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Josh Jooris Signs With Toronto Maple Leafs

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The Toronto Maple Leafs have signed Josh Jooris to a one-year, $650K contract according to Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet.

The 27-year-old winger has bounced around the league his entire NHL career as he has already played for the Calgary Flames, New York Rangers, Arizona Coyotes, Carolina Hurricanes and Pittsburgh Penguins and will now add Toronto to his jersey collection. After signing with the Hurricanes one year ago, he managed to play in 31 games, putting up three goals and six points, but Carolina traded him to Pittsburgh at the trade deadline for the Penguins playoff run, but had little impact for them. He played nine games for the Penguins, without tallying a point and did not play in the playoffs.

He will battle it out in training camp for a potential bottom-line role, but could just as easily be used to stockpile talent for the Calder Cup Champion Toronto Marlies in the AHL.

Ian Cole, Matt Calvert To Sign With Colorado Avalanche

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The Colorado Avalanche will be adding some Stanley Cup experience to their blue line next season, as multiple reporters including Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet expect the team to sign Ian Cole today. The deal will be for three seasons at an average annual value of $4.25MM. The team is also expected to sign Matt Calvert, who will get a three-year deal with an AAV around $2.8MM.

Cole, who was a depth defenseman for the Pittsburgh Penguins during their previous Stanley Cup Championships, was traded twice this season before the trade deadline. The Penguins sent him to the Ottawa Senators as part of the Derick Brassard deal, who then flipped him a few days later to the Columbus Blue Jackets for their playoff run. The 29-year-old blueliner fit in well for Columbus as he saw a slight uptick in minutes. In total, he put up five goals and 20 points in 67 games. With Colorado, he’ll continue to be a significant defensive presence in the Avalanche’s top-four and could also prove to be a valuable veteran addition for the eventual addition of 2017 first-rounder Cale Makar, who the team hopes to bring in for the 2019-20 season.

As for Calvert, much was expected out of the 28-year-old winger after he put up 11 goals in his rookie season. However, Calvert failed to improve on that mark much as his career high was 13 goals back in the 2014-15 season. Since that year, he’s steadily declined with the Blue Jackets, posting 11 goals, then 10 and finished up last season with just nine goals. He averaged just 13:23 of ATOI last season. With the Avalanche, Calvert should get an opportunity to provide depth and fight for a potential spot on the team’s second or third lines.

Carter Hutton Expected To Sign With Buffalo Sabres

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The Buffalo Sabres have decided that goaltending is an area of need after letting Robin Lehner walk in free agency, and are expected to sign Carter Hutton to a three-year contract. Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet also reports that the team will sign Scott Wedgewood, giving them a third option behind Hutton and Linus Ullmark. Hutton is expected to command a cap hit just under $3MM per season, while Wedgewood is on a two-way deal.

Hutton, 32, is arguably the best goaltending option on the open market after another excellent season in St. Louis. The veteran netminder has plenty of experience pushing young goaltenders and supporting them when they invariably face inconsistency, and he’ll be asked to do much of the same with Ullmark in Buffalo. After posting a .931 save percentage in 32 appearances last year though, Hutton will also be asked to help lead the Sabres back into playoff contention. After finishing at the bottom of the standings once again, Buffalo will be bringing in young phenom Rasmus Dahlin on the blue line and have already acquired some help up front in Conor Sheary. Now with a solidified goaltending situation, the team is poised to find much more success in 2017-18.

Wedgewood on the other hand will be asked to fill a different role for the organization. GM Jason Botterill has been very clear that he intends on building a winning organization from top to bottom, and that includes the Rochester Americans of the AHL. Wedgewood is an extremely capable minor league goaltender, who should fill Ullmark’s shoes admirably going forward.

Blues To Sign David Perron

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Winger David Perron is heading back to St. Louis…again.  Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reports (Twitter link) that Perron has agreed to a four-year, $16MM deal to rejoin the Blues.  This will mark his third seperate stint with the team.

Perron is coming off of his best season by far that saw him post 16 goals and 50 assists in just 70 games with the Golden Knights, who acquired Perron via the Expansion Draft.  His 66 points ranked him second among players available on the open market behind only John Tavares.

However, his struggles in the postseason may very well have hurt his value.  He scored just once in 15 postseason games and was even a healthy scratch at one point.  To be fair, he still wound up with nine playoff points (1-8-9) which tied him for eighth on the team.

