Martinez has also been one of the team’s top defenders even if his offensive output went down this year. After two season with at least 30 points, he dropped to just 25 points last year. However, his defensive presence and more importantly his shot-blocking skills have been key for the Kings. He blocked a career-high 206 shots last season.

The Kings handed Pearson a four-year, $15.MM deal after last season when he had a breakout season, scoring 24 goals in the 2016-17 season. Before that he had just 27 goals over his first two years. However, he regressed last year, finishing the season with just 15 goals. The team will need more out of the 26-year-old if they want to keep their success going.

Four Or More Years Remaining

F Anze Kopitar ($10MM through 2023-24)
D Drew Doughty ($7MM next season; $11MM through 2026-27)
F Dustin Brown ($5.88MM through 2021-22)
G Jonathan Quick ($5.8MM through 2022-23)
F Jeff Carter ($5.27MM through 2021-22)

Kopitar, who inked an eight-year, maximum extension back in 2016, continues to prove his value to his contract as he posted up career numbers last year. The 30-year-old who once posted 81 points for the Kings back in the 2009-10 season, finally broke that career-high this year with a 92-point season, including a career-high 35 goals. While few people believe that Kopitar can repeat that type of success a second straight year, Kopitar should be good for 70-80 points and is likely going to be playing with Kovalchuk at his side, which can’t hurt his numbers.

Doughty just signed an extension of his own this summer. While he’ll make a solid $7MM next season, that number bumps up to a team-high $11MM for the next eight years after that. The extension came at the right time as the 28-year-old posted a career-high of 60 points last year, but an eight-year deal now will run until he’s 36 years old, which could hurt the team’s long-term outlook.

The 33-year-old Brown finally had a big season for the club. He scored 28 goals. However, Brown hasn’t tallied that many goals since the 2010-11 season. In fact, his goal numbers have decreased since then as he went from 28 to 22 to 18 to 15 to 11 to 11 and then to 14 in the 2016-17. To assume that Brown, who is in the middle of an eight-year, $47MM deal, can repeat those goal numbers after five years of mediocrity is unlikely. Carter, however, may be the opposite. The 33-year-old suffered a severe cut to his left leg that forced him to miss all, but 27 games of the season last year. He still managed to score 13 goals upon his return, but Carter should return to his standard numbers this season as he’s tallied at least 24 goals over the previous five seasons.

Quick bounced back after an injury-plagued 2016-17 season. As goaltender salaries continue to rise in the NHL, Quick is proving to be one of the best deals in the NHL at $5.8MM, which is right in the middle of NHL goalie salaries. Quick posted a 2.40 GAA and more importantly a .920 save percentage in 64 games. The team is so confident in his health that they traded solid backup Darcy Kuemper to Arizona and are using Campbell as their backup. The team even has a top goalie prospect in the wings in Cal Petersen, but it’s unlikely that Quick will give him an opportunity to do more then eventually be a backup.

Buyouts

D Matt Greene ($833K in 2018-19)

Retained Salary Transactions

None

Salary Cap Recapture

F Mike Richards ($1.32MM through 2019-20)

Still To Sign

None

Best Value: Quick
Worst Value: Brown

(Excluding entry-level contracts)

Looking Ahead

The Kings are obviously hoping that the addition of Kovalchuk will push the Kings from a playoff team into a Stanley Cup contender, but they are also battling with time as much of the team is over 30 years old now. Even Kopitar has hit 30, suggesting that time is not on their side for very long. Add in that many of those mid-30 players are on long-term deals and the team will have some trouble adding too much more help, which will force them to look at youth. With a little luck a player like Vilardi or one of those college free agents can help, but so far they have had little help.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Los Angeles Kings Face 2019 Cap Crunch

July 31, 2018 at 2:09 pm CDT | by Gavin Lee 4 Comments

The Los Angeles Kings were expected to be big players this summer after a frustratingly quick first-round exit last season. The same issue that had plagued them in recent years—a lack of goal scoring—popped up again in their series with the Vegas Golden Knights as the team scored just three goals while being swept out in four games. While Marc-Andre Fleury played extremely well for the Golden Knights, seeing the Kings struggle to put the puck in the net was nothing new for fans of the team. The 239 goals they scored in the 2017-18 were the second fewest among all playoff teams, and actually a substantial increase over the 201 they had scored in 2016-17. Even with an MVP-level season from Anze Kopitar, the team needed more offense.

