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Jason Zucker

Sabres Notes: Skinner, Pominville, Trade Options

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The Buffalo Sabres accomplished their biggest offseason task on Friday evening when it signed winger Jeff Skinner to a eight-year, $72MM extension. Regardless, despite being able to convince a top player to sign a long-term deal in Buffalo, there are a number of significant ramifications that go with the Sabres’ locking up the 27-year-old.

Skinner and Jack Eichel will now combine for 22.5 percent of the team’s salary cap, which is the sixth-highest number for teams’ top two players. While the Sabres have cap room to work with, the team may find themselves in trouble down the road, according to the Buffalo News’ Lance Lysowski. In fact, Buffalo general manager Jason Botterill may have trouble in a few years when he tries to sign some of the team’s other young pieces, including Sam Reinhart, Rasmus Dahlin, Brandon Montour and Casey Mittelstadt, which could give the team some issues with improving in the near future. All that for a team that didn’t come close to making the playoffs this past season.

  • The Athletic’s Jon Vogl (subscription required) writes that the Sabres had no choice but to sign Skinner to long-term deal. While the scribe admits that the money is significant, the team couldn’t have handled losing their first-line winger, considering the significant amount of cap space the franchise has both this year and next and the near-impossible task of replacing him. Not signing him would have been worse than overpaying him. Regardless, this should give Botterill an extended chance to prove that he is a competent GM as he will have to assemble the rest of the team’s roster for the next few years, even if Skinner doesn’t pan out over the long haul.
  • In a separate note, Lysowski also reports that the team is in discussions with  forward Jason Pominville and are hoping to bring the veteran back on a cheaper deal. While no longer a top-six option, the 36-year-old Pominville has worked effectively as a bottom-six forward who can produce some offense, as he potted 16 goals last season. The Buffalo News’ Mike Harrington adds that Buffalo should offer him a one-year deal between $2-2.5MM and have him play a big role on the team’s fourth line as well as the penalty kill unit.
  • Pierre LeBrun, in a notebook piece for The Athletic (subscription required), reports that Buffalo isn’t done making moves to improve its team this season. The Sabres are looking to add a second-line center and/or a top-six winger to its roster to improve its scoring for next season. LeBrun adds that one name that Buffalo has inquired on is Minnesota Wild winger Jason Zucker and he also wonders whether the team would consider taking on the contract of Kyle Turris in Nashville to fill their center void.

Latest On Jason Zucker’s Trade Market

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The Minnesota Wild have tried to trade Jason Zucker multiple times. At the trade deadline this year, the Wild had a deal fall through with the Calgary Flames at the last minute while just last month they tried and failed to get a deal done with the Pittsburgh Penguins for Phil Kessel. It should come as no surprise then that Zucker comes in near the top of The Athletic’s new trade board (subscription required) or that he was the topic of discussion on TSN 1040 radio today. Host Mike Halford —who also works at The Athletic—reported that a source told him the Vancouver Canucks are interested in the Wild forward and that there are several trade proposals already on the table.

Zucker, 27, is one of the last bastions of the Minnesota forward core that former GM Chuck Fletcher built during his time there. Since taking over, new GM Paul Fenton has jettisoned Nino Niederreiter, Mikael Granlund and Charlie Coyle, bringing in some different faces to try and change their playoff outcome. Unfortunately, the Wild didn’t even make the playoffs this season and now face an uphill climb back to contention. If Fenton is trying for a long-term approach to that problem it would make sense to move Zucker’s remaining four years at a $5.5MM cap hit for future assets—though Kessel would have not been that kind of acquisition.

The Canucks however do have plenty of good young players to target, if Minnesota is interested in sending him that direction. The interest from Vancouver is obvious, given how well their young forwards performed this year and the huge amount of cap space they currently enjoy. Even though he didn’t replicate his outstanding 2017-18 season, Zucker still produced 21 goals and 42 points last year for the Wild, and is one of the fastest skaters in the league. His deal only takes him through until he turns 31, and the Canucks have a need on the left side of their top-six beside either Bo Horvat or Elias Pettersson.

