Headlines

Go To MLB Trade Rumors
Go To Hoops Rumors

Las Vegas

Las Vegas Notes: Big Contracts, Ovechkin, Beleskey, Moulson

at CDT | by Leave a Comment

Expect the Las Vegas Golden Knights trading to start within the next few days or that’s what general manager George McPhee said yesterday at the NHL Scouting Combine in Buffalo. The veteran GM of the new expansion franchise said he expects to pick up some big contracts over the next few weeks leading up to the expansion draft as the market to unload expensive contracts is booming.

“We’ll take a few of those, for the right price,” said McPhee, who was constantly being stopped at the combine by other general managers to discuss possible trades.

The Las Vegas Review Journal’s Steve Carp writes that McPhee is looking for draft picks as he still believes the best way to build a dominant franchise is through the draft, despite the fact that his team should benefit greatly from the upcoming expansion draft. And with so many teams in need of salary cap relief, the Golden Knights might be able to not only get a quality player from that team via the expansion draft, they might also be able to bring in plenty of picks to get the franchise off the ground. After all, the team must add salary to their own team as well. So why not get some assets for doing that?

McPhee said the team is already far along in discussions with several teams and some trades may get announced soon. One trade that has already been discussed is that the Chicago Blackhawks are willing to offer Trevor van Riemsdyk to the Golden Knights to unload the contract of Marcus Kruger ($3.08MM over next two years). Another report by Gavin Lee on June 2, had the Columbus Blue Jackets trying to unload the contract of injury-retired David Clarkson ($5.25MM over three years).

  • McPhee did say the team will not look to acquire any marquee names as the general manager wants the face of the Golden Knights’ franchise to be the logo, not a particular player as he shot down the suggestion of trading for Washington Capitals’ star Alex Ovechkin, who McPhee drafted in 2004as the GM in Washington. “We’ll try to get as many good players as we can. But it’s all about building the right team, about chemistry and all those cliches. But that’s real,” McPhee added.
  • Speaking of unloading salary, Boston Herald’s Steve Conroy suggests the Boston Bruins clear some cap space and says the Bruins should offer up veteran Matt Beleskey to Las Vegas along with a third-round pick to take on the winger’s $3.8MM contract over the next three years. Beleskey, who suffered through an injury-plagued season, only put up three goals and five assists over 49 games this past season. The 28-year-old is coming off a 15-goal season in 2015-16 and a 22-goal season with the Anaheim Ducks in 2014-15. Conroy even suggested it might be worth tossing in a second-rounder if the Golden Knights balk at a third-round offer.
  • Jon Vogl of the Buffalo News suggests the Sabres should offer draft picks to the Golden Knights to convince the team to select Matt Moulson and his $5MM contract over the next two years. Moulson has scored just scored 22 goals over the past two seasons with the Sabres and a trade to unload the 33-year-veteran could help improve Buffalo’s cap situation quickly.

Without AHL Team, Blues Face Disadvantage

at CDT | by 1 Comment

When the St. Louis Blues’ AHL affiliation with the Chicago Wolves was officially terminated on Wednesday in favor of partnership with Las Vegas, an important aspect of the deal was overlooked by many around the league. The St. Louis Blues will still provide players to the Wolves, but only their best players are likely to see action, as the Golden Knights hold primary ownership. Given the Knights’ situation, why play borderline prospects of an outside organization, who you are still technically competing with? They will need warm bodies for years to come, but Knights prospects will always be valued higher.

This association may not seem like a huge deal, considering that NHL teams have used AHL partnerships in years past. However, St. Louis will be the only team dealing with this handicap in the upcoming season, and it’s not a situation that will help their organization gain advantage over a tough Central division. A team hasn’t dealt with this sort of turmoil in the minors since the 2009-10 season when the Anaheim Ducks had no affiliate whatsoever. The Ducks that year? They finished 11th in the conference and missed the playoffs.

Although Vegas, without an abundance of pro-ready prospects, may appreciate this arrangement for AHL competitiveness reasons, it can only mean a step back for St. Louis. There is no tangible benefit to having your third and fourth line hopefuls lose valuable playing time to outside players. One need only look to the role players of this year’s playoff teams to realize that having a deep bench in case of injuries is always worthwhile. The Penguins for example, have Carter Rowney, Josh Archibald, and currently injured Tom Kuhnhackl performing important spot-duty. Derrick Pouliot even has an outside shot of seeing playing time this series. If any of these had played on a split-squad in the AHL, there is a strong probability they would not have the requisite experience to be inserted into NHL playoff hockey.

