Montreal Canadiens Issue Injury Updates
Once again this season, the Montreal Canadiens’ significant injury woes have forced them to make a set of announcements to update the hockey world on some of their players still working their way back to full health. Last time, the team issued four medical updates at once, and last night they officially announced new developments in the injury statuses of three players.
Firstly, the team announced that breakout forward Kirby Dach is out indefinitely with a lower-body injury. As we wrote in our coverage of the last major Canadiens injury update, Dach has been out since February 14th, with his absence first attributed to a non-COVID illness. The team then discovered that Dach’s illness symptoms were actually consistent with the effects of a lower-body injury, hence this new development.
Dach’s progress this season has been an encouraging early success for the Canadiens’ stated goal of revamping their player development process, and he has at times this season looked like one of the more dangerous offensive options at coach Martin St. Lous’ disposal. While it’s unclear if Dach will return this season, if his season does end at the 54-game, 35-point mark, the team can consider his first campaign in Montreal to be a strong one.
The second update the team issued concerns one of the team’s core veteran leaders: Brendan Gallagher. He is out with his own lower-body injury on a three-to-four-week recovery timeline. This means that it’s possible that Gallagher misses the rest of the season, as their final game is on April 13th, meaning Gallagher’s current timeline will be cutting it close.
If this injury does indeed cost Gallagher the remainder of his season, it will end what has been a disappointing campaign. While Gallagher has maintained his tenacious style of play, that trademark style seems to have taken its toll on his availability. He’s been in and out of the lineup for the last three seasons, and while the underlying numbers paint a prettier picture than his box score stats, Gallagher’s productivity has suffered as well.
If he has played his final game of this season, he’ll finish with just nine points in 25 games. Armed with a $6.5MM AAV deal that runs through 2026-27, getting their heart-and-soul player back to his old, productive self will be an important priority for the Canadiens organization.
The final injury update relates to rookie defenseman Arber Xhekaj, who underwent shoulder surgery and will miss the rest of the team’s season. Xhekaj, an undrafted product who surprisingly made the Canadiens out of training camp, has quickly become a fan favorite in Montreal.
His bruising, exceedingly physical style of play quickly endeared him to both Canadiens coaches and the Montreal market, and the understated skill he brought to the table indicated that there could be more in his future than a career as a simple physicality specialist.
He’ll finish his rookie campaign with 13 points and 101 penalty minutes in 51 games, and Canadiens fans will turn their attention to the other promising first-year-pro defensemen in their lineup: Kaiden Guhle, Jordan Harris, and Justin Barron.
While Xhekaj’s injury certainly takes a bite out of the entertainment value of the rest of the Canadiens’ games this season, seeing as the team won’t make the playoffs and is playing for pride alone over the next few weeks, having Xhekaj undergo surgery with an eye towards returning to full health for next season (rather than seeing him play through the injury/pain in order to help his team’s odds of winning, as some players have done in the past) seems like a wise course of action.
Montreal Canadiens Issue Injury Updates
While the Montreal Canadiens have been better than many might have expected this season — they started off pretty well and are ahead of six teams in the standings, double-digit points out of the fight for the best chance at Connor Bedard — injuries have absolutely decimated whatever chance they may have had at staying on the periphery of the playoff chase.
Beyond the long-term, likely career-ending injury to Carey Price that has landed him on long-term injured reserve, the Canadiens have a whopping seven players on injured reserve and two in addition to Price on the long-term injured list. The players on those injured lists are star winger Cole Caufield, first-overall pick Juraj Slafkovsky, veteran Brendan Gallagher, talented rookie Kaiden Guhle, Sean Monahan, Jake Evans, Chris Wideman, Paul Byron, and Arber Xhekaj.
In addition to the players on the injured lists, there’s also Joel Edmundson, who remains on the active roster but hasn’t played in a month due to injury, leaving the Canadiens further depleted on their back end.
While these injuries have led to some interesting revelations, such as the impressive play of rookie Rafael Harvey-Pinard, they are also quite the frustration for a team looking to use the 2022-23 season as a valuable year of player development.
Today, the Canadiens announced some injury updates on a few important players. Firstly, the Canadiens announced that Xhekaj will undergo season-ending shoulder surgery next week.
Xhekaj seemed to injure his shoulder during a fight with Edmonton Oilers rookie Vincent Desharnais, and that injury will now end what has been an exciting rookie season for the defenseman.
