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Jacob Trouba

Salary Cap Floor Should Not Pose Problems For Any Team In 2018-19

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The purpose of the salary cap in the NHL is to maintain a sense of competitive balance across the league. That means both limiting how much a team can spend, the salary cap ceiling, but also ensuring that every team is competitive with a minimum expenditure, the salary cap floor. Some teams, generally those in smaller markets or undergoing rebuilds, tend to try to toe the line of the salary cap floor, paying as close to the minimum as possible for their roster. In years past, some teams have even struggled to hit that mark, taking on injured players or overpaying players in order to pass the floor. It’s unlikely that any of the 31 franchises will face that problem in 2018-19.

This season, with a corresponding jump in the salary cap ceiling, the floor moved to $58.8MM. With the bulk of unrestricted free agency accounted for, just three teams currently sit below that mark: the New Jersey Devils, New York Rangers, and Winnipeg Jets. However, both the Rangers and Jets can immediately be crossed off as a salary floor concern. The pair are perhaps the two teams with the most potential salary tied up in salary arbitration this off-season.

The Jets currently have the lowest projected payroll in the league, with a 16-man roster that accounts for approximately $52.7MM. However, Winnipeg’s list of restricted free agents who have filed for arbitration include Vezina candidate Connor Hellebuyck, defenseman Jacob Trouba, and forwards Adam Lowry, Chris Tanev, and Marko Dano, as well as defenseman Tucker Poolman who did not file. Those six players could easily combine for more than $20MM in combined salary when all is said and done, putting the Jets well clear of the floor and closer to the ceiling. Defenseman Josh Morrissey, who is not arbitration eligible also needs a new contract. Winnipeg is far from a floor concern.

In New York, the Rangers sit at $55.8MM in projected cap committed to 16 players, just $3MM shy of the floor. They also need to re-sign a majority of their young core, with forwards Kevin Hayes, Ryan Spooner, and Jimmy Vesey and defenseman Brady Skjei having filed for arbitration. The Rangers could pass the floor by extending just one of those players, nevertheless all four. New deals for those three forwards still leaves New York one or two shy of a full roster as well, meaning more salary will come into the fold via promotion or an additional acquisition.

As for the Devils, New Jersey is already close to the floor at a projected $56.4MM for 19 players. Forwards Blake Coleman and Stefan Noesen have filed for arbitration and the deals for both could be enough to push the Devils to where they need to be. Even if it doesn’t, the team will still need to sign non-arbitration eligible RFA’s Miles Wood and Steve Santini, whose deals should definitely be enough. New Jersey will likely be a team that hovers close to the floor next season; that didn’t stop them from making the playoffs in 2017-18, though.

Perhaps the only team who should be legitimately concerned about the salary cap floor next season in Ottawa. The Senators and owner Eugene Melnyk have made it no secret that they are trying to shed salary and come in as close to the minimum as possible. Right now, the team sits just $3MM above the floor at a projected $61.8MM roster for 20 players. However, that isn’t including the arbitration resolutions for both defenseman Cody Ceci and forward Mark Stone. Those two deals will put Ottawa well above the floor. Even if the team was to trade star defenseman Erik Karlsson, they should remain above the floor, especially with additional salaries likely to be added in the trade return. The one scenario in which Melnyk could succeed in dropping significant salary would be if both Karlsson and Bobby Ryan were to be traded away. The resulting $13.75MM loss in payable salary would more than offset the contracts for Stone and Ceci and likely the contracts of those players coming back as well, potentially dropping the team below $58.8MM. Yet, even in that case, the Senators’ efforts to fill out their roster after losing Karlsson and Ryan – either by promotion or acquisition – could easily be used to get back to that mark.

The salary cap floor was never intended to be used as a target for teams to hover above and spend as little as possible. The goal of the NHL is have each and every team be competitive, not simply trying to maximize profits. As such, the 2018-19 season has some parity promise as seemingly no team will struggle to get over the floor or have to use contracts for the old and injured to get there. For the first time in years, every team seems set to be competitive and comfortably over the minimum cap hit.

