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Marian Gaborik

Senators Acquire Braydon Coburn And Cedric Paquette

December 27, 2020 at 7:24 pm CDT | by Brian La Rose 16 Comments

It was only a matter of time before the Lightning made a move to get cap compliant for the upcoming season.  That move has now been made as they shipped defenseman Braydon Coburn, center Cedric Paquette, and a 2022 second-round pick to Ottawa in exchange for Marian Gaborik and Anders Nilsson.  Both teams have announced the move.

Recent contracts to Mikhail Sergachev, Erik Cernak, and Anthony Cirelli pushed Tampa Bay well above the $81.5MM cap ceiling, even with winger Nikita Kucherov being ruled out for the entire regular season due to a hip injury.  While Gaborik and Nilsson carry combined cap hits of $7.475MM, both have been ruled out for the season and can be added to their LTIR pool which now stands at $16.975MM with Kucherov’s deal included.  By clearing out Coburn ($1.7MM) and Paquette ($1.65MM), the Lightning sit $15.816MM over the salary cap.  With that amount being lower than their LTIR pool, they’re now back in cap compliance.

Meanwhile, the Senators pick up a pair of veterans for two players they weren’t going to be able to use this season anyway while recouping a second-rounder to replace the one they parted with yesterday to acquire Derek Stepan from Arizona.

Coburn becomes the elder statesman of Ottawa’s back end.  The 35-year-old played in 40 games for Tampa Bay last season, picking up a goal and three assists while averaging 14:03 per game.  He had a limited role in their Stanley Cup run, suiting up just three times.  The pending unrestricted free agent will likely have a depth role in Ottawa though he will serve as injury insurance.

As for Paquette, the 27-year-old has been an effective fourth-line energy player for the Lightning the last several years.  In 2019-20, he had one of his better offensive seasons, notching seven goals and 11 assists in 61 games; his assist total was a new career-high.  He will bring some more physicality to Ottawa’s lineup, an element they have brought in quite a bit of this offseason in winger Austin Watson plus blueliners Erik Gudbranson and Josh Brown.  Paquette is also slated to be an unrestricted free agent at the end of the season.

Tampa Bay’s clear preference this offseason was to try to clear Tyler Johnson’s $5MM price tag as evidenced by the fact they put him on waivers back in October after they couldn’t find a taker for him in a trade.  While that one fell through, this is a pretty good Plan B for Julien BriseBois who was able to get the team back to compliance without having to trade a core player away due to Kucherov’s injury.  There will still be work to be done as with $85MM in commitments for 2021-22 already, they’re already over the expected cap for 2021-22 which should be at or very close to the current $81.5MM Upper Limit.  But that’s a problem for another day; for now, they’re good to go.

Anders Nilsson| Braydon Coburn| Cedric Paquette| Marian Gaborik| Newsstand| Ottawa Senators| Tampa Bay Lightning| Transactions

16 comments

Long-Term Injuries Represent Continued Opportunity For Cash-Rich Teams

September 14, 2020 at 5:03 pm CDT | by Gavin Lee 1 Comment

The NHL’s salary cap ceiling will be $81.5MM for 2020-21 and will not increase until the league’s hockey-related revenue surpasses $3.3 billion once again. Even then, the number will grow slowly as the difference in escrow is slowly paid off. Despite that cap being the theoretical number that teams can spend to, many around the league will be icing rosters that are quite a bit cheaper.

Frank Seravalli of TSN reported just a few days ago that the Buffalo Sabres, Arizona Coyotes and Pittsburgh Penguins could all be operating with an internal budget much lower (with the Coyotes perhaps going “just south of $70MM”). They aren’t the only three, which could potentially open up even more opportunities for cash-rich organizations that have strong financial backing. Not only will they be able to bring in a roster that adds up to the salary cap ceiling, but players that are earning more money than their cap hits in 2020-21 could potentially be available in trade at a bargain price.

The other opportunity is one that has existed for some time but could be amplified this offseason: long-term injured reserve.

For years now, teams have traded in “dead contracts” in various situations. Trading for players who are under contract but will never play again has been a routine occurrence for teams like the Coyotes and Toronto Maple Leafs—though the two use those opportunities in very different ways. The Maple Leafs have used a strong financial situation to take on the contracts of players like Nathan Horton and David Clarkson, giving them a bit more flexibility when it comes to the salary cap. No, these dead contracts are not just bonus cap space as some imply, but they can create some creative ways to provide wiggle room around the hard cap.

