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Jacob Trouba

Compelling RFA Cases For 2017: Pearson, Donskoi, Horvat, Gudbranson

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Jacob Trouba, Johnny Gaudreau and Nikita Kucherov highlight a strong and deep group of restricted free agents that remain unsigned at the moment. While they will each ultimately cash in and receive substantial contracts for the 2016-17 campaign and likely beyond, their status as restricted free agents has certainly complicated the negotiation process.

Next summer, another quality group of players are set to hit restricted free agency unless they can agree to terms on a new deal prior to the 2017-18 league year. In a series of posts, Pro Hockey Rumors will profile the top pending 2017 RFAs and examine what kind of contract they could elicit assuming they put up a strong performance during their platform year. Today we finish up in the Pacific Division.

Tanner Pearson (Los Angeles) – Pearson is a solid, two-way winger who has seen a fair amount of action on a line with Jeff Carter and Tyler Toffoli affectionately referred to as “That 70’s Line.” He tallied 15 goals and 36 points in 2015-16 and has a scoring rate of 0.43 Pts/Game in 146 career contests. Pearson is currently slated to make $1.4MM in the second and final season of a two-year deal.

Pearson’s career production is similar to that of two recent RFA signees: J.T. Miller of the Rangers and Cody Eakin of the Stars. Miller posted career-best totals of 22 goals, 21 assists and 43 points in 2015-16 and has a career scoring rate of 0.52 Pts/Game. Eakin has a career Pts/Game rate of 0.45 and has scored at least 35 points in each of the last three seasons as Dallas’ third center.

Statistically, Pearson would seem to match up well with Eakin meaning another season of 35 – 40 points could line him up to receive something similar to the four-year, $15.4MM $3.875MM AAV) deal Eakin is set to play under beginning this season. But if the Kings and Pearson can’t get a long-term deal done, it’s possible the two-year, $5.5MM ($2.75MM AAV) bridge contract of Miller works as a comparable.

Joonas Donskoi (San Jose) – Donskoi was a surprisingly steady producer for the Sharks and played a key role in helping San Jose reach the Stanley Cup Finals for the first time in franchise history in 2015-16. Given his first taste of North American pro hockey, the Finnish winger contributed 36 points in 76 contests and added another 12 points in the playoffs. Donskoi seemed to find chemistry with Logan Couture this past season and if given another opportunity to play on the skilled pivot’s wing, he could cross the 40-point plateau in 2016-17.

Production-wise, Donskoi would appear to be close enough to Pearson’s level that the Miller and Eakin contracts should serve as fair comparisons. Another possible comparable who would appear to set the floor of Donskoi’s expectations is Michael Raffl, who after seasons of 28 and 31 points, respectively, inked a three-year, $7.05MM ($2.35MM AAV) pact with the Flyers. Both started their professional careers in Europe and jumped to the NHL in their mid-20’s. If Donskoi’s production takes a step back from his rookie level, he could be looking at a new deal in the same range as Raffl’s.

Bo Horvat (Vancouver) – After a solid debut campaign as a 19-year-old rookie two years ago with the Canucks, Horvat bumped his production up from 25 points to 40 points as a sophomore in 2016-17. He has the skill and ability to improve his numbers even further in his third season if given an opportunity for top-six ice time.

If Horvat can take the next step to 50 points or so, a new contract could be similar to that of Nick Bjugstad’s in Florida. After netting 38 points in his first full campaign, Bjugstad tallied 43 in 201-15 and was rewarded with a six-year, $24.6MM deal which took effect upon the expiration of his ELC. Both players are versatile enough to play up and down the lineup and fill a variety of roles. The Canucks will have to be frugal, however, as they already have more than $52MM tied up in 14 players for 2017-18 leaving roughly $20MM or so – depending on where the cap ceiling falls – to re-sign several key RFAs. It’s possible they push for a less expensive bridge deal as a result.

