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Free Agent Profile: Caleb Jones

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It’s hard to believe it, but the NHL season starts in just over two months. For some NHLers they will soon be making plans to return to their respective cities to begin the upcoming season, for others like defenseman Caleb Jones, his plan is to try to find an NHL job in the next nine weeks.

It was surprising to see Jones go unqualified, as the Chicago Blackhawks elected to let him become a free agent rather than offer him a qualifying offer. Chicago needed to tender the 26-year-old at $1.35MM, but he was made a free agent when Chicago didn’t make the offer. Now, almost a month into free agency Jones remains unsigned, a somewhat surprising development for a player who has shown promise in his young career.

Jones, the younger brother of Blackhawks defenseman Seth Jones, was originally drafted by the Edmonton Oilers in the fourth round back in 2015 and played 93 games over parts of three seasons with the club before he was traded to Chicago in July 2021 as part of the Duncan Keith trade. Jones then dressed in 124 games over the past two years with the Blackhawks, putting up 9 goals and 22 assists.

Last year was a career year for Jones, as he had four goals and 12 assists in 73 games while playing over 19 minutes a night. Jones was tasked with playing second-pairing minutes on a very bad Chicago team and faired well despite not contributing much offensively. Jones led the defense core in many analytical categories and did a decent job controlling the play when he was on the ice.

Jones has typically demonstrated a good ability to move the puck well, utilizing his skating to push the puck up the ice and can keep himself mobile in the defensive zone to be a disruptive force on both the penalty kill and at even strength. However, he is not his older brother and doesn’t possess nearly the offensive acumen that Seth has displayed throughout his career.

The issue that Jones may face when trying to lock down an NHL job is that there is a bit of a surplus of left-shot depth defensemen in the NHL. Pittsburgh has Ty Smith and Pierre-Olivier Joseph competing for one spot on their third pairing, as do the Calgary Flames, with Oliver Kylington now returning after a one-year absence. The Ottawa Senators have several solid left-shot options throughout their NHL lineup, as do many other teams. For Jones, he could offer a solid third-pairing option, but there are very few teams who need that right now.

Stats

2022-23: 73 GP, 4-14-16, -19 rating, 40 PIMS, 86 shots, 48.9% CF, 19:13 ATOI
Career: 217 GP, 14-36-50, -39 rating, 80 PIMS, 225 shots, 48.1% CF, 16:49 ATOI

Potential Suitors

Jones would have teams lining up for his services if he was a right-shot defenseman, but he shoots left and typically plays the left side. While his market will be small, there are sure to be teams that could find a role for the younger Jones brother.

In the East, the Buffalo Sabres have Ilya Lyubushkin slated to play as a third bottom-pair left-side defenseman, and while he offers a physical element and does a good job suppressing scoring chances, he is not a good puck mover and isn’t particularly adept at much else. Jones could push Lyubushkin and create healthy competition for playing time in the Sabres defense core. The one barrier for Jones to Buffalo could be that the Sabres have already brought in Erik Johnson and Connor Clifton in free agency, and management may feel that they’ve already brought in enough competition on their back end.

In the West, The Anaheim Ducks have brought in a few NHL veterans to try and give guidance to their young stars. While Radko Gudas will bring some leadership and physicality on the back end, the Ducks could use a few more veterans who can teach their young players to become good pros. Jones could be a solid fit for the role as he has already played on a young, bad, rebuilding team and knows the challenges and tribulations that come with the growing pains of a rebuild.

Sticking with the West, another rebuilding club that could use some help on the backend is the San Jose Sharks. The Sharks aren’t pushing to make the playoffs this year, but that doesn’t mean they should stop looking for improvements. At the moment, the Sharks have 30-year-old journeyman Jacob MacDonald penciled in as their third pairing left side defenseman and Marc-Édouard Vlasic on their second pair. Vlasic was a terrific shutdown defender for a long time, but he has seen notable declines in his game for the past five years or so. Jones would likely offer an upgrade on both men while not costing San Jose much in the way of assets.