Still, because of Zucker’s value the Canucks won’t be the only ones interested. That same Athletic trade board has several quotes from executives around the league wondering why the Wild would even be interested in moving him, meaning Vancouver would likely need to pay a premium to win the bidding.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images

Trade Rumors: Trade Bait, Panarin, Condon

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For everyone but the Boston Bruins and St. Louis Blues, the off-season is already in full swing and with the NHL Draft less than three weeks away, the rumor mill is starting to heat back up. TSN’s Frank Seravalli has updated his Trade Bait list and it features a whopping ten new names out of 25 total players. Leading the way among the newcomers is talented, young Philadelphia Flyers defenseman Shayne Gostisbehere. Gostisbehere has emerged as a candidate to move if the Flyers can land a top-six forward in exchange, as they look to be aggressive this off-season. Also new to the list are names included in the overturned Phil Kessel-to-Minnesota trade, Jack Johnson and Victor Rask, with Jason Zucker and Kessel now long-time fixtures. Another player tied to recent rumors making his trade bait debut is the Vancouver Canucks’ Loui Eriksson, who has been linked to former teammate Milan Lucic, also on the list, and the Edmonton Oilers, but could move in any number of possible deals. As the Florida Panthers look to shake up their roster in free agency, James Reimer and Mike Hoffman have made the list as possible cap space casualties. So too have Toronto Maple Leafs teammates Nazem Kadri and Mitch Marner, even though Seravalli himself agrees that a Marner trade is a long shot. With plenty of talent filling the early off-season trade bait board, it could be a busy summer for high-profile trades, some of which could begin even before the draft kicks off on June 21st.

  • A seemingly curious continued presence on the trade bait list is that of Artemi Panarin. It was one thing for Panarin to be atop the list as the trade deadline approached and the Columbus Blue Jackets were unsure whether or not they would sell the all-world forward. However, after keeping Panarin, an impending unrestricted free agent, it may seem that his trade value has now disappeared, since he is weeks away from hitting the open market. However, as a 27-year-old premiere free agent, both Panarin and his suitors will be interested in that eighth year of contract term that is only available to the incumbent team. As such, the Blue Jackets could look to squeeze the very last drops of value out of Panarin by trading his rights before the league year ends, allowing a new team to sign him to an eight-year extension rather than a seven-year free agent contract. While possible, and often valuable, acquiring UFA signing rights is not as frequent a move as one might expect. The last team to do so was the Florida Panthers in 2016, adding an expiring Keith Yandle for a a sixth-round pick and conditional fourth-round pick. That same year, the Arizona Coyotes did the same, bringing in Alex Goligoski on the tail end of his contract with the Dallas Stars for a fifth-round pick. Not since Ilya Bryzgalov in 2011 has a player’s UFA rights drawn more than a fourth-round pick at best, but Panarin is a unique player and Columbus could land a third-round pick or more in exchange for the opportunity to sign him to that one extra year – and to keep him from testing the market.
  • Unsurprisingly, the extension of goaltender Anders Nilsson in Ottawa has prompted speculation that the Senators will try to move overpaid third-string option Mike Condon. The Ottawa Sun’s Bruce Garrioch writes that Condon’s “days are numbered” with the team, as there’s no room for him in Ottawa behind Nilsson and Craig Anderson and he’s not wanted in Belleville with Filip Gustavsson, Joey Daccord, and possibly Marcus Hogberg in the mix. Cap space is not a problem for the Senators, but Garrioch still believes they would prefer to trade Condon and all or part of his $2.4MM salary next season rather than buy him out at the cost of $400K next year and $1MM the year after. Garrioch can only make a case that perhaps some team with weak goalie depth would be interested in Condon as a strong AHL option next season, as the 29-year-old is unlikely to be considered a regular NHL option. Perhaps after the free agent goalie market shakes out in early July, the Senators will be able to find a partner who missed out on their targets and could use Condon’s services. Otherwise, a buyout does seem to be the more likely route.