It’s hard to use this to your advantage when you’re already working on an internal budget, especially with contracts that are not fully insured. But for those teams still able to flex their financial might, there will be some obvious candidates this offseason should they want to pursue these LTIR opportunities and can figure out a way to make it benefit their individual situation.

Ryan Kesler has two seasons remaining on his contract with the Anaheim Ducks, which is set to pay him $6.675MM annually. The 36-year-old forward is not expected to play again thanks to multiple hip surgeries, which ended his playing career in 2019 after he battled through pain to reach the 1000-game mark. Kesler does have a full no-movement clause for this season (which will switch to an eight-team no-trade clause in 2021), but that has been worked around in past transactions like this.

The Coyotes themselves still have Marian Hossa on the books for one more season at a $5.275MM cap hit, though his actual salary is still just $1MM for 2020-21. Hossa hasn’t played since a skin condition forced him into retirement in 2017 and could potentially be used as a trade chip if another team is looking for help reaching the salary cap floor this year. Henrik Zetterberg, is another player whose salary is just $1MM in 2020-21, though he carries a $6.08MM cap hit. The Red Wings have moved on from legendary players in this situation before, trading Pavel Datsyuk’s dead contract to the Coyotes in 2016.

Marian Gaborik is much the same, having last played in the 2017-18 season with the Ottawa Senators. The 38-year-old Gaborik is still under contract for next season and carries a $4.875MM cap hit, but is owed just $3.075MM in actual salary. According to a Postmedia report from 2018, approximately 80% of Gaborik’s salary is covered by insurance, making it an inexpensive way for the Senators to build up their commitments, but that doesn’t mean he won’t be used in a deal to get him completely off the books this summer.

One of the newest additions to this retired-but-still-active group is Brandon Dubinsky of the Columbus Blue Jackets, who missed all of the 2019-20 season with a chronic wrist injury. That injury is expected to keep him from ever playing again, but he is still owed $5.85MM for the 2020-21 season.

Of note, the Maple Leafs, who have been the team most notably acquiring these heavy LTIR contracts, will see both Clarkson and Horton come off the books this offseason. That doesn’t by any means indicate that they will go this route again, but don’t be surprised if you see some movement this offseason on players that will never actually hit the ice in an NHL game again.

Photos courtesy of USA Today Sports Images

Brandon Dubinsky| Henrik Zetterberg| Injury| Marian Gaborik| Marian Hossa| Salary Cap

1 comment

Snapshots: Gaborik, Ritchie, Pavelski

September 12, 2018 at 8:58 pm CDT | by Brian La Rose 1 Comment

Senators winger Marian Gaborik was widely expected to be bought out this summer but he wasn’t in June during the buyout window nor was he released during the post-arbitration window either.  GM Pierre Dorion told reporters, including Postmedia’s Bruce Garrioch, that the veteran has not yet received medical clearance after undergoing surgery to repair a herniated disc late last season.  He’s not expected to be with the team at the start of training camp as he is currently in Los Angeles visiting with a back specialist.  Dorion even acknowledged that there’s a chance that he may not play at all in 2018-19 which means the majority of his $4.875MM salary would be covered by insurance.

Elsewhere around the league:

  • Ducks winger Nick Ritchie has somewhat flown under the radar compared to some of the more notable remaining restricted free agents. In an interview on Sportsnet 650 (audio link), Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reports that it has been a “tough negotiation” between him and Anaheim thus far.  Ritchie was the tenth overall pick back in 2014 but has yet to make a significant impact offensively.  Last season, he had just 10 goals and 17 assists in 76 games while averaging just over 13 minutes of playing time per night.  Unlike some of the more prominent remaining RFAs, the 22-year-old is almost certainly heading for a bridge contract.
  • The Sharks have had discussions regarding a potential contract extension with center Joe Pavelski, GM Doug Wilson told Kevin Kurz of The Athletic (subscription required). The 34-year-old has seen his point production drop in each of the last two years but he still put up a solid 66 points (22-44-66) in 82 games last season.  Pavelski has also been quite durable, missing just one game over the last five years which should help bolster his case for a new deal.   He’s slated to earn $6MM in 2018-19 and should be in line for a small raise on his next contract.