Erik Gudbranson (Vancouver) – The Canucks took some criticism when they dealt 19-year-old Jared McCann, the team’s first-round pick in 2014, and two draft choices for Gudbranson this past May. It’s not that Gudbranson isn’t a good player; it’s more that the Canucks aren’t likely to be a playoff squad in 2016-17 and shouldn’t be sacrificing controllable young talent for a player who is set to get pretty expensive.

Gudbranson inked a one-year pact worth $3.5MM soon after the trade and will again be a RFA after the upcoming season. With five years of NHL experience already under his belt, Gudbranson will be just two seasons away from unrestricted free agency following the 2016-17 campaign. That means any long-term extension is likely going to buy out multiple free agent seasons.

Gudbranson is a physical, defense-first blue liner, who doesn’t contribute much offense. His single-season career-high in points scored is just 13. Obviously Gudbranson will be looking for a raise on his $3.5MM salary. One potential comparable for Gudbranson is Adam Larsson, who signed a six-year, $25MM extension and like the Vancouver defender is known more for his defense than his offense. But Larsson’s deal took effect on the conclusion of his ELC and only bought out a single free agent year.

A closer comparable may be Canadiens defenseman Alexei Emelin, who is also a defense-first blue liner with a career high in points of just 17. He is in the midst of a four-year deal with an AAV of $4.1MM.

With most teams favoring mobile, puck-moving defenders over tough, physical defensive defenseman like Gudbranson, it will be interesting to see what value they place on the big blue liner.

 

Compelling RFA Cases For 2017: Pacific Division, Part I

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Jacob Trouba, Johnny Gaudreau and Nikita Kucherov highlight a strong and deep group of restricted free agents that remain unsigned at the moment. While they will each ultimately cash in and receive substantial contracts for the 2016-17 campaign and likely beyond, their status as restricted free agents has certainly complicated the negotiation process.

Next summer, another quality group of players are set to hit restricted free agency unless they can agree to terms on a new deal prior to the 2017-18 league year. In a series of posts, Pro Hockey Rumors will profile the top pending 2017 RFAs and examine what kind of contract they could elicit assuming they put up a strong performance during their platform year. Today we start in the Pacific Division.

Anthony Duclair (Arizona) – “The Duke” is coming off a solid rookie season, scoring 20 goals and posting 44 points in 81 games for the Coyotes. Arizona acquired Duclair and a couple of draft picks from the New York Rangers at the 2015 deadline in the Keith Yandle deal. Duclair, considered a first-round talent in his draft year, tumbled into the third-round following an injury-shortened 2014-15 campaign in the QMJHL.

Another 20+ goal campaign could propel Duclair’s earning potential into the $4MM range annually. Mike Hoffman, who has scored 27 and 29 goals respectively the last two seasons, inked a four-year deal with an AAV of more than $5MM per season. On the heels of back-to-back 21-goal campaigns, Chris Kreider also landed a four-year pact, his worth $18.5MM in total. Kreider was coming off his second contract, Hoffman his ELC. Based on experience, Hoffman would be the better comparable but the goal-scoring numbers are likely to match up better with Kreider. Either way, if Duclair can match or exceed his 2015-16 production this season, a $4MM+ AAV on a new contract would be realistic.

Sam Bennett (Calgary) – Bennett, the fourth overall selection in the 2014 entry draft, posted an 18-18=36 scoring line as a rookie with the Flames in 2015-16, while playing the entire campaign as a 19-year-old. Along with the aforementioned Gaudreau and Sean Monahan, Bennett is part of a strong nucleus of young talent the Flames are counting on to lead the club into Stanley Cup contention.

Assuming an uptick in performance given Bennett now has a full year of NHL experience under his belt, it will be interesting to see how the Flames handle his restricted free agency. They’ve already locked up Monahan to a rich long-term extension and seem to want to do the same for Gaudreau. If they elect to go the same route with Bennett, he’ll likely need to do much better than 36 points to earn a contract in the same ballpark as Monahan’s.