In came Ilya Kovalchuk as the team’s big offseason move, bringing back the 35-year old sniper from the KHL on a three-year, $18.75MM deal. Kovalchuk was fresh off another exceptional season in the KHL and had won the Olympic MVP while taking home gold with Russia. The former Atlanta Thrashers and New Jersey Devils forward should bring some added scoring punch to the lineup this season, though there is no guarantee he is still the elite player he once was. The fact that he’s heading into the back half of his thirties should also give pause to any lofty expectations, despite his big contract.

That big contract though, and the eight-year $88MM extension given to Drew Doughty ahead of the final year of his current deal, could also contribute to an extreme salary cap crunch for the Kings next summer. While the team currently has just over $2.1MM in cap space according to CapFriendly with a roster of 21 players (including Jack Campbell as a third goaltender) next offseason is where it could get really difficult. With Doughty’s deal kicking in and big-money contracts still owed to Kovalchuk, Kopitar and others, the team projects to have just around $5.3MM in cap space with only 15 players under contract. Among those who will need new deals as restricted free agents are Adrian Kempe and Alex Iafallo, both of whom will have to be key pieces to an offensive turnaround.

Eight of those players under contract for the 2019-20 season are already in their thirties, while Jake Muzzin will be joining them in February. That’s a ton of money dedicated to players on the back half of their careers, and will create quite a dilemma for the Kings going forward. The team does have some very intriguing prospects like Gabe Vilardi, Rasmus Kupari, Akil Thomas and Kale Clague in the system, but will they be enough to supplement an aging roster that is taking up a huge part of the cap? Even just finding enough money to put together a 23-man roster next summer could be challenging, especially if either Iafallo or Kempe really break out and demand a big pay raise.

The other issue is that the cap crunch will prevent the team from really chasing any more scoring help in trade unless the player comes without a contract for the 2019-20 season. Though rentals certainly can be helpful for a playoff run, they often cost more in future assets than they’re worth and bring nothing but more disappointment and regret in the postseason. The lack of future flexibility the Kings find themselves with makes it tough to really be contenders on the trade market, unless they’re prepared to send salary the other way. The defense corps, which took on Dion Phaneuf and his expensive contract last season, would be the obvious target for any salary shedding, but it is also the strongest part of the team.

The Kings should be in the playoff hunt this season, and could experience an offensive renaissance with Kovalchuk in the mix. If they don’t though, prepare for plenty of speculation about them shedding some of their aging contracts at the deadline in an attempt to gain some flexibility going forward. As it stands, they may have to move out a valuable asset just to get under the cap in 2019.

Central Notes: Seguin, Parise, Trouba

July 15, 2018 at 5:56 pm CDT | by Holger Stolzenberg 5 Comments

The Dallas Stars have a tough road ahead of them. With new inspiring head coach Jim Montgomery ready to take the reins in Dallas, the team is eager to force their way to the top of the Central Division, but they also know that if the team can’t sign star Tyler Seguin to an extension sometime this year, everything they’ve worked for could fall apart.

The 26-year-old star is coming off a career-high 40 goals, but has also seen his team not reach the playoffs in three of his last four seasons. On top of that, Seguin has not signed an extension as of yet, something that could have happened on July 1. NHL.com’s Mike Heika writes that while Seguin has been careful about what he says about his next contract, he has expressed his love for the city.