The undrafted blueliner has worked his way up to be quite the rookie surprise in the NHL, playing with the kind of physicality and snarl that made him an instant fan favorite for those who frequent the Bell Center.
He flashed some more skill and talent beyond just his physicality than one might expect, and his injury means the Canadiens’ blueline and player development mission has been dealt a serious blow.
The one potential positive to note is that the Canadiens’ organizational apathy to whether they win or lose games for the rest of the season (coach Martin St. Louis has continually stressed the importance of player development over bottom-line results) has afforded them the freedom to make decisions that are in the best interest of their players’ long-term health.
Whereas a team in a Stanley Cup chase might hope that Xhekaj play through an injury in order to give their team the best chance at winning it all, the Canadiens can afford to let players such as Caufield and Xhekaj get a head start on their recoveries, which is definitely useful.
The second injury update the team issued is related to another breakout young talent: Kirby Dach. The team announced that Dach will not travel with the team to California, and will be out with a lower-body injury. Dach has been out since February 14th, with his absence first attributed to a non-COVID illness. The team then discovered that Dach’s illness symptoms were actually consistent with the effects of a lower-body injury, meaning now the team has yet another injury to manage.
Dach has flown past the career-highs in scoring he set as a member of the Chicago Blackhawks, and was making some major steps forward in his game under St. Louis’ tutelage. The Canadiens announced that Dach was out indefinitely with the injury, meaning the team will have to hope that he’s not another player whose season will be cut short.
Another injury update the team issued was that veteran forward Joel Armia is out day-to-day with an upper respiratory infection. Armia, who hasn’t played since February 21st, hasn’t yet been placed on injured reserve, leaving hope that he can overcome this infection and return to the ice relatively quickly.
A final injury update the team issued regards Edmundson, who as mentioned has not played in a month. The team announced that Edmundson will travel to California, and is expected to be at practice Monday as he nears a return. At this point, Edmundson’s return to the ice may be too late for him to figure in teams’ trade deadline plans, but he should bolster a Canadiens’ back-end that has looked quite a bit thinner due to injuries.
The Canadiens sent defenseman Corey Schueneman back to the AHL’s Laval Rocket last night, lending to the belief that Edmundson is nearing a return to the ice. Shueneman played four games for the Canadiens during this call-up, registering one assist and averaging 15:48 TOI.
Photos courtesy of USA Today Sports Images
East Notes: O’Reilly, Gaudreau, Dach, Wilson
While it’s a frequent occurrence that a team acquires a player on an expiring contract and then quickly signs him to an extension, that won’t be the case for the Maple Leafs and center Ryan O’Reilly. Speaking with reporters today (video link), GM Kyle Dubas indicated that there have been no discussions about an extension nor are there plans to do so. Instead, the plan is to see how he fits in with his new team and then assess whether there’s mutual interest in trying to extend his stay with Toronto. With more than $72.6MM committed to just a dozen players for next season per CapFriendly, it’s going to be quite difficult for them to keep their new middleman unless they’re able to free up considerable cap space this summer.
More from the Eastern Conference:
- The Blue Jackets announced (Twitter link) that winger Johnny Gaudreau will miss tonight’s game against Dallas due to a lower-body injury. That means his Ironman streak will come to an end at 349 games; only two players (Phil Kessel and Brent Burns) had longer active streaks. Gaudreau hasn’t been able to put up the production he had with Calgary last season but still has 52 points in 55 games, good for an 18-point point lead on Patrik Laine who sits second. Lane Pederson will make his Columbus debut in Gaudreau’s place.
- The Canadiens announced (Twitter link) that center Kirby Dach will miss his second straight game tonight against Toronto due to a non-COVID illness. The 22-year-old tried to take part in the morning skate but left just minutes in. Dach has had a breakout year in his first season with Montreal as he has 12 goals and 23 assists in 54 games so far, good for third on the team in scoring.
- The Capitals have activated winger Tom Wilson from injured reserve, reports NHL.com’s Tom Gulitti (Twitter link). The 28-year-old has been out for more than three weeks after blocking a shot off his ankle late last month. Between that and his recovery from knee surgery last spring, Wilson has been limited to just eight games so far, where he has two goals, an assist, and 33 hits.
Injury Notes: Hughes, Ekman-Larsson, Dach
Despite some optimism yesterday that he may return, the New Jersey Devils will take on the St. Louis Blues tonight without one of their key players. ESPN’s Greg Wyshynski reports that Jack Hughes is not playing in tonight’s game as he continues his recovery to full strength after an upper-body injury.