Instead, perhaps a two-year bridge deal similar to the one Kevin Hayes received this summer makes more sense for the two sides. Hayes, who has tallied 81 points in 158 NHL games, inked a two-year pact worth $2.6MM per. That deal might be a fair comparable for Bennett assuming a 40 – 50-point output in 2016-17. A bridge deal also allows Bennett to further prove he can be a top-line player in the league.

Leon Draisaitl (Edmonton) – There was thought that perhaps the Oilers rushed Draisaitl to the NHL and possibly hindered his long term development based on the German pivot’s dreadful rookie year. After being chosen third in the 2014 draft, Draisaitl debuted in the NHL, appearing in 37 games during the 2014-15 campaign and scoring just 9 points and finishing with a -17 plus-minus rating.

Thankfully for Edmonton, Draisaitl demonstrated his career trajectory is firmly pointed upwards after an impressive sophomore season in which he tallied 51 points in 72 contests and improved his plus-minus rating to a -2. If he should continue to show that level of improvement, Draisaitl could land in the same territory as Monahan and Nathan MacKinnon each did coming off their ELCs; namely in the range of $6MM annually. Monahan is coming off back-to-back 60-point campaigns while MacKinnon sandwiched a mediocre second season (38 points in 64 games) between a 63-point debut and a 2015-16 almost identical to Draisaitl’s in terms of production (52 points in 72 games). If Draisaitl can produce in the neighborhood of 60 – 65 points in his platform year, $6MM annually may well be within reach.

Tyler Toffoli (Los Angeles) – Toffoli has improved steadily over his three full NHL seasons, seeing his goal totals increase from 12 his rookie season to 23 in year two and finally to a team-leading 31 last season with the Kings. He also led the league in plus-minus rating with a +35.

Toffoli won’t turn 25 until late in the 2016-17 campaign suggesting he has several more prime years remaining. He is entering the final season of a two-year deal with an AAV of $3.25MM and should be in line for a lucrative long-term pact. Two recent extensions signed by RFA-eligible players that could set the bar for a Toffoli deal are the contracts inked within the last several months by Filip Forsberg (six years with an AAV of $6MM per) and Mike Hoffman (four years with an AAV of $5.1875MM). If Toffoli produces season scoring totals in 2016-17 similar to those of this past campaign, he should be able to command something between what Hoffman and Forsberg are earning on each of their respective deals.

 

Free Agent Notes: Russell, Seidenberg, Trouba, Gionta

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Eight teams remain in the hunt for unrestricted free agent defenseman Kris Russell, reports TSN’s Frank Seravalli. Russell’s agent, Allain Roy, noted that a deal is likely to be reached by the conclusion of the World Cup (which runs as late as October 1st).  However, by that point of the preseason, most teams will have played more than half of their exhibition schedule so there may be a push by teams to get an answer before too long.

Among the teams reportedly interested is Russell’s former employer, the Calgary Flames.  He played in 51 games with Calgary last season before being dealt to Dallas in a trade deadline deal.  Seravalli noted that for them to be able to bring him back, they would need to find a taker for fellow blueliner Dennis Wideman.  He has one year left on his contract with a $5.25MM cap hit and a full no-move clause so finding a trade for him may be easier said than done.  Seravalli also believes that some teams may be waiting to see what happens with Anaheim and if they move a defenseman once a deal with RFA Hampus Lindholm gets done.