Projected Contract

Unfortunately for Jones, he is most likely going to be taking a pay cut from the $1.35MM he made last season. There should be a small market for his services as the season nears, but the native of Arlington, Texas, might have to sign a professional try-out to get teams interested in his services. Matt Dumba and Ethan Bear are both still unrestricted and might attract more interest as they are right-shot defensemen and have better track records. Jones should ultimately be able to find an NHL deal, but when he does, it will likely come in around the league minimum or a tick above it. There were many NHL defensemen who found deals late in the summer last year, and it seems that could happen again this summer with Jones.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Injury Updates: Comrie, Guhle, Sharks

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There should soon be a logjam between the pipes in Buffalo for the stretch run.  Mike Harrington of The Buffalo News relays that goaltender Eric Comrie has resumed skating and is expected to return soon from his lower-body injury.  The 27-year-old has had a rough first season with the Sabres, posting a 3.95 GAA with a .877 SV% in 17 starts.  When cleared, he’ll join Craig Anderson and Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen as available options for Buffalo (Luukkonen wasn’t papered down at the deadline and thus is ineligible to play there again this season).  Those three will also soon be joined by top prospect Devon Levi who is still waiting for his immigration paperwork to be finalized to allow him to officially join the team.

Other injury news from around the NHL:

  • Following their victory last night over Tampa Bay, the Canadiens announced that defenseman Kaiden Guhle will miss the remainder of the regular season due to a high ankle sprain. Despite dealing with injuries off and on, it was still a quality rookie campaign for the 21-year-old who had 18 points in 44 games while averaging over 20 minutes a night on a young Montreal back end.  The team also noted that surgery will not be required.
  • The Sharks could get a pair of veterans back on their current road trip which runs through Saturday as Sheng Peng of San Jose Hockey Now notes (Twitter link) that blueliners Radim Simek (concussion) and Jacob MacDonald (upper body) are close to returning from their respective injuries. Neither player logs heavy minutes on the back end but their returns would allow Nikolai Knyzhov and Derrick Pouliot to return to the minors to try to help their farm team push for a play-in spot in the Pacific Division.  Meanwhile, Peng adds that Jonah Gadjovich isn’t close to returning; the winger has been out week-to-week for the last five weeks with an upper-body injury.

West Notes: Fiala, Stars, Sharks

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Los Angeles Kings winger Kevin Fiala is injured and listed as day-to-day according to Zach Dooley of LA Kings Insider. Fiala will miss tonight’s contest when the Kings host the Nashville Predators. Fiala left the Kings game on Thursday night against the Colorado Avalanche after a knee-on-knee hit from Andrew Cogliano. Of course the Kings don’t want Fiala to miss any time, but the fact he is only listed as day-to-day is great news as the collision looked like it could possibly result in a much more serious injury.

Fiala is leading the Kings in scoring with 68 points this season. He has been terrific in Los Angeles after being acquired from the Wild for a first-round pick and Brock Faber in the offseason. The 26-year-old winger plays a great two-way game and has fit in on the team’s top line with Anze Kopitar and also fills in on a tremendous all-around trio with Phillip Danault and Viktor Arvidsson from time to time. It sounds like his absence will be short term and that is great news for Kings fans who were holding their breath since Thursday night.

  • The Dallas Stars have provided a bit of an update on their injured players. Mike Heika of NHL.com reports Tyler Seguin is not skating today which means he is not close to returning to action. The veteran center left Thursday night’s game against the Buffalo Sabres after suffering a laceration above his knee from the skate of Jordan Greenway. Luke Glendening and Scott Wedgewood did skate today, meaning they are close to getting back into the lineup. Glendening has not played since February 17 and Wedgewood’s last game was February 18.
  • Curtis Pashelka of Bay Area News Group reports San Jose Sharks defensemen Radim Simek and Jacob MacDonald are out week to week. Simek is dealing with concussion symptoms and MacDonald left Monday night’s game early after taking a high hit. There is no update on what the injury is, but the timeline sounds like the Sharks will be without a couple of depth defenders for the next few weeks. In better Sharks news, winger Jonah Gadjovich is getting closer to returning but is not quite ready. He has three goals and seven points in 35 games this season but hasn’t played since February 12 with an upper-body injury.

Avalanche And Sharks Complete Four-Player Trade

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Ryan Merkley’s trade request has been granted as the Sharks have traded the defenseman to the Avalanche along with winger Matt Nieto in exchange for winger Martin Kaut and defenseman/winger Jacob MacDonald.

Merkley was a first-round pick by San Jose back in 2018 (21st overall) and showed plenty of offensive upside during his junior career in the OHL where he had 269 points in 248 games in four seasons.  However, that hasn’t really translated into much offensive success in the minors as he has just two career goals in the minors, neither of which came this season.  Merkley made his NHL debut in 2021-22, getting into 39 games with the Sharks but he hasn’t had a chance to suit up at the top level this year which resulted in the trade request.  He has 14 assists in 30 games with the Barracuda this season.  He’s in the final year of his entry-level contract with a $863K cap hit and will be a restricted free agent this summer.

