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Minnesota Wild Claim Anthony Bitetto

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The Minnesota Wild have added another depth defenseman in their search to change their fortunes this season, claiming Anthony Bitetto off waivers from the Nashville Predators according to Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet. Bitetto obviously has ties to Minnesota GM Paul Fenton, who was with Nashville when the defenseman was drafted in 2010.

Claiming Bitetto actually may have a real impact on some of the other players vying for spots on the Wild, given how full their roster will now be. The team is expected to activate Eric Fehr within the next few days, meaning that there isn’t any room for the recently demoted Luke Kunin and Joel Eriksson Ek. Someone else would have to go, and likely face waivers themselves.

Bitetto’s claim also is a bit of a head-scratcher given the depth the Wild already have on defense after trading for Brad Hunt recently. The team is now carrying eight defenders with Matt Dumba on injured reserve, but have others like Louis Belpedio and Ryan Murphy in the minor leagues who could fill in if necessary. The claim doesn’t cost them much of anything though given Bitetto’s minimum salary contract, and perhaps they can sneak him through waivers themselves in a few days. Nashville at that point would have a chance to reclaim him.

Eight-Year Extension Unlikely For Auston Matthews

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Every year as the trade deadline approaches, teams have more than just swaps on their mind. In order to know exactly what you can go after to push yourself to the playoffs, you need to know how much available cap space you have going forward and what core pieces are locked up long-term. Even teams out of the playoff race have to push to get deals done, or else might end up having to trade an expiring asset. Long-term extensions often happen in the weeks leading up to the deadline, and last season was no different. Consider these deals that were all signed in February 2018:

Lars Eller, Washington Capitals – Five years, $17.5MM

Mikael Backlund, Calgary Flames – Six years, $32.1MM

Erik Gudbranson, Vancouver Canucks – Three years, $12MM

Josh Bailey, New York Islanders – Six years, $30MM

Patric Hornqvist, Pittsburgh Penguins – Five years, $26.5MM

It comes as no surprise then that nearly as many headlines are currently dominated by extension talk as by trade talk. In Ottawa, the Senators are desperately trying to get some indication of whether they can keep Matt Duchene and Mark Stone around long-term, or else will be forced to trade both of them. The Columbus Blue Jackets don’t seem to be getting any such indication from Artemi Panarin, but will likely hold on to him anyway given their intention to compete for the Stanley Cup. The San Jose Sharks are in a similar boat with Erik Karlsson, but also can’t even sign him to an eight-year extension until after the deadline passes.

Perhaps the biggest headline generator recently (as they often are) were the Toronto Maple Leafs, whose GM Kyle Dubas told media that the team had made progress on an Auston Matthews extension. While insiders quickly noted that progress in this case did not mean a deal was imminent, there is some reason to believe that Matthews could be one of these February signings.

First of all, the Maple Leafs are another team within striking distance of the Stanley Cup or at least a high playoff seed. Dubas knows that they could compete this season, and getting Matthews under contract gives him more information to make any other trade deadline decisions. Second it would make the summer a lot less stressful, given that the front office also has to deal with new contracts for Mitch Marner, Kasperi Kapanen and Andreas Johnsson, while also filling the hole left by pending UFA Jake Gardiner. Each of those contracts will take some work, and the Maple Leafs certainly don’t want them to extend into the season again like William Nylander’s negotiation did.

It might be easy to say hand over a blank check to Matthews and let him join the league’s elite with an eight-year extension that pays him more than $10MM per season. Not so fast, according to Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet, who writes that both the team and Matthews’ agent Judd Moldaver “see an eight-year deal as extremely unlikely.” The reasoning would be that the Maple Leafs can’t afford to buy out that many UFA seasons given how tight their cap will be going forward. Instead, suggests Friedman, the deal will be for five or six years, buying out just one or two free agent seasons in order to keep the cap hit relatively low.

In reality it actually might be the better move for Matthews too. Though an eight-year deal would certainly put him into the upper echelon of NHL earners immediately, it likely wouldn’t stay that way throughout the entire deal. With the salary cap set to increase again next season and CBA talks potentially changing the salary cap rules at some point down the line, Matthews could be overtaken by less talented peers in the years to come. If he truly believes in his talent—and nothing in his career path to this point suggests he does not—signing his next massive contract after five more seasons makes total sense. Remember that the Maple Leafs center won’t turn 22 until September, meaning he would exit a five or six year deal still in his prime.