“My focus is I have another year with the Dallas Stars, so there is no real thought of thinking of other teams or thinking of free agency,” Seguin said. “My focus is getting ready to play this year … I love it here. My objective is I want to win a championship here. I love Dallas, it’s home to me. So that’s my No. 1 goal.”

Heika writes that one obstacle is the team is hesitant to sign any player to a higher AAV than the deal they gave Jamie Benn back in 2016. Unfortunately, Seguin might easily be able to pass that mark as John Tavares recently signed for an $11MM AAV and with salaries increasing yearly, that could be an issue that Dallas might have to re-examine.

Dane Mizutani of the Twin Cities Pioneer Press writes that Minnesota Wild winger Zach Parise, who suffered a fractured sternum just three games into the playoffs, says he is 100 percent now and will be ready for training camp. In fact, the 33-year-old feels so good that he has decided to participate in Da Beauty League, a weekly 4-on-4 league, to get himself back into game shape after suffering the injury. Parise, who was one of the top scorers for Minnesota late in the season, including scoring 12 goals over the final 18 games and then three more goals in the first three games of the playoffs, will be a key piece for the Wild to compete for a playoff spot next season.
Scott Billeck of NBC Sports writes that the Winnipeg Jets are likely going to have to pay up to sign restricted free agent Jacob Trouba and predicts the team will hand him an eight-year deal. The real question is how much will the team have to pay for Trouba, who has developed into one of the best top defensive lines next to Josh Morrissey. Trouba’s numbers may not look impressive, but he had career numbers in assists per 60 minutes at 1.03 and points per 60 minutes at 1.22. Those numbers actually compare to elite defensemen like Victor Hedman, Drew Doughty and P.K. Subban. Those numbers could bring his pricetag to a very high number.

Los Angeles Kings Ink Kurtis MacDermid To Two-Year Deal

July 15, 2018 at 3:51 pm CDT | by Holger Stolzenberg 2 Comments

The Los Angeles Kings announced they have signed defenseman Kurtis MacDermid to a two-year, two-way contract. Fox Sports Jon Rosen reports the deal is worth $675K AAV.

The 24-year-old undrafted free agent broke in with the Kings this year as he made the Kings opening-day roster and played 34 games with Los Angeles, posting a goal and three assists. He was then returned to the Ontario Reign of the AHL and finished out the season there where he put up one goal and five assists.

MacDermid is considered to have a legitimate chance at earning the sixth or seventh spot on the Los Angeles Kings defensive rotation this year. With the first five spots in the hands of veterans Drew Doughty, Alec Martinez, Dion Phaneuf, Jake Muzzin and Derek Forbort, the team hasn’t added any veteran depth due to the team’s cap restraints. That could mean opportunities for MacDermid, Oscar Fantenberg, Daniel Brickley and Paul Ladue if they have a good training camp. MacDermid at 6-foot-5 and 233 pounds could provide the team with a much-needed physical presence.

Pacific Notes: Kovalchuk, Kings, Canucks, Ducks

July 14, 2018 at 8:54 pm CDT | by Holger Stolzenberg Leave a Comment

Los Angeles Kings free agent signee Ilya Kovalchuk finally spoke to the media today after agreeing to sign a three-year, $18.75MM deal with the Kings on June 23. The 35-year-old superstar has now spent the past five years in the KHL, putting up some great numbers and has made it clear that he believes that despite his age, he has three or four good years left in him, according to Fox Sports’ Jon Rosen.

The winger said one of his main reasons for choosing the Kings was because he wanted to play next to a high-end center like Anze Kopitar. Kovalchuk could be a perfect complement to Kopitar. The 35-year-old has been playing some of the best hockey of his career, posting 63 goals in his last two KHL seasons as well as winning MVP for Team Russia in the Olympics this past year.

Kovalchuk also believes he is young for 35, but declined to say that he could put up a 30-goal season next season, according to Helene St. James of the Los Angeles Times. Kovalchuk last posted a 30-goal season in the NHL back in the 2011-12 season when he scored 37.