GM Doug Armstrong says he has a “comfort level” with Las Vegas GM George McPhee, and that eases his mind about the situation. Regardless of comfort, Blues ownership failed the team and its prospects by not securing a primary home for their players. The Blues need to have a solid farm system, which they had seemingly started to build with a dominant 1st-overall performance this past season. The likes of Jordan Schmaltz, Magnus Paajarvi, and Ivan Barbashev all benefited from a successful AHL outing. Going forward, securing a stable location for all of its players is a must for St. Louis. It’s a disadvantage from the beginning of summer until the end of the season.

Golden Knights Notes: Expansion Draft Targets, Gallant, Yakupov

at CDT | by 2 Comments

The NHL purposefully designed the rules regarding the expansion draft to give the league’s newest member the best possible chance to compete right away. Teams have two options in terms of whom to protect from their current roster: they can either choose to protect seven forwards, three defensemen and a goalie or they can go the alternate route of eight skaters and one goalie. Any player with two seasons or less of experience playing professional hockey in North America are exempt. Undoubtedly, many teams will confront some tough choices when it comes to whom they potentially lose to the Golden Knights later next month.

Rob Vollman, writing for ESPN.com, examines who among the four Stanley Cup semi-finalists Vegas GM George McPhee is most likely going to garner significant interest from the veteran hockey executive. From the reigning champion Penguins, Vollman suggests that unless the club can convince Marc-Andre Fleury to waive his NMC and subsequently trade him to another club looking for a #1 between the pipes, one of Pittsburgh’s goaltenders would be the best choice for McPhee and the Golden Knights. However, should the Penguins proactively move one of their ’tenders – almost assuredly Fleury – prior to the expansion draft, Vollman suggests blue liner Brian Dumoulin as the best choice given his penalty killing prowess and ability to play solid defensively.

According to the scribe, Anaheim, barring some shifty maneuvering, may risk losing Josh Manson or Jakob Silfverberg to their new division rivals. Manson, as a right-hand defenseman who can move the puck and plays with bite, would be an excellent addition for Vegas.

Because of their defensive depth, Nashville will likely choose to protect eight skaters, with four being blue liners. This means the Golden Knights will probably have their pick from a group which includes forwards Calle Jarnkrok, Craig Smith and Colin Wilson. Ultimately, Vollman thinks Jarnkrok would be the sensible choice given his affordable cap hit ($2MM annually through 2021-22) and his strong two-way play.

Given the lack of proven goal scorers likely to be available to McPhee in the expansion draft, Vollman wonders whether Vegas could be convinced to take the onerous contract of Bobby Ryan off of Ottawa’s hands. Ryan, who has five years – at which point the winger will be 35 – and an annual cap charge of $7.25MM, has struggled since joining Ottawa four years ago and finished with just 13 goals in 62 contests this past season. However, he has played better in the playoffs recording five markers and 14 points in 16 games. Vollman doubts McPhee would take that hefty contract on without the Senators offering them further incentive to do so but also notes the $7.25MM price tag would make it much easier to reach their targeted floor of $43.8MM in salaries. And at 30, there is hope Ryan can provide at least a few seasons of solid offensive production for a club who will likely struggle to put the puck in the net.

In other Golden Knights news:

  • The Golden Knights have done well in hiring veteran coach Gerard Gallant to be the franchise’s first bench boss, at least if some of his former charges and current contemporaries are correct. NHL.com’s Brian Hedger penned an article on Gallant, who is currently an assistant with Canada’s entry in the 2017 IIHF World Championship, which included quotes from Michael Matheson and Nick Bjugstad, who each played for Gallant in Florida. Matheson, a young defenseman who rejoined Gallant on Team Canada for this tournament, said: “He’s a tremendous coach and I loved my time with him. He just gives his players a lot of confidence. He realizes that you’re going to make mistakes but that it’s not the end of the world. He’s just going to put you back onto the ice because he has confidence in you.” For his part, Bjugstad said: “He’s one of my favorite coaches ever,” and indicated he was well-liked in the room in Florida. “Everyone respected him. He had a young team with us, and it didn’t take him long to kind of push us to that next level, the next step. There’s no reason he can’t do it with the next team.” Tampa Bay head coach Jon Cooper also offered up strong praise for Gallant: “I think it’s a great get for Las Vegas. I got to meet Gerard at the [World Cup of Hockey 2016], and that’s a big reason he’s here with us today. He’s extremely knowledgeable about the game, the guys play hard for him and I think he’ll do a [great] job in Vegas.” Gallant’s ability to help develop young players and earn the respect from his charges should do him well in his new position. While the Golden Knights will have access to quality NHL talent via the expansion draft, the organization will still likely rely on building with youth through the draft and it may be a few seasons before they are ready to compete regularly for the postseason.
  • With the probable lack of proven goal scorers available to Vegas in the expansion draft, the club will likely look for other ways to add offensive talent to the organization. The Golden Knights have already inked free agent center Vadim Shipachyov, a skilled Russian who was expected to draw significant interest from several NHL clubs this summer. He may well slot in as the team’s #1 center to begin the season. But, as talented as Shipachyov might be, he is more of a playmaker than a goal scorer and Vegas will have to add more talent around their new #1 pivot. Luke Fox of Sportsnet suggests that former top overall draft pick Nail Yakupov is just the sort of player Vegas should take a chance on as they search for impact offensive talent. Yakupov, who suffered through the worst season of his career with St. Louis in 2016-17, scoring just nine points in 40 games, has said he has no desire to return home and play in the KHL. Fox believes the 23-year-old winger is worth a short-term, small money deal for Vegas, or for another team starved for cheap offense, perhaps L.A. Signing Yakupov would certainly make a lot of sense for Vegas. The presence of Shipachyov could help ease Yakupov’s adjustment to the desert and provide the talented winger with the type of setup man that could help him thrive.

Snapshots: Niku, Nill, Braunstein

at CDT | by Leave a Comment

The Winnipeg Jets have signed seventh-round pick Sami Niku to a three-year entry-level contract. The Finnish defenseman broke out in Liiga this year, registering 27 points in 59 games while playing for Jyvaskyla. Niku has been praised for his mobility and offensive upside, but had trouble producing in a consistent manner before this season.

He’ll enter a Winnipeg Jets system that is fairly weak on the left side behind Logan Stanley, now that Josh Morrissey has graduated to the NHL. With some of the best right-handed depth in the NHL including newcomer Tucker Poolman, the Jets are likely ecstatic with Niku’s development. Should he come to North America next season, he’ll pencil in as one of the top defenders for the Manitoba Moose and try to adapt to the pro game here.

  • Jim Nill is standing by the contract for Ben Bishop according to Yahoo! Sports’ Greg Wyshynski. Nill admitted that in a perfect world he wouldn’t have had to give up six years, but is happy that Bishop wanted to make a commitment to his team. He also seemed confident that there will be opportunities to move one of his goaltenders this summer because of their expiring contracts, something that is necessary after committing to Bishop. As we wrote last week, the Stars do have several options to rid themselves of a goaltender, with Antti Niemi seemingly being the leading candidate for a buyout. Even with a long-term deal, Bishop will have a lot of pressure on him to help the Stars bounce back from a disappointing season. They’ll be looking not only to make the playoffs but to contend in short order, after leading the Western Conference in 2015-16.
  • The Vegas Golden Knights have hired Rick Braunstein away from the Arizona Coyotes as their new Director of Player Services according to Steve Carp of the Las Vegas Review-Journal. Braunstein was one of the Coyotes first hires after the move from Winnipeg, and had been with the franchise for their entire 21-year history. While not having an impact in personnel decisions, the Player Services role is an especially important one when it comes to Las Vegas, a city known for its endless temptation. Some of the hesitation by professional sports franchises for decades has been the worry that young, wealthy athletes will get into “trouble” in Vegas and the team will need a strong support system to stop it from happening; Braunstein represents some of that system.

Blue Jackets Must Convince Hartnell To Waive NMC

at CDT | by 1 Comment

The Columbus Blue Jackets expansion hopes will come down to one key question: Will Scott Hartnell agree to waive his No Movement Clause. At least that’s what Aaron Portzline of the Columbus Dispatch writes about their prospects of losing some young talent.

The Blue Jackets are likely to use the seven forwards, three defensemen and a goalie option for their protection list. At forward, it’s expected the team will protect Cam Atkinson, Alexander Wennberg, Brandon Saad, Nick Foligno, Brandon Dubinsky, Boone Jenner and, at the moment, Hartnell.