While this kind of a deal might make sense for both the Maple Leafs and Matthews, it will be interesting to see whether other teams follow the same path. The Tampa Bay Lightning for instance have a brilliant young center of their own scheduled to hit restricted free agency in Brayden Point, and face similar cap crunch issues moving forward. If Point would be interested in a five-year deal of his own there could be benefits for both sides, though like Matthews it would put him at risk of leaving as a free agent a few years earlier.

If the Maple Leafs are to go after any player with term left on his contract, they need to get some certainty over what kind of cap hit Matthews will bring moving forward. That means Dubas might not be watching his phone waiting for another GM’s number to pop up over the next few weeks, but rather that of Moldaver.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images

Dallas Stars “Dangling” Mattias Janmark In Trade Talks

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The Dallas Stars have climbed back into playoff contention after a troubling start to the season, and will likely be one of the bubble teams looking to secure their spot by adding talent at the trade deadline. Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet writes in his latest 31 Thoughts column that Dallas is “dangling” Mattias Janmark in addition to Valeri Nichushkin and Brett Ritchie, who had previously been linked to trade talks.

Dallas hasn’t gotten enough production out of the bottom half of their lineup this season, relying heavily on the top trio of Tyler Seguin, Alexander Radulov and Jamie Benn to carry the offensive weight. The team traded Devin Shore earlier in the year to bring in a new face in Andrew Cogliano, and it now sounds like they might be considering moving some of the other disappointing names. The above mentioned trio of trade candidates have combined for just six goals and 27 points this season, with Janmark leading the way with 15 of those. The 26-year old forward was a 19-goal man a year ago, but has been snake-bitten all season and is shooting just 4.3%.

Janmark and Ritchie are both restricted free agents with arbitration rights at the end of the season while Nichushkin is under contract for another season at a $2.95MM cap hit. The latter is younger than the other two, but also has failed to score a single goal this season in his return to North American and is routinely seeing fewer than 12 minutes of ice time in recent weeks. It’s hard to trade an asset in that situation, given Nichushkin is at his absolute lowest value right now.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images

The Anaheim Ducks And The Issue Of “Tagging”

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Anaheim Ducks GM Bob Murray has been a busy man this season, orchestrating four of the past seven trades in the NHL and nine deals overall since the regular season began. Yet, as his team continues to dwell on the fringes of the Western Conference playoff picture, Murray is left to ponder other moves to either improve his roster or sell off what few valuable rental pieces he has. Outside of recent additions Michael Del Zotto and Derek Grant, who are unlikely to be flipped, the Ducks have only three other notable impending unrestricted free agents: forwards Jakob Silfverberg and Brian Gibbons and currently injured goaltender Ryan Miller. Many have speculated that Silfverberg could be the next player shipped out of town, but Murray was quick to state recently that he will continue to work toward an extension with the top-six winger instead.

However, when it comes to either re-signing Silfverberg or adding another piece before the trade deadline, Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman cautions that it may be easier said than done due to an obscure salary cap rule. “Tagging” is a rule in the NHL Collective Bargaining Agreement that limits teams from surpassing the current season’s salary cap in terms of future salaries. The wording of the CBA is as follows:

Until such time as the Club has or makes Payroll Room in the current year in excess of such Tagged Payroll Room, the Club may not engage in any Player transactions requiring Payroll Room, including but not limited to, acquiring an SPC or “extending” or entering into a new SPC.

In layman’s terms, this simply means that teams are not permitted to acquire players with non-expiring contracts or agree to new contracts with current players that would put a future season’s payroll above the existing salary cap. Although the current salary cap ceiling of $79.5MM is almost guaranteed to increase next season, perhaps even substantially, and even though cap hits toll as the season progresses, allowing teams to acquire players they otherwise could not have afforded earlier in the year, they still may not surpass the current cap limit when it comes to the future.

For the Ducks, this rule is especially topical. Anaheim has 16 non-waiver exempt players under contract next season at a total of $70.4MM, the most committed salary of any team in the league. Projecting their 23-man roster payroll for next season easily exceeds $74MM. Even after cutting future salary in the Andrew Cogliano–Drew Shore swap, the Ducks have little room to maneuver while avoiding a “tagging” problem. Without moving out another long-term player, Anaheim would likely struggle to extend Silfverberg in the current league year to a salary exceeding $5-6MM. Given that Silfverberg is currently underpaid at just a $3.75MM AAV, the proven two-way forward is very likely to land in that range. Similarly, the Ducks would be hard-pressed to add a player with term remaining at a cap hit in or above that range. Even if they did find a way to make one of those moves or the other, it would severely limit their roster flexibility the rest of the way this season.