St. Louis had been on the lookout for a top-six winger to replace Perron all of last season and as it turns out, Perron will effectively fill the spot he initially vacated.

With the signing, the Blues still have a little over $12.6MM in cap space at their disposal, per CapFriendly.  However, a good chunk of that will be earmarked for their restricted free agents, headlined by defenseman Joel Edmundson and winger Robby Fabbri.

Ryan Reaves Agrees To Two-Year Deal To Return To Vegas

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Saturday — 8:10 p.m.: Dreger adds that Reaves will receive a two-year deal for $2.775MM per year.

Saturday — 5:50 p.m.: TSN’s Darren Dreger reports that Reaves will indeed be staying with the Vegas Golden Knights on a two-year deal despite receiving quite a bit of attention from multiple teams, including extensive talks with the Calgary Flames.

Friday: Though he was attracting interest from other teams, it appears that winger Ryan Reaves is sticking around with Vegas.  Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reports (Twitter link) that the Golden Knights are expected to sign him.  Meanwhile, Larry Brooks of the New York Post adds (via Twitter) that the Rangers, who were one of the other teams interested in signing him, are aware that he is off the market.

Reaves started this past season with Pittsburgh but didn’t fare too well with them which resulted in him being dealt to the Golden Knights as part of the three-team Derick Brassard trade.  He played a regular role down the stretch and even worked his way into a regular spot in the lineup as the postseason progressed.  On the season, he wound up with ten points, 94 penalty minutes, and 236 hits in 79 games while adding a pair of goals in ten postseason contests.

The 31-year-old ranked 44th in our Top 50 UFA list with a projected contract of two years and $3MM.  While financial terms of Reaves’ deal are not yet known, it’s likely that he will receive a raise on the $1.125MM AAV he had on his last contract given the interest he was generating around the league.

Free Agent Rumor Round-Up: Roussel, Calvert, Hickey, Rieder, Perron, And More

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The Vancouver Canucks are closing in on an agreement with one of their top free agent targets. After Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman revealed that the Canucks were talking to two-way winger Antoine Roussel, colleague Rick Dhaliwal did some digging and discovered that the two sides were close on a long-term deal. Dhaliwal expects Roussel to sign a four-year deal worth more than $3MM per year with Vancouver. The former Dallas Stars brings grit and energy to the Canucks and has previously teased 30+ point potential. If the 28-year-old Frenchman can reach those levels of production while maintaining his notorious physical game, this could be a great signing by GM Jim Benning. However, it is well above what many would have expected Roussel to sign in both term and salary and could just as well be a disaster for Vancouver. Roussel is ranked 38th on PHR’s Top 50 Free Agents list with an estimated contract of two years and just over $2MM AAV.

[RELATED: PHR’s 2018 Top 50 NHL Unrestricted Free Agents]