Sticking with the Kings, Lisa Dillman of The Athletic (subscription required) does a Q&A with head coach John Stevens, who says that the Kings had no choice, but to place more responsibility on young players on their defense. The team has five veterans to hold down the core of the defense in Drew Doughty, Jake Muzzin, Alec Martinez, Dion Phaneuf and Derek Forbort. However, the team will have to rely on younger players, like Paul Ladue, Daniel Brickley and Kurtis MacDermid to fill out the rest of the roster. “There comes a point in time especially with the [salary] cap where you’ve got so many young guys. You have to make decisions,” Stevens said.
Jason Brough of The Athletic (subscription required) writes that after assessing the offseason in which the team spent money on multiple bottom-six forwards, the Vancouver Canucks are putting all their success next season on the scoring ability of their young prospects. For one, the team lost three of the team’s top five scorers and now besides Bo Horvat and Brock Boeser, the team will need to get increased scoring output from other forwards, including Elias Pettersson, Sven Baertschi, Nikolay Goldobin, Brendan Leipsic and Jake Virtanen. If they can’t make up for that offense, it should be another long season.
Eric Stephens of The Athletic (subscription required) looks at the Anaheim Ducks salary cap situation now and in one year from now to see if it will improve. Unfortunately the Ducks will not have much in terms of bad contracts that will come off the books in a year and the team will have to deal with other salary cap challenges instead. The team must deal with the cost of bringing back forwards Adam Henrique and Jakob Silfverberg, who will be unrestricted free agents as well as goaltender John Gibson, who will be a restricted free agent.

Poll: What Kind Of Extension Is Predators’ Ryan Ellis Worth?

July 7, 2018 at 12:23 pm CDT | by Holger Stolzenberg 3 Comments

With top defensemen getting locked up to big, long-term deals everywhere, one only has to look around the league to see who is next. The most obvious target would be Nashville’s Ryan Ellis, who will be wrapping up the final year of his five-year, $12.5MM deal. Ellis, who is one of the core of Nashville’s talented back end, is one of the most underpaid blueliners in the league at $2.5MM AAV, should be in line for a great extension. After all, many of his defensive teammates are already well-paid, including P.K. Subban ($9MM for four more years), Roman Josi ($4MM for two more years), and Mattias Ekholm ($3.75MM for four more years).

Nashville claims that locking up the 27 year old is the team’s top priority this offseason. Yet little has happened. However, how much is he worth, asks Adam Vingan of the Tennessean? While two of the most significant extensions went to Los Angeles’ Kings Drew Doughty (eight years, $11MM AAV) and Arizona Coyotes’ Oliver Ekman-Larsson (eight years, $8.25MM AAV), Ellis likely doesn’t fit into that category. Therefore, Vingan writes that Nashville must compare Ellis’ play with several other tiers of defenseman that have recently signed new deals. The most likely comparables for Ellis will come down to the recent contracts signed by Washington Capitals’ John Carlson (eight years, $8MM AAV) and Tampa Bay Lightning’s Ryan McDonagh (eight years, $6.75MM AAV). However is he as good as those two?

The next tier would be contracts handed out a few years ago that could compare, such as Pittsburgh Penguins’ Kris Letang (eight years, $7.25MM AAV), Erik Johnson (seven years, $6MM AAV) and Anaheim Ducks’ Cam Fowler (eight years, $6.5MM AAV). Ellis’ stats are challenging to look when attempting to compare to any of those defensemen. Offensively, he’s never put up 40 points in a season yet, coming close once with 38 points (16 of those were goals). However, after missing the first half of this past season after undergoing knee surgery in the offseason, Ellis’ stats took a jump when he put up 32 points in 44 games, suggesting that his offense is starting to emerge. With his defense never under question, the Predators must come up with a number soon.

So what range should Ellis fall into?

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