Nieto, meanwhile, is no stranger to Colorado as he spent parts of four seasons with them between 2016-17 and 2019-20.  During that stretch, he was a serviceable provider of depth scoring, notching 34 goals and 47 assists in 251 games.  The 30-year-old is producing at a similar clip this season, tallying eight goals and seven assists in 45 games with the Sharks while logging a career-high 15:39 per game.  He won’t see that type of ice time in his second go-round with the Avs but with them in need of reliable options in the bottom six, Nieto should still be called upon to play an important depth role.  He’s also in the final year of his contract with a $850K cap hit and will be eligible for unrestricted free agency this summer.

Kaut was also a first-round pick in the 2018 draft, going 16th overall to the Avalanche.  However, while he impressed in the minors as an 18-year-old and earned an NHL stint at 19, he hasn’t had much success at the top level.  So far, he has played in just 47 career NHL contests, 27 of which have come this season where he has just a goal and two assists to his credit while averaging 9:08 per night.  Kaut has also played in ten AHL games this season where he has five goals and three helpers and is currently in the minors having been sent down last week.  The 23-year-old is also in the final year of his entry-level deal, one that carries an AAV of $863K.  He should get an opportunity to see some regular minutes for San Jose down the stretch in the hopes of him developing into a regular in the bottom six down the road.

MacDonald came up as a defenseman but has logged a lot of action on the wing this season with Colorado searching for bottom-six options as they’ve dealt with injuries all year long.  The 29-year-old has suited up 33 times so far in 2022-23, picking up a pair of assists along with 29 hits.  He has made 74 appearances with the Avs over the last three seasons, comprising the bulk of his NHL action (aside from a two-game stint with Florida in 2018).  MacDonald is in the first year of a two-year, two-way contract that pays the minimum salary in the NHL (a $762,500 AAV) and will be an unrestricted free agent in 2024.  He’s likely to play a similar depth role with the Sharks, filling in at both positions when necessary.

Cap space is limited for the Avalanche and it’s worth noting that they are adding a little less than $100K on their books with this swap.  However, they get a more proven forward in Nieto that should bolster their bottom six and an interesting wild card in Merkley.  If he’s able to develop into a regular defender down the road, this will be a nice pickup for GM Chris MacFarland.  If it doesn’t pan out, all it will cost them is a couple of depth options so it’s a low-risk move that could carry a fair bit of upside as they look to hold onto a playoff spot in the tight Central Division.

Photos courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Lukas Sedlak Placed On Waivers; Anders Bjork Clears

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Despite no clear timeline on Gabriel Landeskog and Darren Helm, the Colorado Avalanche appear to be clearing some room on the roster. The team has placed Lukas Sedlak on waivers, according to Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet. Anders Bjork of the Buffalo Sabres has cleared and will be assigned to the AHL.

Sedlak, 29, has played in all three of the team’s games so far this season, seeing fewer than nine minutes in each. During last night’s match against the Minnesota wild, he played just nine shifts and lost all four of the faceoffs he took. Helm, who would normally slot into that fourth-line center role, was on the ice today at Colorado’s option skate but was still wearing a non-contact sweater and does not appear ready to return at this point.

While they don’t need to recall someone else now that they are headed home from a road trip, the team is already at a roster of 20, meaning they can’t re-assign Sedlak without calling someone else up or activating one of their injured players. That player might be Jacob MacDonald, who has been skating as a forward with the club for the last few days after starting the year on season-opening injured reserve.

Sedlak meanwhile is an interesting waiver case, given his recent history. The sixth-round pick has starred in the KHL the last three seasons, and signed a one-year, two-way contract to return to North America this summer. His deal includes a massive $500K AHL salary, meaning he will still be making a good buck if he ends up playing with the Colorado Eagles.

The Avalanche have also sent Ben Meyers to the minor leagues, another sign that there may be changes coming to the fourth line. Meyers does not require waivers and can be recalled as soon as Sedlak is sent down, if needed.

Colorado Avalanche Extend Alexandar Georgiev, Jacob MacDonald

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The Colorado Avalanche announced via Twitter that they have extended goaltender Alexandar Georgiev for three years. TSN’s Chris Johnston reports that the deal is expected to carry a $3.4MM AAV and Pierre LeBrun of The Athletic reports the salary breakdown to be $3.6MM in year one, $3.7MM in year two, and $2.9MM in year three. Colorado had acquired the goaltender on Thursday in exchange for a 2022 third-round pick, a 2022 fifth-round pick, and a 2023 third-round pick. The trade, and now this extension, seems to put a close to Darcy Kuemper’s time in Colorado, as he is set to hit the free agent market on Wednesday.