The news remains a blow to New Jersey, who have relied on Hughes’ scoring and playmaking abilities to take them back into playoff contention this season. They’ve still managed to record a point in all three games without Hughes, sustaining their only loss in a shootout to the Minnesota Wild last Saturday.
- Vancouver Canucks defenseman Oliver Ekman-Larsson underwent X-rays today after sustaining a lower-body injury, according to a report by Sportsnet’s Randip Janda. The news comes after head coach Rick Tocchet stated that he didn’t expect Ekman-Larsson to play in the team’s upcoming game on Saturday against Philadelphia. It’s unclear when Ekman-Larsson suffered the injury, but he left last night’s 6-4 loss against the Rangers early. Ekman-Larsson has struggled defensively in his second season with the Canucks after a mild resurgence last year. Still, he’s recorded 22 points in 54 games played this season, second among Vancouver blue-liners.
- The Montreal Canadiens announced that forward Kirby Dach is not playing in tonight’s game against the Carolina Hurricanes due to a non-COVID-related illness. Dach, who was acquired over the offseason from the Chicago Blackhawks, will be replaced in the lineup by Rem Pitlick. Pitlick returns to the Canadiens lineup after being a healthy scratch in their last two games. Dach’s absence will certainly be felt, as the talented forward is enjoying a breakout season and had three points in his last five games.
Carey Price To Be Moved To Long-Term Injured Reserve
If you were wondering how exactly the Montreal Canadiens were able to fit Kirby Dach‘s contract under the salary cap today, you weren’t alone. The deal seemingly put them over the 10% offseason cushion, with a team cap hit of more than $92.7MM. Arpon Basu of The Athletic has the answer – Carey Price is going on long-term injured reserve early.
Contrary to widespread belief, LTIR can actually be used in the offseason. The Toronto Maple Leafs did so in the summer of 2017 when signing Patrick Marleau, and the Tampa Bay Lightning did it with Nikita Kucherov in late 2020 when signing Mikhail Sergachev to his bridge deal.
CapFriendly notes that to use LTIR, a team must “provide doctors proof that the player in question will continue to be injured at the beginning of the regular season for 10 NHL games and 24 calendar days.” Price may not play at all this season, with general manager Kent Hughes explaining that there did not appear to be a path for him without undergoing another surgery.
Essentially, giving Price the injury designation now will increase the Canadiens’ upper limit by more than $10MM, allowing them to officially file the Dach contract without breaching the 10% cushion. It should be noted that the release this morning indicated that the two sides had agreed to terms on a contract but Dach does not yet appear on the official roster, meaning the order of operations has not been completed.
Montreal Canadiens Sign Kirby Dach
After reports had surfaced in recent days that the two sides were close, the Montreal Canadiens and Kirby Dach now officially have an agreement in place. The team has announced a four-year contract worth a total of $13.45MM, giving Dach a cap hit of $3.3625MM through the 2025-26 season. Renaud Lavoie of TVA Sports tweets the full breakdown:
- 2022-23: $2.5MM
- 2023-24: $4.1MM
- 2024-25: $2.85MM
- 2025-26: $4.1MM
A contract like this could be seen as a disappointment relative to his draft position but is also something of a surprising total for a player that has scored just 19 goals as a professional. Dach, 21, was the third overall pick in 2019 but has struggled to stay healthy and productive, reaching just 152 games played and 59 points so far. Those disappointing totals led to his jettison from the Chicago Blackhawks this summer, despite being young enough to potentially be part of their rebuild.
Notably, Dach is signing away four years of RFA status but will not be an unrestricted free agent at the deal’s expiry. He will be an arbitration-eligible player coming off a solid contract, meaning if he doesn’t progress over the next four years, there’s a chance the Canadiens could have to leave him unqualified, not wanting to risk an arbitration award.
Montreal is clearly betting that won’t be the case, signing up Dach to a relatively long-term deal in the hopes that he can unlock some of the potential that put him at the top of the draft. Kaapo Kakko, for instance, was selected just ahead of Dach and has nearly the same production, and settled for a two-year deal this summer with a cap hit of just $2.1MM. The New York Rangers took on much less risk with their 2019 draft pick, though they are in a very different place in terms of a competitive window.