More free agent notes:

  • Also from Seravalli, a few teams are taking a close look at defenseman Dennis Seidenberg during the World Cup of Hockey (he’s playing for Team Europe). The 35 year old was bought out by Boston earlier this offseason.  However, at this time, Seidenberg doesn’t appear to be interested in going to training camp on a PTO like many other veterans without a deal will be doing.
  • There is little to update in the Jacob Trouba negotiations, writes Ken Wiebe of the Winnipeg Sun, who equates the current state of talks to a staring contest with each side waiting for the other to blink. It’s believed that Trouba is seeking a long-term, big money deal while by-passing the bridge contract but with three other blueliners making $5.5MM or more for at least the next two seasons, the Jets may not want to put Trouba into that pay range just yet.  Earlier this offseason, we took a closer look at Trouba’s situation and some of the questions that will be a factor in their discussions.
  • The Islanders announced that they have officially inked with UFA forward Stephen Gionta. The 32 year old has spent parts of the last six seasons with New Jersey and played in all 82 games last year for the first time in his career, collecting 11 points.  You can keep track of which players have already inked tryout deals with our Invite Tracker.

Snapshots: Quebec Expansion, Roy, Radulov, Trouba

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In a post for ESPN.com published this morning, Craig Custance provides a wealth of information on a wide array of topics. The entire piece is well worth the read but here are several of the highlights.

  • Custance relays an update on possible expansion into Quebec City, per comments from NHL deputy commissioner Bill Daly. Daly said that while he would like to see the NHL return to Quebec, “hopefully at some point in my career,” there are currently no serious discussions of adding a 32nd team to the league. Daly: “We’ll recap the expansion process, but I don’t expect there will be any announcements on new expansion.” Further diminishing the chances of a Quebec entry any time in the near future, Daly also stated that despite the drawn out process, the Arizona Coyotes will “find a long-term arena in the Phoenix area,” thus eliminating any talk of possibly relocating the club. All together, the NHL is satisfied with 31 franchises and the existing geographical balance of those teams. While Daly’s comments appear to pour cold water on the idea of a Quebec franchise, it’s still a good possibility the league places a team there in the relatively near future.
  • During the first period of Team North America’s win over Team Europe, former Avalanche VP of hockey operations and head coach Patrick Roy met with the media. Roy is said to have resigned his position due to philosophical differences with other members of management and a loss of influence in the front office. When asked whether the Avs choice not to seriously pursue winger Alexander Radulov in free agency was a contributing factor to his decision to leave the organization, Roy indicated that while he vouched for his former Quebec Remparts star and would like to see him one day play for Colorado, the final call was always Joe Sakic’s and that Roy “respected his decision.” Roy would later suggest that the team is giving more thought to using analytics in their decision-making and that also may have played a part in his decision to leave.
  • Earlier today we touched on the lack of progress in talks between RFA Johnny Gaudreau and the Flames. But Gaudreau is far from the only remaining unsigned RFA of note. According to Custance, Winnipeg defenseman Jacob Trouba has not spoken to agent Kurt Overhardt since camp opened for the World Cup of Hockey. Custance also points out that one potential benefit to RFA’s participating in the tournament is the chance to further enhance their values with excellent performances at the tournament playing against many of the top players in the world. Trouba, for example, believes that he can fill a greater role with the Jets and if given a heave dose of responsibility with Team North America, perhaps he can prove to Winnipeg he is deserving of more ice time.

Jets Notes: Setoguchi, Trouba, Heritage Classic

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In a heartbreaking (but wonderful) piece by David Pollak of The Hockey News yesterday, Devin Setoguchi comes clean about his history with alcoholism and how it almost destroyed his career. The former 8th overall pick was a thirty goal scorer in the NHL once upon a time, but yesterday signed a professional tryout with the Los Angeles Kings after spending last season in Switzerland.

It’s been six years since he last scored 20 goals in an NHL season, but is still only 29 years old and feels he has enough left to help a team on the ice – even if it’s at the AHL level or in Europe.

Today, on the Hustler and Lawless show on TSN 1290, Setoguchi related a story about how Evander Kane came to his house once while they were teammates on the Winnipeg Jets, and poured out all his alcohol in an attempt to help him break his addiction. Ironically, some may say, because of Kane’s own troubled history, it may have been a turning point in his battle and he now is working towards helping younger players understand the risks involved.