All cap figures are courtesy of CapFriendly.com.

Snapshots: Offer Sheets, Wideman, Bergevin

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The NHL has restricted free agency for a reason, but instead of it being a way for talent-deprived teams to sign away top young players, offers sheets are ignored and never used. The last offer sheet signed was five years ago when Ryan O’Reilly signed an offer sheet with the Calgary Flames in 2013 and there have only been eight offer sheets signed in the salary cap era.

After all, with a weak unrestricted free agent class this season, teams would benefit if they had an equally good chance at competing for restricted free agents. This year’s restricted free agent class is quite impressive. Led by Vegas’ William Karlsson, Ottawa’s Mark Stone, Winnipeg’s Jacob Trouba and Toronto’s William Nylander, teams should be making a move on some of these players.

Sportsnet’s Sean McIndoe writes the main reason for the lack of offer sheets comes down to the compensation that is returned if a team allows a team to leave. The scribe writes that the compensation is not good enough and forces teams to sign their restricted free agents regardless of their cap situation. He points out that the compensation looks impressive when dealing with a player that makes more that $10.15MM per year. A team that signs a restricted free agent in that bracket would receive four first-round picks. Unfortunately, few players are in that salary bracket unless your name is Connor McDavid. If he was a restricted free agent, any team would give up four first-rounders for McDavid.

If the NHL wants to improve on restricted free agency, then they must double the compensation so teams really need to think about whether they would rather have that player or let him go and take the compensation package. Unfortunately right now, no team wants the compensation package.

  • Bruce Garrioch of the Ottawa Sun writes that unrestricted free agent Chris Wideman said that he wants to return to the Ottawa Senators next season, but isn’t sure he’s in the team’s plans for next season. The 28-year-old defenseman said he talked to general manager Pierre Dorion recently and was told that the organization had other matters to attend to before addressing whether they plan to bring him back. Wideman missed most of the season last year after having surgery in December to repair a torn hamstring after Pittsburgh’s Evgeni Malkin fell on him on Nov. 16. Used as a depth defenseman for his three years in Ottawa, he averaged a career-low 11:33 of ATOI in 16 NHL contests, despite putting up eight points in that time period.
  • Stu Cowan of The Montreal Gazette writes that general manager Marc Bergevin said today that the team is willing to trade the No. 3 pick in the NHL Entry Draft. “I’ll listen, I’m open,” Bergevin said. “I’ve told teams if they want to make me an offer, I’ll look at it. But again, sometimes teams don’t want to move up. As much as a team wants to move back or move up, if there’s no takers or buyers then you just sit where you’re at.”

Western Notes: Trouba, Kovalchuk, Canucks

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While the Winnipeg Jets are coming off an exemplary season in which it reached the Western Conference Finals with a young, talented team, now comes the hard part. The team is full of key restricted free agents which could start taking up what was once an ample amount of cap space. The team has already all but said they don’t intend to re-sign trade deadline acquisition Paul Stastny and for good reason. The team must lock up a number of key players, including all-star goaltender Connor Hellebuyck, Adam Lowry, Joel Armia, Marko Dano, Tucker Poolman, Josh Morrissey, Joseph Morrow, and oh, Jacob Trouba.

Two years ago, the contract negotiations between Trouba and the Jets went south, as Trouba ended up holding out for an entire month of the season before coming back and signing a below-value two-year bridge deal. Now, with Trouba’s stock sky-high as one of the top defensemen on the team, things could get even more dicey, according to Winnipeg Free Press’ Paul Wiecek. Trouba and his agent are expected to ask for about $7MM per year, while the Jets hope to keep it between $5MM and $6MM. The question is whether the Jets can afford to give him a big, long-term contract, considering that his offense isn’t even close to his defense after posting three goals and just 24 points on the year.