The team might have to expose several young players with potential in winger Josh Anderson and center William Karlsson. The team especially doesn’t want to lose Anderson, who scored 17 goals in his first full season of NHL action, and at 23 years old is likely to keep improving and give the team a consistent 20-goal scorer for many years.

Karlsson, 24, hasn’t come on as quickly as Anderson with just 15 goals in two full seasons, but the Blue Jackets believe he is capable of putting up big offensive numbers. While the team has made it clear it doesn’t want to lose him, he may end up being expendable with the development of center prospects Pierre-Luc Dubois (the third overall pick in 2016) and Kevin Stenlund (second-round pick in 2015).

No matter what, Hartnell’s NMC will force the team to protect the 35-year-old declining veteran and that could lead to the team exposing one of those prospects. Hartnell still has two more years on his contract at $4.75MM and his numbers keep going south. Since acquiring the veteran in 2014, Hartnell scored 28 goals in his first season with Columbus, 23 seasons in 2015-16 and just 13 goals this past season.

The scribe writes that there are many reasons that Hartnell might not agree to waive his no clause, including his love for the city, that he plans to be married this summer and has stated he’d like to settle down in Columbus. At 35, Hartnell would also like a chance at a Stanley Cup as well, which is more likely to happen in Columbus than in Las Vegas in the next few years.

Hartnell, however, could agree to waive his NMC as it’s unlikely that Las Vegas would opt to take a declining veteran with a large contract and the Blue Jackets’ chances of long-term success might be damaged if Las Vegas takes one of those young players. It’s also possible, Columbus could just buy out Hartnell to avoid losing Anderson.

Portzline also suggests that GM Jarmo Kekalainen and George McPhee might have already worked out an agreement with the Las Vegas Golden Knights to avoid some of those prospects as that is a common practice before expansion drafts.

Western Notes: MacKinnon, Barrie, Shipachyov

at CDT | by Leave a Comment

They may not have won the lottery despite having the best chance, but if there is a consolation prize about their franchise, it’s that their players seem to be thriving at the preliminary round of the 2017 IIHF World Championships. Colorado’s Nathan MacKinnon of Team Canada got into the act during this morning’s 7-2 blowout victory over Slovenia with a hat trick and an assist. Teammate Tyson Barrie scored four points of his own, including a goal to continue a successful string of Avalanche performances so far.

The Avalanche have eight players and a potential prospect at the World Championships, including MacKinnon, Barrie, Matt Duchene and goaltender Calvin Pickard who play for Canada (2-0-0-0), Gabriel Landeskog and Carl Soderberg who play for Sweden, Mikko Rantanen who plays for Finland and J.T. Compher who is playing for the USA. Prospect Andrei Mirinov is playing for Russia.

While it’s still early in the championships, the Avalanche have to be thrilled with their players’ performance. Friday, Pickard got the win in goal after allowing just one goal in Canada’s win over the Czech Republic. Barrie had a goal and assist in that game as well, giving him six points in just two games played so far. Rantanen had an assist in Finland’s victory over Belarus Friday, while Landeskog also picked up an assist for Sweden in their first game on Friday as well.

The Avalanche have high hopes that MacKinnon, 21, who was the first overall pick from the 2013 draft, can take his game to a new level after four solid, but unspectacular seasons. He finished last season with 16 goals and 37 assists for 53 points.

  • CapFriendly tweeted the breakdown of Vadim Shipachyov’s contract breakdown with the Las Vegas Golden Knights. It will be two years with a AAV of 4.5MM. In 2017-18, the veteran will receive a $3MM base salary and a $2MM signing bonus. Then in 2018-19, Shipachyov will receive a $4MM base salary.

Capitals Have Four Of Top Eight Unrestricted Free Agents

at CDT | by 1 Comment

The 2017 free agency class may not be the strongest, but the Washington Capitals have the most to gain (or more likely lose) if free agency doesn’t go their way. The Capitals, currently on the ropes, down 3-1, to the Pittsburgh Penguins (Game 5 tonight), have four of the top eight unrestricted free agents, according to Matt Larkin of the Hockey News, as he posts his Top-30 unrestricted free agents this summer.