Dach has all the things that make scouts drool but hasn’t been able to put it all together. His size, skating ability, puck skills, and positional versatility all should make him a perfect player for the Canadiens to build around – but to this point he has been so inconsistent it is not clear what they are even getting. In 70 games last year he generated just 116 shots on net, despite averaging more than 18 minutes a night. He lost nearly 70% of his 500+ faceoffs, took 19 minor penalties, and scored just nine goals, even while having Alex DeBrincat and Patrick Kane as two of his three most common linemates (Philipp Kurashev falls between the two).
Frankly, it wasn’t a strong year for the former Saskatoon Blades star. With this new deal, the Canadiens are betting that they can turn around his floundering career by putting him in a better situation. Since the club is not expected to compete right away, they can afford to take risks like this on high-potential players. But at some point, the Canadiens will have to turn the corner on their rebuild; Dach will need to improve by then, or risk being left behind by the rest of the talented young players in the system.
Classifying The Remaining Restricted Free Agents
When the calendar flips to September, it’s time to start paying some attention to who’s left unsigned in restricted free agency. Usually at this point, two months have elapsed since the start of free agency (it’s six weeks this summer) which is typically more than enough time to get a deal done.
There are currently 13 remaining RFAs that haven’t signed elsewhere for next season. As is usually the case, those players can be grouped into a few tiers which are as follows.
Star Players
Jason Robertson (Dallas)
Generally speaking, there are usually more players in this group at this time but the 23-year-old is the only star player in need of a new deal. He’s coming off a 41-goal campaign that has the asking price justifiably high – team owner Tom Gaglardi acknowledged it’s in the $7MM range. The Stars would likely prefer to do a long-term deal that buys out some UFA years but that could push the AAV past $9MM and they don’t have the cap space to do that. At this point, what GM Jim Nill does or doesn’t do on the trade front might dictate what ultimately happens with Robertson; if they can free up some money, a long-term agreement becomes palatable but otherwise, it’ll almost certainly be a bridge contract.
Underachieving Former First Rounders
Erik Brannstrom (Ottawa), Kirby Dach (Montreal), Barrett Hayton (Arizona), Rasmus Sandin (Toronto)
Dach and Hayton were both top-five picks in their respective draft classes but have yet to show the type of offensive consistency to put them in the category of core players. Dach was traded to Montreal at the draft after a quiet season that saw him put up nine goals and 26 points, both career-highs. Despite that, it appears that the Canadiens are at least pondering a medium-term agreement that would run for four years but still leave him RFA-eligible at the end. Something a little shorter in the $2.5MM range is also an option. Hayton has just this last season in terms of being a regular under his belt and could fit in a different category than this but his performance relative to draft stock has been concerning. He’s a prime candidate for a bridge contract and with fewer than 100 NHL games under his belt, he simply doesn’t have the leverage to command anything longer. A two-year deal around the $2MM range should be where his deal falls.
As for Brannstrom, he was billed as an offensive defender but has yet to be able to produce with any consistency since joining Ottawa back in 2019. He has just two career goals in 116 career games but that hasn’t stopped his camp from seeking a multi-year agreement in negotiations which are likely playing a role in this delay. Sandin could also fit in a different category but the 2018 first-rounder has exhausted his waiver exemption and doesn’t appear to be a fit in their top six next season. His agent recently bemoaned the lack of progress in negotiations. Teammate Timothy Liljegren’s two-year bridge deal that has a $1.4MM AAV seems like a reasonable comparable but with playing time being a potential concern, might Sandin be looking for more certainty before putting pen to paper on a new deal?
Young Regulars
Michael Anderson (Los Angeles), Alex Formenton (Ottawa), Nicolas Hague (Vegas)
Formenton played his first full NHL season in 2021-22 and it was a good one as the 22-year-old speedster chipped in with 18 goals and 14 assists in 78 games. The Sens have ample cap space this coming season so there are some options beyond the bridge contract. If GM Pierre Dorion thinks that Formenton is part of their long-term core, a longer-term pact that buys out a UFA year or two in the $3.5MM range might be a better way for them to go.
Hague has done well in a limited role on the back end for the Golden Knights over the past two seasons and is coming off a year where he logged close to 19 minutes a night. They’ve already spent most of the LTIR ‘savings’ so Vegas isn’t in a spot to give him a long-term deal. But is Hague better off taking a one-year contract that would be below market value to acquire arbitration eligibility next summer? Such a deal would be in the $1.25MM range with the promise of a better payout later on. Otherwise, a bridge pact that’s closer to $2MM is probably in the cards. Anderson has logged over 20 minutes a night for the Kings for the last two years but doesn’t have the offensive numbers to support a pricey bridge deal. Los Angeles’ cap space is quite limited so, like Hague, a one-year deal in the $1.25MM range might be where they wind up settling.