Snapshots: Kessel, Malmquist, Vladar

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It’s been confirmed by many sources now that Pittsburgh Penguins forward Phil Kessel himself nixed the proposed deal that would have sent him to the Minnesota Wild in exchange for Jason Zucker, among other pieces. What was unclear is exactly why. Kessel is a native of nearby Wisconsin and played his college hockey for the University of Minnesota. It would seem that the Wild would have been a nice fit for the veteran scorer. However, as noted by the Athletic’s Michael Russo, Kessel’s reasoning for turning down the destination is quite simple: he doesn’t think the team is a contender. In fact, after talking to those close to Kessel, Russo phrases it as Kessel didn’t think the team was even “close to contending”. GM Paul Fenton certainly left a mark in his first season at the helm, trading away established veterans Charlie Coyle, Mikael Granlund, and Nino Niederreiter and on paper the team does look to be in more of a rebuild than a title window. Fenton reportedly called Kessel to try to change his mind, but to no avail. Kessel will be 32 next season and has already showed signs of slowing down, so the star winger apparently has his sights set on competing for more Stanley Cups before his playing days are over. That could make the prospect of dealing him that much harder for Penguins GM Jim Rutherford, further limiting Kessel’s trade options to contenders on his eight-team trade list that have both the means and interest in acquiring him. Meanwhile, Fenton and the Wild have to hope that other prominent players, free agents or trade targets, don’t share in Kessel’s pessimistic outlook on the team’s chances or they may have a hard time improving this off-season.

  • Kessel’s home of Madison, Wisconsin is set to see another promising player make his way into town in a couple of years. Liam Malmquist, a standout high school forward from Edina, Minnesota, has announced his commitment to play his college hockey for the University of Wisconsin. However, Malmquist will not join the Badgers until 2020-21 and will play next season for the BCHL’s Penticton Vees, the team announced today. Malmquist, 18, is an undersized scoring forward, whose lack of stature and relatively weak competition level likely kept him off the radar of NHL team’s in his first time through the draft last year. However, after recording 52 points in 24 games this year, he’s entered the conversation as a possible late-round overage waiver this June. Malmquist’s older brother, Dylan Malmquist, remains unsigned but just wrapped up a strong collegiate career at the University of Notre Dame. Even if Malmquist is not drafted, he can stay in the pro picture if he is able to replicate or top his brother’s numbers while at Wisconsin. He should be surrounded by plenty of talent too, as Malmquist joins a talented Badgers team that will add top 2019 prospects Alex Turcotte, Cole Caufield, Ryder Donovan, and Owen Lindmark, as well as intriguing 2020 name Dylan Holloway next season and another top 2020 prospect in Tanner Latsch the year after.
  • The Boston Bruins have already lost forward Jakob Forsbacka Karlsson and defenseman Emil Johansson to Europe this off-season – even though the team’s off-season has yet to begin – and for the good of their minor league depth hope to avoid any other such losses. However, it is worth noting that AHL goaltender Dan Vladar was the subject of a recent trade in the KHL. Vladar’s rights were acquired by contender Lokomotiv Yaroslavl from HK Sochi in exchange for 22-year-old active KHL forward Alexander Polunin, a somewhat hefty price for just a player’s rights. There has been no word as to whether Vladar has talked about jumping overseas, prompting the trade, but it certainly shouldn’t be ruled out. Vladar, a 2015 third-round pick of the Bruins, is still only 21 but has yet to make an NHL appearance in three pro seasons. Vladar played as the Providence Bruins’ backup this season, making 31 appearances to starter Zane McIntyre’s 47. Both goalies put up just pedestrian numbers and McIntyre, a pending unrestricted free agent, is not a lock to return. With NHL backup Jaroslav Halak also signed for just one more season, it could be that Vladar remains on the fast track to start for Providence next season and one day back up Tuukka Rask. One would think that position would keep the young net minder stateside. However, he now faces a challenge from other promising young goalies in the pipeline like Kyle Keyser and Jeremy Swayman and may no longer feel that he is guaranteed to ever see time with the Bruins. Such a mindset could see Vladar off to Russia this summer.