  • Friedman has also linked the Colorado Avalanche and forward Matt Calvert. TSN’s Darren Dreger is among a few sources who have also heard about that pairing. Calvert, 28, has played his entire career for the Columbus Blue Jackets, but Dreger seems convinced that he is definitely on the move. The versatile, two-way winger would be a nice fit as a bottom-six regular who can fill gaps in the top-six, much like the role that Blake Comeau played for the team.
  • Dreger also reports that interest is high in defenseman Thomas Hickey. A shallow defense market is likely boosting the value of the serviceable defenseman, who is a tough defensive match-up and a dangerous off-the-puck play-maker, but prone to mistake when moving play. Many speculated that the Islanders would turn their attention to re-signing Hickey once the John Tavares situation had sorted itself out, but with Tavares dragging his feet and Hickey in talks with numerous teams, New York may not get that chance. We predicted that Hickey would land with the Montreal Canadiens on a multi-year deal in PHR’s Top 50 Free Agents list.
  • Another player getting a lot of attention is winger Tobias Rieder and the status of his suitors is changing quickly as the price rises. Just earlier today, the Vancouver Canucks were the first team confirmed to be in on Rieder and by now that list has increased dramatically. TSN’s Ryan Rishaug reports that the Calgary Flames, Montreal Canadiens, and Ottawa Senators are also in the running and that the price has gotten so high as to drive the Edmonton Oilers out of the bidding. The Athletic’s Craig Custance confirms the interest from the Canucks, Flames, and Habs and adds the New York Rangers and Florida Panthers to the list of interested parties. All this for a player that the Los Angeles Kings deemed unworthy of a qualifying offer.
  • As expected, David Perron is also one of the hottest names on the free agent market and his former team, the Vegas Golden Knights, are seemingly out of the running. Friedman calls it “very unlikely” that Perron returns to Las Vegas, where he set a career high with 66 points this season. For an idea on the price for Perron, he landed at #5 on the PHR Top 50 Free Agents list with a projected six-year, $32MM contract, which could be a conservative guess.
  • One team that is somewhat surprisingly in talks with Perron is Arizona. Craig Morgan of Arizona Sports details the off-season so far from the Coyotes and lists Perron, James van Riemsdyk, and Michael Grabner as Arizona’s top targets. Morgan also says that the team has not ruled out bringing back veteran forward Brad Richardson as well.
  • The Boston Bruins are moving on from Anton Khudobin and reportedly working fast to find his replacement. Beat writer Matt Kalman and The Boston Globe’s Kevin-Paul Dupont both hear that the team is very interested in Kari Lehtonen as the new backup to Tuukka Rask. With many talented goalies on the market, Lehtonen has flown under the radar somewhat despite incredibly comparable numbers to Khudobin in more starts and superior numbers to the likes of Jonathan Bernier, Cam Ward, Robin Lehner and others. Lehtonen also had the highest Quality Start rate of any of that group in 2017-18. Even here at PHR we may have underestimated Lehtonen, making him our sixth-best goalie among the Top 50 free agents.
  • Unsurprisingly, TSN’s Pierre LeBrun notes that the Washington Capitals have checked in with defenseman Brooks Orpik. A veteran leader and key contributor to their Stanley Cup run, the Capitals faced little choice but to trade Orpik away earlier this off-season in order to clear cap space to maintain their championship roster. Now that he has subsequently been bought out by the Colorado Avalanche, Orpik is fair game and could return to D.C. at a much more affordable rate. However, LeBrun warns that other teams are also in the running and Orpik may not take a discount rate in Washington over more legitimate offers.

 

Pittsburgh Trades Conor Sheary, Matt Hunwick To Buffalo Sabres

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The Pittsburgh Penguins made it clear after re-signing Bryan Rust that there may be cap casualties this summer, and we now may have an idea of who GM Jim Rutherford was talking about. Conor Sheary and Matt Hunwick are headed to Buffalo in exchange for a conditional 2019 fourth-round pick. The pick would move to a third-round selection if Sheary scores 20 goals or 40 points, or if Hunwick is traded before the 2019 draft. With no salary retained, this move clears $5.25MM for the Penguins, giving them plenty of room to add through free agency if they so choose.

Buffalo GM Jason Botterill released this statement on the acquisitions:

Conor has proven himself to be a reliable forward with an ability to come through in big games, whose playoff experience speaks for itself. Conor and Matt will bring a winning pedigree to our team, and we expect them both to complement our group very well.

Sheary is the prize of the trade for the Sabres—if you couldn’t tell from the above statement—and will likely be asked to take up residence on the left side of one of the top two lines in Buffalo. He has experience playing with a superstar center before, spending plenty of time on Sidney Crosby’s wing in Pittsburgh. If he can recreate some of that chemistry with Jack Eichel, the Sabres may have finally found a fit for their franchise center.

The 25-year old Sheary went undrafted as a junior player and needed to prove himself at the NCAA level before being offered a professional contract. Even then it took several years of development to get to the NHL, a path that Botterill will be quite familiar with given he was an assistant GM of the Penguins and ran their minor league system at the time. If there is anyone around the league that knows more than Rutherford about Sheary, it’s Botterill.

That said, Sheary did have just 30 points last season and has proven to be an extremely streaky scoring threat. There are times where all his hard work and speed result in very little, as we saw in the playoffs when he was held to just two assists through 12 games. Buffalo will hope a return to playing with skilled forwards will jump start that offensive touch, and get him back to the 23-goal man he was in 2016-17.

Hunwick had already worn out his welcome in Pittsburgh, just a single year into the three-year $6.75MM deal he signed last summer. There was never any bad blood between the veteran defenseman and the coaching staff or organization, but he couldn’t find a fit in the lineup and ended up playing in just 42 games. Getting rid of his contract was key this offseason, now that Jamie Oleksiak has taken his role at the bottom of the defensive corps and the team could be interested in bringing in players like Jack Johnson.