  • Also on TSN 1290, former NHL executive Bill Watters opined that the Jacob Trouba camp “wants out of Winnipeg”. While Watters isn’t close enough to either side to have any particular insight past what his hockey sense tells him, it does continue the narrative that has been going on. Both Matt Larkin of The Hockey News and Darren Dreger of TSN spoke recently on the station about a possible Trouba deal, with Larkin going so far as saying “I’m seeing a trade in Trouba’s future, because the two camps seem to be so far apart in terms of how they value what Trouba has done in the NHL so far.”  Indeed, Trouba is currently playing at the World Cup without a deal, and both sides seem just as far apart as ever on the future of the young defenseman.
  • The final rosters for the legends game at the Heritage Classic were announced today, after having their first group presented last month.  Among the final few additions were Curtis Joseph for the Edmonton Oilers, and Eddie Olczyk for the Winnipeg Jets.  The game will take place on October 22nd, with Dale Hawerchuk leading the hometown Jets against a star-studded Oilers squad captained by Wayne Gretzky.

Snapshots: Jets, Las Vegas, Devils

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News and notes from around the NHL:

  • Winnipeg Jets GM Kevin Cheveldayoff commented on the Jacob Trouba negotiations today on Winnipeg’s TSN 1290. The Jets GM said that contract negotiations are “sacred” and that the back and forth details between the club and the still unsigned RFA are meant to be private. He intimated that just because little has leaked regarding the negotiation status, it doesn’t mean that progress is not being made. Trouba represents one of Winnipeg’s prized young defenseman, though he only scored 6G and 15A last season. The defensive prospect is only 21 and has room to develop, but with contract talks still going on, Winnipeg may have to consider moving Trouba if the price is right.
  • Las Vegas continued building its front office today by hiring Dan Labraaten as its European Scout. Labraaten, a Sweden native, has worked in the New Jersey Devil’s scouting department for thirty years, and brings his much-needed experience to the new expansion club. Labraaten also played in the NHL during the late 70’s / early 80’s for the Red Wings and Flames.
  • Devils prospect Ben Johnson was found guilty of sexual assault in Windsor, Ontario today. The assault occurred in 2013 when Johnson was playing for the Windsor Spitfires of the OHL. He has since moved on to the Devils’ AHL affiliate in Albany. It is unclear at the moment whether this ruling will affect his ability to play hockey—sexual assault cases may limit a person’s ability to travel in and out of Canada, something integral to professional hockey players.

Update: Tom Gulitti of NHL.com reports that the New Jersey Devils are initiating the termination process for Johnson’s contract.

RFA Profile: Jacob Trouba

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Of the 14 remaining restricted free agents this offseason, Jets defenseman Jacob Trouba is one of the more notable ones.  He is undoubtedly among the most talented players left to sign but what makes his case a bit more intriguing are the amount of questions that need to be answered.

After his rookie season in 2013-14, Trouba was looking like a cornerstone top pairing blueliner of the future.  While his numbers dropped a little bit the following year, the projections of him never really changed that much; sophomore jinxes happen to many players and it was expected that he would take a big step forward last season.

Unfortunately for Trouba and the Jets, that didn’t happen in 2015-16.  His numbers once again took a dip – despite playing in 16 more games than he had in each of his first two years – while his ice time was cut by 1:15 per game to 22:04.  He finished the season with six goals and 15 assists in 81 contests.  While there’s no disputing that he’s still a very important player for Winnipeg, there are some questions about what his overall ceiling may be now.

Is he a top pairing rearguard in the near future?  If the Jets think so, then it stands to reason that they should be amenable to working out a long-term deal.  If GM Kevin Cheveldayoff isn’t set on that though, then a shorter-termed bridge deal is likely their preference.  We pegged Trouba for a two year, $8MM contract if they wind up going the bridge route.