The team not only has to lock up these younger players, but must eventually lock up captain Blake Wheeler as well as pay youngster Kyle Connor in one year. The money will start to dry up soon. The scribe suggests the team consider moving Trouba now to save some of that money, considering his value is at a premium. Bringing back a big haul could save the team some cap space and fill some of its holes in one swoop.

  • While there was a rumor mentioned by Pierre LeBrun recently about the St. Louis Blues’ interest in Ilya Kovalchuk, NHL.com reports that general manager Doug Armstrong confirmed the team’s interest in the veteran KHL winger. “There’s certainly intrigue there because he’s been such a dominant player internationally and he was a hell of a player when he left [the NHL],” Armstrong said. Kovalchuk, who has played in Russia for the past five seasons is looking for a new home and has already visited the Los Angeles Kings and San Jose Sharks, while other teams like the Boston Bruins have expressed interest in the 35-year-old veteran, who has tallied 417 goals in 816 NHL games with the Atlanta Thrashers and the New Jersey Devils.
  • Mike Halford of The Athletic (subscription required) writes that the Vancouver Canucks, who have always been adept at mining organizations to get quality players, need to continue to do that more than ever with the retirement of Daniel Sedin and Henrik Sedin. With a lineup full of holes, the scribe writes that the team needs to continue mining other organizations for their unwanted, forgotten or unfulfilled talent like in previous years. Over the last few years, the team has picked up several key players such as Sven Baertschi, Markus Granlund, Nikolay Goldobin, Derrick Pouliot and Brendan Leipsic. The scribe goes on to point out three players the team should look into during the offseason and pry them away for late picks include Winnipeg’s Nic Petan, Columbus’ Sonny Milano and the New York Islanders’ Michael Dal Colle. All three are on the outside looking in within the organization and might need a franchise to give them a new chance.

Paul Stastny Interested In Returning To St. Louis

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Despite being shipped off at the trade deadline after four years with St. Louis, veteran center Paul Stastny said he would be open to returning to the St. Louis Blues during a radio interview on 590 The Fan in St. Louis.

Known to have loved his time in St. Louis, the 32-year-old supposedly thought long and hard before agreeing to waive his no-trade clause to go to the playoff-bound Winnipeg Jets. With the Blues struggling and unlikely to reach the playoffs, the team sent Stastny to the Jets for a 2018 first-round pick (the 29th overall pick), collegiate prospect Erik Foley, and a conditional fourth-round pick in 2020.

“Absolutely,” Stastny told Hockey Sense host Andy Strickland during the interview. “I don’t think I’ve closed the door on anything. I know it’s a business, getting older, you see it. I always keep everything open because you never know what’s going to happen.”

Stastny put up solid numbers with the Blues, posting 12 goals and 40 points in 63 games for the Blues before being dealt on Feb. 26. However, once with the Jets, he added another 13 points to his totals in 19 regular season games playing alongside Patrik Laine and Nikolaj Ehlers. Then in the playoffs, he took off, tallying six goals and 15 points in 17 games, leading the team to the Western Conference Finals.

While he enjoyed his time in Winnipeg and said it was worth it, Stastny also admitted it wasn’t easy to leave St. Louis.

“Trades are tough,” Stastny told Strickland. “I think when you’re so emotionally invested in a team and you think your an important part or your battling with the guys all year, you don’t expect that.”

While Winnipeg wouldn’t mind bringing Stastny back on a short-term deal, the Jets are going to be dealing with plenty of cap issues now they have to re-sign goaltender Connor Hellebuyck, defenseman Jacob Trouba and a number of other restricted free agents. St. Louis, however, who remains in need of help down the middle, could be a possible destination as well.

Of course with the need of centers throughout the league and Stastny likely being the second-best unrestricted free agent on the market (behind John Tavares), the veteran has quite a bit of leverage to score another big contract. While the Jets have indicated they would like to bring him back on a one or two-year deal to compete for a Stanley Cup, other teams would likely offer more years and more money. Would the Blues want to pay a big price to bring Stastny back? He just completed a four-year, $28MM deal. Desperate teams like the Montreal Canadiens might be willing to go quite high as they have the need and enough cap space to make it happen.