Should Johnson still be a target for the Penguins, they certainly have enough space now to fit him in. With the reputation Rutherford has for trading though, it seems just as likely that Pittsburgh will be involved in talks for players like Jeff Skinner, Max Pacioretty or Artemi Panarin, all three of whom are heading into the final year of their current contracts. Whether the price tag on any of them would interest the Penguins isn’t clear, but they now have the cap room—over $10MM in fact—to make a much bigger splash.

For Buffalo, adding two roster players for a conditional mid-round draft pick is nothing short of brilliance by Botterill. The Sabres aren’t in salary cap trouble and can easily afford to take a swing on both. Sheary provides a high reward player who could blossom in Buffalo, while Hunwick represents an upgrade on some of the defensemen the team iced last season. Even though the 33-year old didn’t fit into the Pittsburgh system, doesn’t mean he can’t be a useful sixth or seventh defenseman for the Sabres going forward.

Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet first tweeted that there were “rumblings” of a trade between the Penguins and Buffalo Sabres surrounding Conor Sheary. Darren Dreger of TSN reports gave us the Hunwick addition and the conditions of the trade.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images

Philadelphia Flyers Will Try To Sign Wayne Simmonds To Contract Extension

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Speaking to Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet on the draft floor immediately after selecting Jay O’Brien, Philadelphia Flyers GM Ron Hextall confirmed that he’ll try to sign Wayne Simmonds to a contract extension this summer. Simmonds is on the final season of his current deal, and is considered one of the most underpaid assets around the league. He’ll be able to demand quite a raise from the $3.975MM cap hit he currently carries.

Simmonds, 29, is coming off a relatively disappointing season as he battled injury, but is still a 30-goal player who can contribute at both even-strength and on the powerplay. He’s a special player that represents something not many of the other Flyers forwards can bring, and could be part of the 2019 “Superclass” next summer should he wait out this year.

Still, it’s not an easy decision to sign him long-term. Though he is obviously an excellent offensive player, some worry that his style could result in a quick decline as he enters his thirties. With such a strong resume he’ll likely be able to demand a contract in excess of six years, taking him into the later stage of his career at what could be a fairly high cap hit.

Barry Trotz Named Head Coach Of New York Islanders

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1:30 PM: The Islanders have officially announced Trotz’s hiring.

11:25 AM: Though nothing is official yet, multiple sources including Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet, Darren Dreger of TSN and Pierre LeBrun of The Athletic have reported that the New York Islanders are closing in on a deal with Barry Trotz to become their next head coach. Friedman reports that a deal is likely to be for five years, and worth at least $4MM. That would go along with what Arthur Staple of The Athletic (subscription required) had heard, though he suggested it would be “in the neighborhood” of $5MM per season.

Trotz is coming off a Stanley Cup championship with the Washington Capitals, but resigned on Monday after the two sides weren’t able to work out a salary for a potential two-year extension. Trotz was out of work for just a few days, and snatched up by Lou Lamoriello and the Islanders to fill their vacancy at head coach. Lamoriello had relieved Doug Weight of his coaching duties earlier this offseason after taking control of the team, and was likely waiting to see what would happen with Trotz before making a move on anyone else. Lamoriello had this to say to Andrew Gross of Newsday:

Barry brings to the New York Islanders franchise a tremendous amount of knowledge, experience and success. He is and has been one of the top coaches in the National Hockey League. I am excited to have the opportunity to work with him.

The Islanders are currently in a key negotiation with superstar John Tavares as free agency approaches, and the stability that Lamoriello and now Trotz will bring to the organization can only be a positive for the team. Though Tavares has never said anything to suggest he wouldn’t want to re-sign in New York, he’s just days away from being allowed to speak with other teams and just over a week away from becoming an unrestricted free agent. Tavares would represent arguably the biggest free agent to hit the market in the salary cap era, and should command a massive long-term contract. The Islanders have the advantage of offering an eighth year, but only up until July 1st when they would be limited to seven seasons just like anyone else.