Earlier this offseason, a report surfaced that the two sides are apart on term, money, and even usage so suffice it to say, there’s a lot more at play than simply negotiating a salary for this coming year and beyond.  It also implies that only one side – likely Trouba’s – is open to a long-term pact at this point.

From a salary cap perspective, the Jets have the flexibility to go either short-term or long-term with the 22 year old.  They have slightly more than $9.3MM in cap space according to Cap Friendly with only Trouba still to re-sign.  However, Winnipeg hasn’t spent right up to the cap with regularity every year so there may be budgetary restrictions at play as well.

The fact that there is a debate on his ideal usage is worth noting.  Winnipeg is deep on the back end, particularly on the right side where Trouba plays.  Dustin Byfuglien (who begins a new five year deal with a $7.6MM cap hit in 2016-17) and Tyler Myers (who was the centerpiece of the Evander Kane-to-Buffalo trade in 2015) are the others on that side.  In Myers’ case, he signed a long-term contract coming off his entry-level deal with the Sabres and hasn’t lived up to his $5.5MM cap hit which would only give Cheveldayoff pause as another question surfaces: Do they want to risk having two young blueliners on potentially bloated long-term deals if Trouba’s step back last season wasn’t just a one-time thing?

[Related: Jets’ Depth Chart]

With the upcoming World Cup of Hockey still a couple of weeks away and training camps starting slightly after that, there’s still no imminent rush to lock down a new contract.  But there are a lot of questions still to answer when it comes to Trouba’s contract which means that a new deal may yet still take a little while to get done.

World Cup Notes: Enroth, Holtby, RFAs

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With news hitting the wire that Swedish goaltender Robin Lehner is still recovering from foot surgery and is unable to participate in the upcoming World Cup, newly signed Toronto Maple Leafs backup Jhonas Enroth has been added to the team. He’s not expected to play much, as the team has Henrik Lundqvist and Jacob Markstrom as the primary goaltending tandem.

Lehner played extremely well in his first season with the Buffalo Sabres, despite the relatively low talent iced in front of him. The team will be looking to him to take the reins has the number one goaltender this year with Chad Johnson having moved on.  Anders Nilsson, another Swedish born goaltender will be his primary backup this season after coming over from the Blues earlier this summer.

  • Staying with goalie notes, Team Canada has one of the best trios in the tournament, with Braden Holtby, Carey Price and Corey Crawford suiting up for the squad.  Despite winning the Vesina trophy for the league’s best goaltender last season Holtby thinks the starting job should go to Price: “All of us want to play, but if Carey’s healthy, there’s no reason to not go with him. He has all the experience internationally and the smart choice obviously would be that.”  Indeed, Price has represented Canada multiple times over his career, winning an U-18 silver, World Junior gold, and an Olympic gold medal in 2014.
  • Multiple players will be heading into this World Cup without a contract in hand for 2016-17, and have had to purchase extra insurance on themselves to guard against a potential injury. Two such players, Johnny Gaudreau and Jacob Trouba are suiting up for the North American team and should play big parts in the tournament. Gaudreau has been quoted as saying he will not negotiate while the tournament is ongoing, meaning that if it’s not within the next few days, the team will have a very short window to iron out a deal before the season begins.

Central Division: Remaining RFAs

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We are less than a month away from the start of the World Cup and training camps. However, there are still 15 restricted free agents remaining, and many of them are not who you would expect to be unsigned at this point. Two NHL teams’ leading scorers, four top-four defensemen, and several other high quality players are still looking for new deals.

Let’s continue our break down of the remaining RFAs by taking a look at the Central Division:

Dallas Stars – $7.98MM in cap space, according to Cap Friendly – The Stars have yet to re-sign their first round pick from 2013, Valeri Nichushkin. As we reported yesterday, the Stars and Nichushkin are continuing to talk. A trip to the KHL was speculated earlier in the off-season after Nichushkin said he would “perhaps consider”  leaving the NHL because he felt head coach Lindy Ruff didn’t trust him to play big minutes. Nichushkin scored 34 points in his rookie year, 2013-14, but has only posted 30 points in the two seasons since, having missed all but eight games of his sophomore season.