The question thus becomes, if extending Silfverberg in the current season is not a viable option, should the team consider moving him? Even if they have an oral agreement with Silfverberg to sign a new contract this off-season, they cannot truly know that he is committed to staying in Anaheim until pen meets paper. The Ducks could easily fall out of the playoff race following the trade deadline and Silfverberg could decide he would rather test the market. Meanwhile, the team should be able to recoup some nice trade capital if they did decide to trade Silfverberg and could always re-sign him this summer. Even though Murray seems intent on keeping Silfverberg around, the looming shadow of the “tagging” rule makes it a much tougher situation.

Edmonton Oilers Sign Mikko Koskinen To Three-Year Extension

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The Edmonton Oilers have already made three transactions earlier today by waiving Ty Rattie and Ryan Spooner while assigning Caleb Jones to the minors, and are close to a third according to Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet. The Oilers are close to signing goaltender Mikko Koskinen to a three-year extension worth $4.5MM per season reports Friedman. Chris Johnston of Sportsnet added the yearly breakdown while also reporting that the contract includes a limited no-trade clause.

  • 2019-20: $5.2MM
  • 2020-21: $3.3MM + $500K signing bonus
  • 2021-22: $4.5MM

Koskinen, 30, came back to the NHL this season after the better part of a decade overseas playing in Finland and Russia, and has given the team some relatively good goaltending throughout the season. The huge, 6’7″ netminder has posted a .911 save percentage through 27 games this season and has gone 14-10-1 in those matches. That kind of production was certainly enough to consider giving him an extension, but there are plenty of red flags in this deal as well.

For one, this almost certainly means the end of Cam Talbot’s tenure in Edmonton unless the veteran goaltender is willing to sign an inexpensive contract extension. The team already had almost $70MM committed to their roster for next season with definite upgrades that need to happen at the forward position. While Koskinen has outplayed Talbot this season, essentially handing over the starting position to a goaltender with just 31 NHL starts under his belt is a risk. Perhaps the team can find another goaltender to form a solid tandem, but Koskinen will need to carry the majority of the load for this team moving forward.

Relying on him might be tough to do given his recent performance. While Koskinen started the season on fire, his play over the last month has gone downhill with the rest of the team performance. The big goaltender has posted an .877 save percentage in his last ten games, making the timing of this extension at least questionable—though they had probably been working on it for some time.

At the very least, the Oilers will go into the offseason with a bit of cost certainty at the position. For a team that will obviously have to make changes in order to compete for the Stanley Cup while Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl are in their prime and under contract, knowing exactly how much you can spend in free agency is a positive measure. With an improved team perhaps Koskinen’s play will bounce back and make this extension look like a genius stroke in a year’s time.

Evening Notes: Karlsson, Rask, Kruger, Byfuglien

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The Tampa Bay Lightning got a break Saturday when the San Jose Sharks revealed that they had scratched star defenseman Erik Karlsson despite the fact that he participated in the pre-game skate. Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reported that Karlsson is nursing an injury, but it isn’t expected to be very serious.

According to The Athletic’s Kevin Kurz, Karlsson has been struggling with the lower-body injury since the team faced Arizona on Thursday and hasn’t been practicing. He added that Karlsson was limping noticeably after the game against the Coyotes, favoring his left side. While Kurz acknowledged that the injury isn’t serious, the scribe wonders if the Sharks might hold him out until after the All-Star break. San Jose has two games remaining against Florida and Washington on Monday and Tuesday, respectively, and then don’t play again until Feb. 2.

  • The Boston Bruins may have lost Tuukka Rask for some time as the team announced that the goaltender suffered a concussion during Saturday’s game against the New York Rangers and will not return. The hit happened late in the first period when Rangers’ Filip Chytil collided with Rask after scoring a goal. Chytil was actually pushed by Boston’s Charlie McAvoy, sending Chytil airborne and sending Rask backwards, where he appeared to hit his head on the right goalpost. Rask remained on the ice for quite a while before skating off with assistance. Jaroslav Halak took over for Rask.
  • The Athletic’s Scott Powers (subscription required) writes that a league source says the Chicago Blackhawks are attempting to trade Marcus Kruger, Chris Kunitz and Andreas Martinson. While no names are surprises, Powers writes that the team will most likely find a trading partner for Kruger, who has just a seven-team no-trade clause. He is in the final year of a three-year, $9.25MM deal at $2.75MM AAV, which many teams might be willing to take on for some bottom-six help.
  • NHL.com’s Mitchell Clinton writes that Winnipeg Jets defenseman Dustin Byfuglien, who has been out since Dec. 29 with a left leg injury, has resumed skating with the earliest possible return being after the All-Star break. The 6-foot-5, 260-pound blueliner would be an important piece to get back for the Jets, who have missed him in his absence.