Morning Notes: Zucker, Zaripov, Dunn

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Twice now in the span of a few months the Minnesota Wild have come close to trading away Jason Zucker. Michael Russo of The Athletic (subscription required) examines the recent trade talks between Minnesota and the Pittsburgh Penguins which were focused on a Zucker-Phil Kessel swap, and details the situation that the Wild forward now finds himself in. Zucker is obviously on the block as GM Paul Fenton continues to shake things up in Minnesota, and Russo reports that the Vancouver Canucks, Arizona Coyotes, Anaheim Ducks and Calgary Flames have all expressed interest of late, while last year the Toronto Maple Leafs and Carolina Hurricanes had discussed him.

The recent trade proposal from Pittsburgh seems to have been shut down by Kessel himself, but that could change at any minute if he decides to waive his no-trade clause. Either way, it seems like Zucker is destined to play for another team in 2019-20. The 27-year old forward has four years remaining on his current deal which carries a $5.5MM cap hit, and is coming off a 21-goal, 42-point season.

  • Danis Zaripov was once on the radar of NHL teams after receiving a two-year doping ban from the KHL in 2017. That ban was eventually reduced to just six months and Zaripov stayed in Russia, something he’ll be doing once again in 2019-20. The 38-year old forward has signed a one-year extension with Ak Bars Kazan, giving him a chance to add to his outstanding history in the KHL. Zaripov is a legend in Russian hockey, with five Gagarin Cup championships, five World Championship medals, and even a league title from before the KHL formed a decade ago.
  • Vince Dunn took part in the morning skate for the St. Louis Blues today, wearing a regular visor instead of the full cage that he has donned the last few days to protect his injured jaw. Still, he won’t play tonight in game one of the Stanley Cup Final according to head coach Craig Berube. Dunn has developed into a key part of the Blues’ defense corps over the last two seasons, and has an impressive seven points in 16 playoff games so far. Robert Thomas, another young player making an impact for the Blues these playoffs will be in the lineup tonight, Berube confirmed.

Minnesota, Pittsburgh In Trade Talks Regarding Phil Kessel

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2:40pm: Pierre LeBrun of The Athletic has actually heard that Kessel may not waive his clause for a deal to Minnesota. Other teams that are on his small trade list have contacted the Penguins, and LeBrun believes it is a matter of “when not if” for a trade at this point.

1:05pm: The Pittsburgh Penguins haven’t been secretive about their plans to shake up the roster this summer, and Phil Kessel’s name has been front and center in all of the trade speculation. That seems to be coming to a head, as Josh Yohe of The Atheltic (subscription required) reports that the Penguins are in talks with the Minnesota Wild on a trade revolving around Kessel. Yohe notes that Jason Zucker, who has also been available in recent months, would likely be going the other way if a deal can be reached, while Jack Johnson and Victor Rask have been discussed.

The trade has apparently been “on the table for days” with Kessel’s no-trade clause the only impediment at this point. That trade clause allows Kessel to submit a list of only eight teams he can be traded to, though he can obviously waive it to accept a deal anywhere else.

Kessel, 31, is coming off another point-per-game season that saw him register 27 goals and 82 points while continuing his near decade long iron man streak. The veteran winger is an incredible offensive player but has often been critiqued for his inconsistent defensive effort and prickly personality. While teammates will often speak extremely highly of the Wisconsin native, he has proven difficult to coach at times and has already been traded twice in his career.

Still, his offensive ability and Stanley Cup experience are exactly what the Wild are looking for after failing to make the playoffs this season. Owner Craig Leipold recently made it clear that he wants the team to get back to the postseason tournament next season, and GM Paul Fenton has already done quite a bit of work to break up the former veteran core. Charlie Coyle, Mikael Granlund and Nino Niederreiter have all been shipped out over the last few months, and Zucker could now be on his way out as well.

Yohe’s colleague Michael Russo detailed earlier this week how Zucker was being shopped around, and even listed Kessel first in his examination of potential returns. The fact that Kessel provides a right-handed shot for the Wild forward group, an attribute they are desperately in need of, makes him an even more attractive option.

Obviously if a deal is completed it will likely include more than just the two forwards, but in a vacuum they don’t represent very different financial commitments. Zucker has four years left on his contract that carries a $5.5MM cap hit while Kessel carries a $6.8MM hit over the next three. The Wild would actually end up paying less actual salary, give the front-loading of Kessel’s deal and the fact that the Toronto Maple Leafs are still retaining $1.2MM per season.