Busy Offseason Now Looms For Winnipeg Jets

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The Winnipeg Jets have been eliminated from the Stanley Cup Playoffs, knocked out by the expansion Vegas Golden Knights in just five games. That ends what was an outstanding season for the Jets, who not only climbed into the playoff picture but showed they could be a long-term contender. Their young core has all reached new heights, and should be able to put pressure on the best teams in the Western Conference for some time.

With those young pieces though come several big decisions. The offseason, not even 24 hours old for the Jets, already must seem too short for GM Kevin Cheveldayoff and the rest of the front office staff. Not only do they have to prepare for the draft in a month’s time, but the roster has just 14 players under contract for next season.

The biggest negotiations will come with Winnipeg’s pending restricted free agents. The list is a who’s who of talent on their club, and will chew up a big part of their salary structure if signed this summer. The Jets’ restricted free agents include:

Jacob Trouba
Josh Morrissey
Tucker Poolman
Joseph Morrow
Jan Kostalek

Brandon Tanev
Joel Armia
Marko Dano
Adam Lowry
Chase De Leo
Jimmy Lodge
Nic Petan
J.C. Lipon

Connor Hellebuyck
Eric Comrie
Jamie Phillips

Especially on defense and in goal, these are key players who could demand long-term contracts with substantial cap hits. Trouba, who once wanted out of Winnipeg to play a bigger role somewhere else, has recently indicated that he would like to stay with the Jets long-term. The team would obviously want that too, but have to carefully manage their finances as they approach restricted free agency next summer with Patrik Laine and Kyle Connor. Success is eventually paid for.

With so many restricted free agents, it’s sometimes easy to forget that Paul Stastny, Toby Enstrom, Matt Hendricks, Shawn Matthias and Michael Hutchinson are also headed for the unrestricted waters this summer. Several of these players will generate extensive interest should they hit the open market, and it’s not clear if Winnipeg intends on re-signing any of them. If they do, July 1st is coming quicker than you may think, and work needs to be done to secure their future contracts.

Either way, Winnipeg has a busy few months ahead of them as they try to piece the roster back together and take another shot at the Stanley Cup in 2019. Though there needs to be a few days of decompression from their shocking defeat, there’s plenty of work to be done.

Poll: Should The Winnipeg Jets Re-Sign Paul Stastny?

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There is much to be proud of if you’re a Winnipeg Jets’ fan, but while most fans are paying attention to their play in the Western Conference Finals. And while the Jets find themselves down 3-1 against the Vegas Golden Knights, Winnipeg will need to find a way to win three in a row. To do that, they will need success from multiple lines, including the success of the team’s second line, including Patrik Laine, Nikolaj Ehlers and trade deadline acquisition Paul Stastny.

When the team traded for Stastny for prospect Erik Foley, a 2018 first-round pick and a conditional 2020 fourth-round pick, they got a steal. Stastny has stabilized a powerful young line next to Laine and Ehlers as the line has helped guide them through the playoffs. Just against the Nashville Predators alone in the playoffs’ second round, Stastny practically beat the team on his own, putting up five goals and five assists in seven games. He has been effectively shut down by Vegas in four games as he’s only managed one assist, yet the veteran has been key to their playoff future.

The Hockey News’ Matt Larkin recently wrote a story wondering what the chances Stastny has of returning to Winnipeg next year. The unrestricted free agent is 32 years old, a point where long-term deals start to look questionable as many players in their 30’s begin to decline, especially with speed being emphasized by many teams. Unfortunately for Winnipeg, the free agent options at center will be very limited this year after the Islanders’ John Tavares, making Stastny the likely second-best free agent on the market. With many teams in need of a center, he could easily get a big deal and while maybe not as high as the $7MM a year he’s been making recently, but he should easily fetch $5MM per year with his next deal and if the team has to overpay to keep him, it could go as high as $6MM per year.