Not Fully Established
Sean Durzi (Los Angeles), Ryan McLeod (Edmonton)
McLeod figures to be a part of the long-term plans for the Oilers after a promising rookie campaign but doesn’t have much leverage at this point. Edmonton’s issue here is cap space as they’re already in a spot where they need to clear money out. If they can move someone out, a multi-year bridge contract becomes their preferred route but otherwise, he’s a strong candidate for a one-year deal around that $1.25MM threshold as well, perhaps a tad below that.
Durzi quietly put up 27 points in 64 games last season but it’s his only taste of NHL action so the track record isn’t strong enough to command a sizable contract. A two-year bridge deal makes a lot of sense for him as a repeat performance over that stretch would have him well-positioned to seek $4MM or more two summers from now. However, with the cap situation for the Kings, they might be forced to push for the one-year, ‘prove it’ contract that would fall in the same range as Anderson.
What’s The Holdup?
Cayden Primeau (Montreal), Adam Ruzicka (Calgary), Parker Wotherspoon (NY Islanders)
Ruzicka played in 28 games last season for the Flames and did reasonably well with ten points but it’s not as if he’s in a position to command a sizable raise. He’s waiver-eligible but not a guarantee to be claimed if he passes through. The holdup might be along the lines of making next season a one-way or two-way contract with any subsequent season(s) being a one-way agreement. Even so, it’s odd this is taking so long.
Wotherspoon’s presence on here is arguably the most perplexing of the bunch. He opted to not file for salary arbitration which would have gotten him signed weeks ago. He has cleared waivers in each of the last two seasons and has yet to play an NHL game. Haggling over NHL money would be pointless as a result so accordingly, it’s safe to suggest his NHL pay would be $750K. At this point, AHL salary or guaranteed money is the only sticking point. In all likelihood, the gap probably can’t be more than around $25K which is a pretty small one to justify being unsigned this long.
Primeau is coming off a strong showing in the AHL playoffs but struggled mightily in limited NHL action with the Canadiens last season. Even so, he’s viewed as their potential backup of the future as soon as 2023-24 when he becomes waiver-eligible. This is a contract that should be a two-way pact next season and then one-way after that as a result and there are enough of those comparable contracts around the league for young goalies that the general framework should basically have been in place before talks even started. As a result, this is another case that feels like it should have been resolved weeks ago.
There’s still plenty of time to work something out with training camps still a couple of weeks away and several of these players should come off the board by then but there will likely be a handful still unsigned when camps get underway.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Latest On Kirby Dach
With their acquisition of Sean Monahan from the Calgary Flames, the Montreal Canadiens looked to have concluded the main portion of their offseason business. Now, they just have a few smaller items of business to complete, namely agreeing on new contracts with their two restricted free agents: center Kirby Dach and Cayden Primeau.
Dach, 21, was acquired earlier in the offseason by the Canadiens as part of a stunning three-team deal that was announced on the draft floor. According to Eric Engels of Sportsnet, the Canadiens and Dach are in contract talks, and “one of the options being discussed” is a four-year pact carrying a $3.5MM AAV. As Engels notes, the deal would carry Dach to within one season of eligibility for unrestricted free agency.
If this is the deal that is ultimately signed between Dach and the Canadiens, a possibility Engels “wouldn’t be surprised” to see, it will certainly be an interesting one to unpack. At this current moment, the body of work Dach has put forth in the NHL is not of $3.5MM AAV quality. Last season Dach scored 26 points in 70 games, and he has not been able to stay consistently healthy in his NHL career.
That being said, though, in surrendering young defenseman Alexander Romanov to acquire Dach, the Canadiens are signaling that they believe there is still significant upside to be mined from the 2019 third-overall pick. There are those who believe Dach was “rushed” to the NHL, and that his playing in the NHL immediately after he was drafted, rather than him having another season to develop in the WHL, has derailed his development.
If the Canadiens are right in their assessment of Dach, and coach Martin St. Louis can help Dach find his footing in the NHL the way he did for Cole Caufield, a $3.5MM cap hit could quickly look like a steal.
But if the Canadiens cannot find a way to develop Dach, or Dach simply isn’t as good as many believe he can be, a $3.5MM hit for four seasons could age somewhat poorly. It’s obviously too early to say, and the Canadiens and Dach could still ultimately go in another direction with his next contract. Regardless, the Canadiens have an important decision to make as to how they want to proceed with Dach’s next contract.