Snapshots: Trouba, Zucker, Vrana

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The Winnipeg Jets suffered an early defeat in the Stanley Cup playoffs after lazily struggling through the last part of the regular season. Something seemed off for months as the team lost their grip on the Central Division, and failed to crack 100 points despite being 34-16-2 at the beginning of February. That may lead to some changes this offseason as the team decides how they can better compete, and Jacob Trouba’s name has come up in trade talks once again. Both Ken Wiebe of the Winnipeg Sun and Murat Ates of The Athletic (subscription required) examined the Trouba situation and the potential outcomes.

Most prevalent in both pieces is a trade of the right-handed defenseman, given his unwillingness to sign a long-term contract to this point. Trouba was previously unhappy with his role on the team, playing behind Tyler Myers and Dustin Byfuglien or asked to hit the ice on his unnatural left side. This year much of that changed and Trouba became the premiere offensive weapon on the Jets’ blue line, recording 50 points in 82 games. Unfortunately he is now without a contract and just a single year away from unrestricted free agency. If the Jets don’t trade Trouba, he could elect salary arbitration again in order to secure himself a one-year deal.

  • It’s hard to talk trade these days without mentioning the Minnesota Wild, who are expected to be active this summer in their pursuit of a return to the playoffs in 2020. Wild GM Paul Fenton has already torn apart the previous core of the team by trading the likes of Charlie Coyle, Nino Niederreiter and Mikael Granlund, but has more work to do in order to get his team back to the promised land. Michael Russo of The Athletic (subscription required) reports that Jason Zucker is being dangled once again in trade talks, as he was at the deadline when he was almost sent to the Calgary Flames. Russo examines potential trade fits for the Wild including Phil Kessel, Tyler Johnson and William Nylander, though it is not clear who Fenton is targeting at this moment.
  • While writing about the upcoming cap crunch facing the Washington Capitals, Chris Kuc of The Athletic (subscription required) notes that the team is exploring a two-year bridge deal with restricted free agent Jakub Vrana. The two sides, Washington and agent J.P. Barry have also discussed a “slightly longer” deal for Vrana, and conducted initial talks on another client, Carl Hagelin. The Capitals are in a tough cap situation heading into next season, and much of it will depend on what number they can get Vrana at. That’s why a bridge deal makes sense, though Vrana is coming off a 24-goal season and will be looking for a healthy raise regardless.

2018-19 King Clancy Finalists Announced

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The NHL has released the finalists for the King Clancy Memorial Trophy. The award is given to “the player who best exemplifies leadership qualities on and off the ice and has made a noteworthy humanitarian contribution in his community.” Last season was the first time it was awarded to a pair of players, as the Vancouver Canucks’ Daniel Sedin and Henrik Sedin took home the trophy for their long history of helping the Vancouver community.

Each team nominated one player for the award. The finalists are:

Oliver Ekman-Larsson, Arizona Coyotes

Jason Zucker, Minnesota Wild

Henrik Lundqvist, New York Rangers

Deadline Notes: Ferland, Vaakanainen, Draft Picks

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The 2019 NHL Trade Deadline came and went yesterday and Micheal Ferland remained with the Carolina Hurricanes. Ferland seems destined to test the free agent market this summer, but the ’Canes opted to hold on to the power forward in the midst of a career years as an “own rental”, writes Pierre LeBrun for The Athletic. However, he adds that it wasn’t an easy decision for GM Don Waddell and company. Early on this season, Ferland’s play was exceeding that of his team and the trade market began to develop for the likely deadline casualty. However, Carolina has been one of the league’s hottest teams since the calendar turned to 2019 and they are now in the thick of the Eastern Conference wild card race. That improvement all but took them out of “seller” status, but LeBrun states that the team continued to field calls on Ferland write up until the deadline. Specifically, LeBrun says the Nashville Predators made a hard push and he speculates that Ryan Hartman, who was eventually traded to the Philadelphia Flyers for Wayne Simmonds, was the likely offer. Yet, Waddell stuck with Ferland, who has fit in so well in Raleigh, and hopes that the decision will help the team end their nine-year playoff drought. LeBrun also adds that Carolina, who largely stood pat at the deadline, had interest in Minnesota Wild forward Jason Zucker. Given the early results of the trade those two teams made earlier this season, it’s no surprise that the Wild weren’t eager to make another deal with the Hurricanes.