Then the question is whether Winnipeg can afford him. While the team has ample cap space at the moment, the Jets also have 14 players on their current roster who will either be restricted or unrestricted free agents. Many of their restricted free agents like Adam Lowry, Brandon Tanev, Joel Armia and Josh Morrissey should get solid raises, while others like Jacob Trouba and Connor Hellebuyck should get major contract extensions, likely taking up a large chunk of their available cap space, leaving little or no room for Stastny. Add to the fact that Laine, Kyle Connor and Tyler Myers all will need new contracts in one year, that leaves little wiggle room unless general manager Kevin Cheveldayoff can pull of a clever balancing act to keep everyone happy.

So, should Winnipeg try to keep Stastny around next year or just let him go?

Trade Rumors app users, click here to vote.

Snapshots: Trouba, Worlds, Subban

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Jacob Trouba was a big hockey story in the summer of 2016, when he held out on the Winnipeg Jets and asked for a trade. Trouba wouldn’t sign a new contract as a restricted free agent until November 7th of that year, missing a month of the season before settling on a two-year $6MM deal. The prevailing thought at that point was that Trouba wasn’t happy with his role or future on the team since the Jets already had Dustin Byfuglien and Tyler Myers locked in on the right side, but things seemed to have changed in the years since.

Today, Jim Toth of TSN 1290 reported that Trouba has told his agent he wants to be with Winnipeg long-term, meaning signing a new contract this summer when he’s scheduled to become a restricted free agent once again. The 24-year old defenseman has developed into quite the player for the Jets, and has logged the second-most minutes in the postseason for them (behind only Byfuglien, who is averaging a ridiculous 26:15 through 14 games). Signing Trouba long-term would certainly be a win for the Jets, but the team has to be careful with how much money they hand out this offseason, as there are even more extensions—namely Patrik Laine and Kyle Connor—coming down the road.

  • The quarter-final matchups are set for the IIHF World Championships, with Sweden facing Latvia, Russia facing Canada, the Czech Republic matched up with the USA and Switzerland taking on Finland. The games will be held on Thursday, with Saturday and Sunday holding the semi-final and medal rounds. Denmark, the hosts of this year’s tournament, were dramatically eliminated in the final game against Latvia despite winning three games in the preliminary round. That included a 3-2 upset of Finland, who ended up winning the group.
  • Though it never had much merit in the first place, any rumors surrounding a trade of P.K. Subban out of Nashville were summarily shut down today by the club. As Joe Rexrode of the Tennessean writes, despite never having a full guarantee that a player won’t be traded, the Predators are about as far from dealing their Norris-trophy finalist as they ever have been. The relatively early exit at the hands of Winnipeg notwithstanding, the Predators had an outstanding season and Subban was a big part of that. He’ll almost assuredly be back in a Predator uniform to start next season.

Early Notes: Offer Sheets, Kane, Yakupov

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After another two teams were eliminated from playoff contention yesterday, more and more focus is shifting to the offseason and how free agency will shake out. As always, there will be speculation about the potential of an offer sheet being signed with one of the many high profile restricted free agents, and Rory Boylen of Sportsnet is here to break down how it all works.

Boylen also lists several players that could be signed to a sheet, including Mark Stone, Jacob Trouba, Mathew Dumba, William Nylander and others. One of the most interesting names listed, and one to keep an eye on all summer is William Karlsson of the Vegas Golden Knights. After a 43-goal breakout season, there is no one who can definitively say what he’s worth or what he’ll be asking for in negotiations this summer.

  • Evander Kane was playing with a separated shoulder during the playoffs, according to Kevin Kurz of The Athletic, which could at least partially explain why he struggled in the San Jose Sharks’ final series against the Vegas Golden Knights. The Sharks have a decision to make now on Kane, who is set to become an unrestricted free agent on July 1st. Should they sign him to a contract extension, they’ll be forced to upgrade the second-round pick sent to Buffalo at the trade deadline to a first rounder.
  • Just like last summer, the idea that Nail Yakupov could return to Russia and the KHL is already starting to percolate. After another disappointing season that saw the 2012 first-overall pick register just 16 points in 58 games for the Colorado Avalanche, he’s scheduled to become a restricted free agent once again. Adrian Dater of BSN Denver asked Yakupov’s agent directly about a potential return to Russia, who answered simply “he’s a grown man, and he will decide what’s best for him.” Last spring we examined the opportunity that the KHL could offer, before he eventually decided to give the NHL another shot.