Remaining Restricted Free Agents
August 28: The list below has been updated to reflect the remaining restricted free agents as of August 28, 2022.
August 12: We’re now coming up on one month since the start of free agency, and two months until the start of the 2022-23 regular season. Teams have mostly completed their offseason business, though a handful still have big issues to solve at some point in the next few weeks.
The arbitration schedule has finished and many of the front offices are slowing down for the rest of the summer in preparation for a long upcoming campaign. That is, except for the teams that still have restricted free agents to sign.
According to CapFriendly, 29 players who received qualifying offers are still unsigned, though that list includes a few New York Islanders minor leaguers who very well could have already agreed to contracts. The Islanders do also have Noah Dobson, who is among the most important names on the list after his breakout 51-point campaign.
Dobson, 22, looks as though he will be a building block for the team through the next decade, and seems positioned for a long-term contract at some point in the near future.
Beyond New York, many eyes are on the Dallas Stars, where Jason Robertson and Jake Oettinger remain unsigned. Other than Miro Heiskanen, there may not be any more important players on the Stars roster than the star forward and emerging goaltender. Both would command hefty cap hits on long-term deals, and given the $10MM in cap space remaining for Dallas, may end up with bridge contracts when things are all said and done.
There are other full-time NHLers among the group too. Alexander Romanov, Kirby Dach, Filip Zadina, Ryan McLeod, and Alex Formenton all played at least 70 games this season for their respective clubs, and are without deals to this point. The full list is below:
Arizona Coyotes
Calgary Flames
Buffalo Sabres
Dallas Stars
Jake Oettinger
Jason Robertson
Edmonton Oilers
Los Angeles Kings
Montreal Canadiens
New York Islanders
Ottawa Senators
Erik Brannstrom
Alex Formenton
Philadelphia Flyers
San Jose Sharks
Seattle Kraken
Toronto Maple Leafs
Vegas Golden Knights
Of note, most of these players are eligible to sign an offer sheet, if they choose to. Only Romanov and Cates are what are called 10.2(c) players, which are not eligible to negotiate with any team other than their own.
There are also several players like Josef Korenar, who are technically still restricted free agents relative to the NHL but have signed overseas. These rights will be held by their team after issuing qualifying offers but there is no need to list them with the above group.
Any of these restricted free agents must sign a contract before December 1 to be eligible to play in the NHL this season. Though training camp provides a soft deadline, that is the actual threshold that negotiations need to be completed by, or else a player could miss an entire year.
Latest On Jonathan Toews
It wasn’t too many years ago that Jonathan Toews and his Chicago Blackhawks were at the top of the league’s pecking order, but it somehow also seems like the team’s rebuild has dragged on for too long with no end in sight. It’s an arduous process that’s called Toews’ (and Patrick Kane‘s) future with the team into question, as the Blackhawks legends are just one year away from the expiration of their contracts and unrestricted free agency. Speaking with The Athletic’s Mark Lazerus, Toews says he “really doesn’t know” what the future holds for him and said the idea of a lengthy rebuild “[didn’t] sound appealing.”
In his interview, Toews spoke frankly about Chicago’s moves since the turn of the calendar year, specifically referencing the team’s trades involving Brandon Hagel, Alex DeBrincat, and Kirby Dach. Calling it “unfortunate that it’s come to that,” Toews especially named Dach as a player he felt he had under his wing and had developed a good mentor relationship with.
On a more positive note for Toews and Blackhawks fans, he spoke highly of the team’s expected approach under new head coach Luke Richardson. If he isn’t approached about a trade prior to the season (he does still have a full no-movement clause), he said he’s “really excited” to play under Richardson and his hard-working approach.
Regardless, this is a significant crossroads for Toews and the Blackhawks organization. Considering his declining production and recent health issues, it could very well be that this is simply Toews’ last season playing in the NHL. Toews had just 37 points in 71 games last season, and even his half-retained cap hit of $5.25MM might be too hard to stomach for most interested teams. If Toews plans to either retire or sign elsewhere in free agency, Chicago risks ill-affordable poor asset management by not getting potential trade value in return for Toews.
With that said, it’s nearly impossible to predict when Toews’ trade value would be highest. Does Chicago bank on Toews having a rebound year, allowing them to get a higher return closer to the trade deadline, or do they trade him prior to the season in anticipation of declining value? It’s a delicate, tricky situation as all parties are concerned.