New York struggled last season keeping the puck out of their net, and after Tavares the goaltending situation is likely the biggest issue on the agenda for Lamoriello this summer. It’s now easy to make the connection between Trotz and Philipp Grubauer, the backup goaltender in Washington who is on the market after expressing that he wants a chance to start somewhere. It was Trotz who actually started the playoffs with Grubauer, believing in him as the Capitals’ best option in net ahead of a struggling Braden Holtby. While Holtby would eventually reclaim his starting role and lead the Capitals to a Stanley Cup win, Trotz obviously feels comfortable putting Grubauer out on a regular basis.

The Islanders do have a good nucleus to build around though, especially if Tavares returns for the next part of his career. Mathew Barzal showed that he can be an elite offensive producer in his first season, scoring 85 points while anchoring the second line and powerplay. The team has several solid options on the wing, and some good young defensemen in Ryan Pulock and Adam Pelech. While there is certainly work to be done, Trotz is not walking into a disaster that needs a complete tear down.

The team has also secured a permanent home for the future, as they are expected to move into a new facility in Belmont Park for the 2021-22 season. While that is still a few years away, a summer where they bring in Lamoriello, Trotz and lock up Tavares would certainly be a step in the right direction for a franchise that has floundered without a real home or any stability for several years.

Columbus Blue Jackets “Testing The Market” On Artemi Panarin

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The Columbus Blue Jackets have been told that Artemi Panarin is not considering an extension at the moment, and have decided to start “testing the market” for the star winger, according to Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet. Panarin was acquired from the Chicago Blackhawks last summer in exchange for Brandon Saad and others, but is scheduled to become an unrestricted free agent in 2019. Obviously things could change at any moment and the 26-year old could decide that he is willing to stay in Columbus long-term, but just a sliver of availability is sure to generate plenty of interest from around the league.

In a response, George Richards of the Columbus Dispatch reached out to Panarin’s agent Dan Milstein, who told him it is not a “proper time to comment” on either part of the report. Aaron Portzline of The Athletic also got Blue Jackets GM Jarmo Kekalainen on record commenting on the report:

Artemi is an elite National Hockey League player. Our position has been that we want him to be a Blue Jacket for many years and that has not changed. He has a year left on his contract, so there is plenty of time to work towards that end. Should anything change moving forward, we will address it at that time and any decision we make will be in the best interest of our club.

Panarin is one of the best offensive players in the entire league, and represents a huge asset for the Blue Jackets if they’re truly testing the market. In 243 games since coming over from the KHL, Panarin has 233 points including 82 in the 2017-18 season. While some believed that his top production was helped by playing with Patrick Kane during his time in Chicago, Panarin proved he could drive a line by himself and helped Pierre-Luc Dubois get acclimated to the NHL as a teenager this season. Dubois finished second among all Blue Jackets forwards with 48 points this season, showing just how effective Panarin was at even-strength and on the powerplay. Just 21 of his 82 points were with the man advantage, while his 41 even-strength assists tied him for second in the league behind only Connor McDavid.

Even with that outstanding production though, there may be a case for the Blue Jackets moving on from him if there is no chance of an extension. The Blue Jackets are set up to be competitive for a long time thanks to the development of players like Seth Jones and Zach Werenski, and even though Panarin is clearly the heartbeat of their offense he could be used to supplement the current core and extend the window even further. Dubois, while not as offensively gifted, represents a legitimate top-line center option for the team, while other young talent like Oliver Bjorkstrand, Alexander Wennberg and Sonny Milano could still take substantial steps forward.

The return for Panarin would have to be enormous for the Blue Jackets to trade him this summer, and it is unclear who around the league would want to part with those kind of assets while he’s unwilling to discuss a contract extension. Pierre LeBrun of The Athletic tweets that the earliest Panarin would want to discuss an extension is likely the start of the season, making this an extremely tough decision for both Columbus and any acquiring team. Sending what would likely have to be a package centered around a top young roster player is a tough pill to swallow for just a year, even if it is one of the most consistent offensive producers in the league.

Columbus though has other things to worry about as they move forward with this group. Sergei Bobrovsky is an unrestricted free agent next summer as well, while Werenski will be coming out of his entry-level contract looking for a huge raise. The team is in fine salary cap shape at the moment, but could easily find themselves in a position where they’re unable to keep Panarin or Bobrovsky anyway. The idea of entertaining offers, even in a very preliminary manner, makes some sense in this situation.

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