West Notes: Doughty, Thornton, Trouba

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While Senators blueliner Erik Karlsson has drawn all of the headlines as he gets closer to hitting unrestricted free agency in the summer of 2019, he isn’t the only prominent defender set to do so as Drew Doughty of the Kings is in a similar boat.  Many believe that Karlsson is on his way out of Ottawa but Doughty’s future doesn’t appear to be as certain.

In his latest podcast, TSN’s Bob McKenzie examines Doughty’s situation.  In particular, he points out the Kings’ prior hesitance to have the blueliner make more than center Anze Kopitar and if that’s the case once again, that could wind up stalling things.  Kopitar checks in at a $10MM cap hit but with the salary cap expected to increase and the threat of hitting the open market, Doughty could conceivably check in above that on his next contract.

Elsewhere in the West:

  • While Sharks center Joe Thornton has resumed skating, head coach Peter DeBoer told Kevin Kurz of The Athletic (Twitter link) that the 38-year-old will not be ready to play in Game One of the postseason next week. Thornton has been working his way back from MCL surgery in late January so there remains no firm timetable for his return.  DeBoer did note that their other injured players (including fellow forwards Evander Kane, Eric Fehr, and Barclay Goodrow) should all be ready when the puck drops on the postseason.
  • The Jets may be without defenseman Jacob Trouba for their regular season finale on Saturday night but head coach Paul Maurice noted to reporters, including TSN’s Frank Seravalli (Twitter link) that he should be ready for the start of the playoffs. The bench boss also indicated that the injury is related to the lower-body issue that kept him out for 20 games this season, one that he returned from just a few weeks ago.

Snapshots: Panthers, DeBrusk, Trouba, Tolvanen

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Despite an impressive second-half run – 19-7-2 since February 1st – the Florida Panthers are still fighting for their playoff lives in each and every game. They face a major test this afternoon against the Boston Bruins and will do so without two offensive weapons. According to Panthers play-by-play man Steve Goldstein, both Denis Malgin and trade deadline acquisition and former Bruin Frank Vatrano are too “banged up” to go today. Vatrano has four points in eleven games since joining Florida, while Malgin has 11 goals and 20 points in 49 games for the Cats thus far. Their replacements, unproven Maxim Mamin and grinder Micheal Haley, have been far less productive in 2017-18. Given the importance of the match-up and the fact that Boston is getting Jake DeBrusk back in the lineup makes the absences of Malgin and Vatrano a stroke of bad luck for the playoff-hungry Panthers.

  • A postseason-bound club getting healthier is the Winnipeg Jets. The Jets will welcome defenseman Jacob Trouba back into the lineup tonight, reports Sportsnet’s Chris Johnston. Trouba has missed the past two weeks while battling concussions symptoms. He suffered that head injury in just his second game back after missing 20 games due to a lower-body injury. If Trouba is really back at 100% and ready to return to his major role on the Winnipeg blue line, it will be a major boost for the Jets.
  • Making his long-awaited debut for the Nashville Predators today is 2017 first-round pick Eeli Tolvanen. Tolvanen finished up his KHL season last week and joined the Preds on Wednesday, but head coach Peter Laviolette confirmed that he will be in the lineup today against the Buffalo Sabres. While Tolvanen found instant success in Europe and looks poised to be a big-time player for a long time in Nashville, it’s no surprise that he makes his debut in a relatively meaningless game against the lowly Sabres. Tolvanen may need an adjustment period to get used to the North American game and it remains to be seen how he will be used down the stretch and in the postseason.

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