Just after the Georgiev announcement, the team also announced via Twitter and their website that they have extended defenseman Jacob MacDonald for two years. The news was first broke by The Athletic’s Peter Baugh. MacDonald’s contract is two-way, with a $450K salary in the minors and carries a cap hit of $762.5K each season (link).

Georgiev, 26, was an arbitration-eligible RFA who was due a $2.65MM qualifying offer, one the Rangers likely couldn’t afford, especially as a backup to Vezina Trophy winner Igor Shesterkin. With speculation that the team could let Georgiev walk in free agency, the team was able to secure a return by sending him to Colorado for the above draft picks. Colorado appeared set to try and work out an extension with Kuemper, the incumbent goaltender, but with several other UFAs on the docket and a goalie market with seemingly much higher demand than supply, Georgiev became the more attractive option.

The reigning Stanley Cup Champion Avalanche now boast a duo of Georgiev and Pavel Francouz in net, which will cost a combined $5.4MM over each of the next two seasons before Francouz becomes a UFA after 2023-24. The cost for both goaltenders is surely attractive for Colorado, given it is less than some teams pay for just their starter, however it doesn’t come without some questions as to performance. In 33 games last season, Georgiev played to just an .898 save-percentage, the worst mark of his career, and a 2.92 goals-against average. Francouz played to a far better .916 save-percentage and 2.55 goals-against average in 21 regular season games, as well as a .906 save-percentage and 2.81 goals-against average in seven playoff games, filling in for an injured Kuemper. Though Francouz’s numbers are relatively good, the Avalanche have made clear his role is as the backup. This may not necessarily hold true over the remainder of his contract, and could formulate strong competition between the two for playing time.

Switching gears and turning back to MacDonald, the 29-year-old is a veteran of 43 NHL games, including eight in 2021-22 for the Avalanche, his most significant time however, coming in 2020-21, where he played in 33 games. Having just two goals and eight assists in his NHL career to date, the defenseman has been a prolific point-producer at the AHL level, hitting the 40-point mark three times, including one 55 point season. This season, MacDonald tallied 10 goals and 15 assists in a mere 33 AHL games. The Cornell University alum could be a candidate to push for more playing time with the Avalanche this year, having shown his ability to play at the NHL level, his affordability, and with questions regarding other Avalanche defensemen, including pending UFAs Josh Manson, Jack Johnson, and Ryan Murray, as well as Samuel Girard, who broke his sternum in Colorado’s second-round series against the St. Louis Blues.

Central Notes: Kubalik, Blues, MacDonald

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Blackhawks winger Dominik Kubalik is one of the more interesting wingers that currently is in trade speculation.  He’s only two years removed from a 30-goal campaign and still has another year of team control remaining through arbitration.  However, he isn’t having a particularly strong year and that qualifying offer stands at $4MM, a high price for someone whose production is on pace for a 31-point season.  Accordingly, Mark Lazerus of The Athletic pegs (subscription link) the 26-year-old as a deadline enigma.  If Kubalik has his way, he’d like to stick around with Chicago and not be moved:

Chicago gave me an opportunity to be in the NHL and I love it there. So I’d love to stay.

The question for Blackhawks interim GM Kyle Davidson will be figuring out where the line is between opting for what would probably be an underwhelming trade return (relative to how he played a couple of years ago as a rookie) and where the smarter play would be to keep and qualify him this summer to give him one more chance.  In the meantime, Kubalik will have another month to try to up his value both on the trade and contract front.

More from the Central Division:

  • Blues defenseman Marco Scandella traveled with the team on their road trip and could play at some point in this four-game stretch, notes Tom Timmermann of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. The veteran is dealing with a lower-body injury and missed his first game of the season over the weekend.  Meanwhile, the same can’t be said for fellow blueliner Scott Perunovich as Timmermann notes the youngster won’t be on the trip as he continues to battle an upper-body injury.  At this point, with Perunovich already being out for a month, a short-term stint in the minors seems likely when he is cleared to return.
  • Avalanche blueliner Jacob MacDonald has been cleared for contact as he works his way back from an injury that has kept him out of the lineup for more than two months, relays Peter Baugh of The Athletic (Twitter link). The 28-year-old has been limited to just seven games this season and is currently on LTIR.  Even with this step, MacDonald is still likely at least a couple of weeks away from returning.

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