San Jose Sharks Have “Checked In” On Derick Brassard

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The Western Conference is ripe for a trade deadline arms race given the tight races at both the very top of the standings and playoff bubble, and Eastern Conference teams have a lot to sell. One of those assets for sale is Pittsburgh Penguins forward Derick Brassard, who hasn’t been a fit since he arrived and is almost surely to be sent out of town in the next few weeks. It isn’t clear where the veteran center will be headed, but Elliotte Friedman did suggest on Sportsnet radio today that the San Jose Sharks have “checked in” on Brassard. Friedman notes that the Sharks will be looking for an addition that can play in the middle of the ice.

It hasn’t been a secret that the Sharks will be active at the deadline once again. Earlier this month GM Doug Wilson indicated that he would be open to pursuing rentals again even after sending so many assets out to acquire Evander Kane and Erik Karlsson over the last year. The Sharks sit in second place in the Pacific Division but should already be considered a Stanley Cup contender, something that they might not be able to say a few years down the road.

If there is any team that could see their core group deteriorate quickly it might be San Jose. The team is currently relying on players like Joe Pavelski (34 years old) and Joe Thornton (39) up front, while already giving out long-term deals to Brent Burns (33) and Marc-Edouard Vlasic (31). While those players may be primed for a Cup run this season, three years from now the Sharks might be a very different animal. That’s not to say the team will definitely decline, but the front office has obviously realized that this could be their best chance to win and will do everything they can to compete this season.

Brassard meanwhile cost the Penguins quite a bit last season and won’t be given away for free this time around. Even if Pittsburgh GM Jim Rutherford knows he is going to send the pending free agent somewhere, he can easily wait for that arms race to kick up a notch before pulling the trigger. While Brassard hasn’t fit well in Pittsburgh, he’s still a very talented player that can be relied on for some secondary scoring. In a different fit he could be quite productive, and there will be several interested buyers at the deadline.

It’s there where the Sharks may find themselves at a disadvantage. The team does not own a first-round pick for the next two consecutive drafts thanks to the Kane and Karlsson trades, and also rid themselves of good young prospects like Josh Norris and Rudolfs Balcers. There are still a few bullets left in the chamber, but it will be tough to outbid teams like the Vegas Golden Knights and Winnipeg Jets if it comes to that.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images

Trade Rumors: Hurricanes, Oilers, Nylander

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The Carolina Hurricanes struck arguably the biggest trade of the regular season so far when they acquired Nino Niederreiter from the Minnesota Wild in exchange for Victor Rask earlier today. However, GM Don Waddell is likely far from done. Not long after the deal was announced this afternoon, TSN’s Pierre LeBrun stated that the Hurricanes are still looking to add to their roster. LeBrun speculates that the team will add another top-six forward and will try to tap into their surplus of defensemen and defensive prospects to do so. The Hurricanes have the NHL’s longest playoff drought at nine seasons and would very much like to get back to the postseason this year and are well within striking distance of that goal past the midpoint of the season. While the team has succeeded in many areas this season, they continue to have struggles with scoring and, as LeBrun points out, could desperately use another talented forward. Yet, at the same time, the Hurricanes are also reportedly open to moving one of their most successful scoring forwards this season, Micheal Ferland. Ferland is on pace for a career season in his first year in Carolina, but the two sides had been unable to come to terms on an extension. Following the addition of a very similar player in Niederreiter, Ferland’s time in Carolina could soon be coming to an end. Between listening to offers on one highly-sought after rental forward and actively in pursuit of another top name on the market, the Hurricanes promise to remain in the rumor mill through the trade deadline next month and should have some more fireworks in store.