  • To no surprise, The Providence Journal’s Mark Divver reports that Urho Vaakanainen, Jack Studnicka, and Trent Frederic were hot names in the trade talks that the Boston Bruins had with sellers at the deadline. The trio are arguably Boston’s top three prospects, each one an early draft pick over the past few years. Both Vaakanainen and Frederic have made their NHL debuts this season while mostly playing in the AHL, while Studnicka has been tearing up the OHL. In particular, Divver hears that Vaakanainen was a “non-starter” for the Bruins; the team was unwilling to give him up regardless of the return. The 20-year-old defenseman was the No. 18 overall pick in 2017 and his poise and vision as a two-way, puck-moving defenseman have been apparent both in Providence and with the gold medal-winning Team Finland World Junior Championship entry. With 42-year-old Zdeno Chara potentially retiring at the end of the season and Torey Krug’s contract expiring at the end of next season, the Bruins likely see Vaakanainen as having a regular role on the Boston blue line sooner rather than later. Not only did Boston avoid trading any of these three, but they landed Charlie Coyle and Marcus Johansson without surrendering any of their young prospects. The pair came at the cost of second-, fourth-, and fifth-round picks and Ryan Donato, who will be 23 next month.
  • The Bruins were an outlier in that regard at the deadline, as the trend this season ended up with teams favoring moving players and prospects rather than picks. On deadline day, 35 players were moved compared to just 16 draft picks. In recent years, those numbers have been much closer as teams have been more conservative with their current assets and more willing to move out the unknowns of a draft selection instead. The change of course could be a reflection of the strength of this draft class; after all, of the picks moved yesterday only six were 2019 selections. The upcoming draft class is considered one of the deepest in recent years with high-end talent likely available even into the middle rounds. As such, even deadline buyers weren’t willing to gamble many of their 2019 picks. Except for the Columbus Blue Jackets, of course, who have just two draft picks remaining this June – a third- and seventh-rounder – after their all-out deadline.

Snapshots: Ottawa, Edler, Zucker

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The Ottawa Senators have been in the headlines continuously for their roster transactions this season, but there are more big picture issues facing the team off the ice. The group that includes Senators owner Eugene Melnyk that is trying to develop the LeBreton Flats area in Ottawa for a new arena is embroiled in a legal dispute that is putting the development contract in jeopardy. The National Capital Commission which controls LeBreton had placed a deadline of this Thursday, February 28th to resolve the dispute and today told Canadian Press reporters that there will be no extension.

If the dispute is not resolved by the deadline the NCC has made it clear it will move on to other proposals regarding the land, meaning the Senators may lose their chance at the prime arena location. The area is much closer to downtown Ottawa and would be a huge boost for the team that currently plays in Kanata, some distance outside the city center.

  • Alex Edler has been working with the Vancouver Canucks on an extension, and according to GM Jim Benning did not want to waive his no-trade clause to go anywhere else. Edler has made it clear over the last few weeks and months that he would like to finish his career in Vancouver if possible, and with his relatively strong play this year there’s no reason to think that won’t happen at this point. The 32-year old defenseman has 20 points in 38 games this season and is scheduled to become an unrestricted free agent after this season.
  • The Calgary Flames were apparently interested in acquiring Mark Stone at one point before the deadline, and they also showed interest in Minnesota Wild forward Jason Zucker. Ryan Leslie of Sportsnet even tweeted the team was “in” on Zucker just as the deadline was about to pass, but a deal didn’t materialize. Darren Dreger was on TSN radio today speaking about the situation and said that Flames GM Brad Treliving was “white hot” that the deal didn’t go through for whatever reason. The Flames ended up adding only Oscar Fantenberg on deadline day and will now have to go through the rest of the season without any real forward upgrade.

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