Winnipeg Jets – $9.37MM in cap space, according to Cap Friendly – The right-handed defenseman is one of the hottest commodities in the NHL these days, so the Winnipeg Jets have quite a nice problem on their hands. Jacob Trouba is a big, mobile, two-way defenseman who is right handed and should be making huge steps forward in the coming seasons. However, he’s blocked from playing big minutes by other big right-handed defensemen Dustin Byflugien and Tyler Myers. Trouba can play the left side, but performs better on his natural right side. According to Gary Lawless of TSN, Trouba feels he should be playing bigger minutes, and negotiations aren’t going well – the two sides are apart on “everything”. Despite all that, Lawless said a trade was unlikely; no team is likely to want to pay the asking price to acquire Trouba after a down season. Trouba will be playing for Team North America in the next month’s World Cup of Hockey, so like Johnny Gaudreau, expect both sides to try get this resolved before then.

Nashville Predators – $5.41MM in cap space, according to Cap Friendly – The Predators NHL roster appears to be set, but they still have one last minor league signing to go; Stefan Elliott is without a contract. The Predators acquired him from Arizona as part of a bizarre three-way trade that sent Pacific Division All Star Captain John Scott to Montreal. Elliott played 21 games in the big leagues last year, but figures to be a solid AHLer who can step in to the NHL if injuries arise.

Related: our reviews of remaining RFAs in the Pacific and Atlantic Divisions.

Snapshots: Pavelski, Trouba, Orlov, DiPauli, Sobotka

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According to CSN Bay Area’s Kevin Kurz, Sharks captain Joe Pavelski is expected to be named captain of Team USA at the upcoming World Cup of Hockey. After being named San Jose’s captain last October, Pavelski led the Sharks to their first appearance in the Stanley Cup Finals. The Sharks managed to do this despite whatever acrimony may have been caused by having two veteran stars, Joe Thornton and Patrick Marleau, who had previously been stripped of the captaincy. The captain of the last American Olympic team, Zach Parise, is expected to play in this tournament.

Pavelski, 32, is the second oldest American player at this tournament, two months younger than Boston’s David Backes. He has scored 116 goals over the last three seasons, second only to Alex Ovechkin in that time. He also led this year’s playoffs in goal scoring with 14. Pavelski has previously represented the United States at the 2010 and 2014 Olympics, as well as the 2009 IIHF World Championships.

Here are some more links from around the league.

  • Being out of a contract won’t stop players from appearing at the World Cup. Kurt Overhardt, the agent for Winnipeg Jets defenseman Jacob Trouba confirmed today that his client will still suit up for Team North America. Mark Gandler, the agent for Capitals defenseman Dmitry Orlov, told the Washington Post that Orlov will still play for Russia.
  • CBC’s Tim Wharnsby reports that the Penguins will sign free agent forward Thomas DiPauli from the University of Notre Dame. His agent, Peter Fish, called this report “a little premature,” adding that “nothing has been signed or agreed to yet.” DiPauli was a fourth round pick of the Capitals who, like Jimmy Vesey, went unsigned and became a free agent. DiPauli scored 14 goals, 32 points in 37 games for the Fighting Irish this year. He was, for two years, a teammate at Notre Dame of Penguins forward Bryan Rust.
  • Despite reports out of Russia to the contrary, St. Louis Blues GM Doug Armstrong says that he spoke with the agent for forward Vladimir Sobotka yesterday, and that he has been assured of Sobotka’s return to the team for this coming season. Sobotka has played the last two seasons in the KHL for Avangard Omsk, but has committed to returning to the NHL this season. Sobotka had nine goals, 33 points in 61 games for the Blues in 2014, his last season in the NHL.

 

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