  • Another team desperate to make the playoffs this season are the Edmonton Oilers. While the Oilers are reportedly willing to move a number of assets for long-term forward help, the hype surrounding a possible Jesse Puljujarvi trade appears to be cooling off and GM Peter Chiarelli may opt for adding an affordable rental rather than making another high-risk trade. In his latest “31 Thoughts” column, Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman names the Oilers as a suitor for the New York Rangers’ Mats Zuccarello. The veteran winger has been hot lately and could certainly help with Edmonton’s scoring woes down the stretch. As Friedman points out, and the Oilers surely know as well, Zuccarello also should not be too expensive to acquire. The Rangers received a second-round pick and middling prospect from the New Jersey Devils at the trade deadline last season for Michael Grabner, who was in the midst of a season not dissimilar from Zuccarello’s this year and was also an impending free agent. Chiarelli and company would likely be happy to give up a package such as that to add much-needed help up front.
  • William Nylander is finally under contract and playing for the Toronto Maple Leafs, but it’s been a slow start for the young forward in his return to action and an equally disappointing result for his team since his return. Making too much of that could be a mistake, but facing an impending salary cap crunch and mounting Stanley Cup expectations, GM Kyle Dubas and the Leafs brass have little room for error. Count former Toronto GM Brian Burke among those who would jettison Nylander as soon as possible if they were in Dubas’ shoes. Burke said on Sportsnet today that the front-loaded nature of Nylander’s contract should allow the team to move him and he expects that trade to occur this off-season. Burke acknowledges that Nylander is a talented player, but doesn’t agree with his nearly $7MM yearly cap hit and feels he is too similar to other players on the Leafs’ roster and considers him to be a costly “surplus player”. Whether Dubas and company agree with that assessment remains to be seen, but a Nylander trade this summer is certainly not out of the question.

Pittsburgh Penguins “Ready To Start Dealing”

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Derick Brassard will be traded. That’s the news coming out of nearly every outlet in Pittsburgh as the Penguins prepare to shake up their roster for another Stanley Cup run. The latest to report on the Penguins is Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman in his latest 31 Thoughts column, which includes a note saying that GM Jim Rutherford is “ready to start dealing.”

That notion comes just a day after the Penguins lost badly at the hands of the San Jose Sharks, their second consecutive defeat and one that has dropped them to fourth place in the Metropolitan Division. That’s a dangerous place to be in at the moment every team out of the playoff picture is gunning for the Penguins’ spot, including the Buffalo Sabres who are just four points back. Rutherford is never one to just wait around and hope things get better, and with the imperfect fit that is Brassard there’s work to be done.

Friedman notes that the Penguins have expressed interest in Carolina Hurricanes forward Micheal Ferland, but also writes that the list of teams after the pending free agents is long and also includes the Boston Bruins, Edmonton Oilers and Vancouver Canucks. Ferland would be a nice fit to provide some physicality and secondary scoring for the Penguins, but he doesn’t fill that third-line center role that Brassard has failed to run with.

If that’s the position most sought after, there are certainly several avenues to go down. Matt Duchene’s representation is meeting with Ottawa Senators GM Pierre Dorion today in California according to Darren Dreger of TSN, meaning there should be at least some feeling of where his contract negotiations are headed. If the Senators can’t get Duchene under an extension in the next few weeks, you have to expect them to see what they could get for him on the trade market. Kevin Hayes stands out as another center that could fit in behind Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin, though there will be plenty of competition for his services too.

Like other teams that are squarely in their competitive window, the Penguins aren’t worried about building for the future and will try to give themselves the best shot at a Stanley Cup this season. Brassard was that move a year ago as the team had to part with multiple pieces to multiple teams in order to get a cheaper version of the veteran center onto their team. That leaves Brassard as a fairly appetizing trade chip this time around, given that he carries just a $3MM cap hit this season. Moving that cap hit will be important to any moves that the Penguins do make, given their relative proximity to the salary cap ceiling.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images

Colby Cave, Phillip Di Giuseppe Placed On Waivers

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Tuesday: While Cave was claimed by the Edmonton Oilers, Di Giuseppe has cleared waivers once again and was assigned to the Milwaukee Admirals of the AHL.

Monday: The Boston Bruins have placed Colby Cave on waivers today according to Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet, exposing the 24-year old forward to the rest of the league. Cave will be joined on waivers by Phillip Di Giuseppe, who was only recently claimed by the Nashville Predators.

Cave has played 20 games for the Bruins this season after getting off to the best start of his minor league career, and has shown enough to perhaps draw some interest from around the league. The undrafted former WHL forward recorded 18 points in 15 games for the Providence Bruins, but could only contribute five during his stint in the NHL. Still, relatively young centers that can avoid getting filled in at even strength in the NHL aren’t all that easy to come by, meaning someone could take a chance on Cave tomorrow.

For Di Giuseppe, this is nothing new. The 25-year old forward had already been placed on and cleared waivers twice this season before the Predators claimed him on his third trip, meaning he very well could slip through this time around. Obviously the Hurricanes could choose to bring him back, but either way it doesn’t look like he’ll be getting regular minutes in the NHL anytime soon.

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