Unlike previous years, Larkin writes that this year’s class falls short of firepower, which the scribe points out is bad news for the expansion Las Vegas Golden Knights, who get a 48-hour window to negotiate with any free agents before any other teams. Regardless, it’s the Capitals who will find themselves on the clock as defenseman Kevin Shattenkirk is listed as the number one free agent on the list, while winger T.J. Oshie is third. Defenseman Karl Alzner is ranked fifth, while veteran wing Justin Williams is eighth on their list.

Larkin adds that he believes the Capitals will only be able to ink two of those players and will be forced to let two go. Shattenkirk, who was acquired in a February trade from the St. Louis Blues for their playoff run, has struggled in the playoffs this year, but is listed first due to the fact that blueliners in the prime of their careers, who can play 20 minutes a night, are always rewarded. Whether Washington can keep him at a high price tag is the tough question.

The team is likely to do everything to sign Oshie, however. The 30-year-old winger has had a breakout season with Washington on the first line with Alex Ovechkin and Niklas Backstrom. He has tallied 59 regular-season goals in the two seasons he has played for the Capitals since being acquired by trade from the Blues.

The Capitals then have to look at Alzner, a rugged blueliner who at age 28, could get a large contract in a weak year of free agent defensemen, while Williams playoff success could make him a well-paid second-liner as well. The Capitals have to decide what priorities they have as it’s unlikely they can afford to keep all four players.

Montreal Canadiens veteran winger Alexander Radulov, who returned to the NHL last year after a long stint in the KHL, is ranked second on the list, although he has said he would like to resign with the Canadiens. Goaltender Ben Bishop is listed fourth on that free agent list and the 30-year-old netminder should be in high demand. Veterans Martin Hanzal (No. 6), Joe Thornton (No. 7), Radim Vrbata (No. 9) and Patrick Eaves (No. 10) round out the first ten on that list.

 

Snapshots: Las Vegas Lottery, Buffalo’s GM Search

at CDT | by Leave a Comment

Yesterday’s NHL draft lottery was a disaster for most of the worst teams in the NHL as three teams, not in the bottom three, ended up winning the lottery, pushing the teams that most need talent back three slots. With New Jersey (fourth-worst record), Philadelphia (13th worst record) and Dallas (seventh-worst record) winning the top three spots in the 2017 NHL Draft this year, teams like Colorado and Vancouver end up with their worst-case scenarios. The Avalanche will draft fourth and the Canucks fifth.

The new team, the expansion Las Vegas Golden Knights got no luck either. The team, which had an 88 percent chance of a top-five pick, ended up sixth. The team had hopes of drafting the face of their franchise if they could get high enough. The hope was the team could snag either Nolan Patrick or Nico Hischier. Instead the team will now need to look at the second-tier of options, according to Las Vegas Sun’s Jesse Granger.

While Las Vegas will look at multiple players at No. 6, it is believed the Golden Knights will focus on forwards in the first-round of the draft as they are expected to collect lots of defense and goaltending in the expansion draft and be desperate for scoring.

They will look at several prospects in that second tier, including Windsor Spitfire’s center Gabriel Vilardi from the OHL, Mississauga Steelheads wing Owen Tippett of the OHL, Eden Prairie (Minn.) High School’s Casey Mittelstadt and Tri-City Americans center Michael Rasmussen of the WHL. Vilardi is a 6-foot-3, 200-pound center who uses his size advantage to dominate. He is coming off a season in which he had 29 goals and 32 assists in just 49 contests this season. His lack of penalty minutes signal that he knows how to use his size to his advantage. Tippett is coming off a big year in which he scored 44 goals in 62 games and is known to be exceptionally quick. However, defense is an issue. Mittelstadt won Mr. Hockey in Minnesota, but is tough to judge after playing against lower-level competition. Rasmussen is the biggest of the four as he is 6-foot-5 and tallied 32 goals in the WHL.

  • The Buffalo Sabres interviewed Columbus Blue Jackets’ assistant general manager Bill Zito Saturday, as reported by TSN’s Pierre LeBrun. Zito has been the Blue Jackets’ AGM since August of 2013. According to the team’s website, Zito helps manage contract negotiations, scouting and player evaluation and salary cap management and is also the general manager of the AHL’s Lake Erie Monsters. The team has also shown interest in Los Angeles Kings’ assistant GM Mike Futa.

 

Pro Hockey Rumors is not affiliated with National Hockey League, NHL or NHL.com

scroll to top