Anaheim Ducks| Joe Pavelski| Marian Gaborik| Nick Ritchie| Ottawa Senators| San Jose Sharks| Snapshots

1 comment

Ottawa Senators Preparing For Huge Roster Turnover

September 11, 2018 at 8:49 am CDT | by Gavin Lee 3 Comments

Late last night after much of the hockey news had died down for the day, the Ottawa Senators released a video of defenseman Mark Borowiecki and owner Eugene Melnyk discussing the future of the organization. Touching on subjects from dressing room leadership to overcoming the low expectations for 2018-19, Melnyk made clear he would be staying with the franchise for a long time and will not move it from Ottawa. He also noted an interesting point about roster construction, explaining how quickly the rebuild will get underway:

This coming year we’re going to have 10 out of the 22 players are going to be new. Meaning they’re either rookies or they’ve played maybe under 10 games last year. Then the following year, it’s going to go up to about 15 of the 22, maybe 16. So that’s a total turnover you know, which is exactly what should be in a rebuild. 

Stripping your roster down to the studs and letting a group of young players grow and mature together is often a strategy for struggling teams who want to rebuild, and the Senators saw a similar situation play out just down the road in Toronto a few years ago. In fact, when the Maple Leafs traveled to Ottawa to open the season in 2016 they had seven rookies in the lineup including Auston Matthews, who scored four times despite the loss. That would appear to be the blue print for Melnyk and the Senators as they look to pull a similarly speedy rebuild.

The question though becomes how do they achieve the goal of having 10 rookies on the roster at the beginning of the year. The team currently has at least 19 players—Mark Stone, Bobby Ryan, Matt Duchene, Zack Smith, Jean-Gabriel Pageau, Ryan Dzingel, Tom Pyatt, Magnus Paajarvi, Max McCormick, Colin White, Marian Gaborik, Erik Karlsson, Cody Ceci, Chris Wideman, Ben Harpur, Thomas Chabot, Craig Anderson, Mike Condon and Borowiecki—who played more than 10 games for the organization last season and should at the very least be battling for roster spots. While perhaps Melnyk was exaggerating and players like White and Chabot would still be considered “rookies” given their relative youth and inexperience, it seems likely that there will be substantial turnover in the rest of the group.

We’ve heard for months that Karlsson may be on the block, speculation that will only increase given his complete absence from this video, but other players including Stone and Duchene are both heading into the final years of their contracts and could be shipped out for prospects and picks. If the Senators are committed to a full scorched earth rebuild, they are powerful assets in trade.

At the very least, we should expect the Senators to be involved in trade talks all season. Even though Melnyk and Borowiecki seem excited about playing the underdogs this year, the amount of roster turnover that the owner mentions isn’t possible without some transactions coming through the pipe quickly. Camp starts in just a few days and Senators rookies should be licking their chops on the opportunity that is apparently there for the taking.

Ben Harpur| Bobby Ryan| Cody Ceci| Colin White| Craig Anderson| Erik Karlsson| Jean-Gabriel Pageau| Magnus Paajarvi| Marian Gaborik| Mark Borowiecki| Mark Stone| Matt Duchene| Max McCormick| Mike Condon| Ottawa Senators| Prospects| Rookies

3 comments

Salary Cap Deep Dive: Los Angeles Kings

August 18, 2018 at 5:59 pm CDT | by Holger Stolzenberg 2 Comments

Navigating the Salary Cap is probably one of the more important tasks for any general manager to have. Teams that can avert total cap chaos by walking the tightrope of inking players to deals that match their value (or compensate for future value without breaking the bank) remain successful. Those that don’t see struggles and front office changes.

PHR will look at every NHL team and give a thorough look at their cap situation heading into the 2018-19 season. This will focus more on those players who are integral parts of the roster versus those who may find themselves shuttling between the AHL and NHL. All cap figures are courtesy of CapFriendly.

Los Angeles Kings

Current Cap Hit: $77,345,227 (under the $79.5MM Upper Limit)

Entry-Level Contracts

F Alex Iafallo (one year, $925K)
F Sheldon Rempal (one year, $925K)
F Gabriel Vilardi (three years, $925K)
D Daniel Brickley (one year, $925K)
F Adrian Kempe (one year, $894K)

Potential Bonuses

Rempal: $850K
Brickley: $850K
Vilardi: $500K

With a franchise filled with veteran contracts, the team has been forced to slowly integrate some youth onto the team. What the team has recently done successfully is signing several undrafted collegiate free agents, including Iafallo, Brickley and Rempal. Iafallo made the Kings’ team out of training camp after four years at the University of Minnesota-Duluth and even started on the team’s top line, posting nine goals and 25 points. This year, the team has the same hopes for Brickley and Rempal, two of the top college free agents, who each signed earlier this year and have solid chances to make the club out of training camp.

The team also have high hopes that Kempe can continue to develop into a top-six forward after finally breaking into a full-time role with the Kings this year. The 21-year-old 2014 first-round pick posted 16 goals and 37 points last year and could be primed to take that next step next season. Vilardi, the team’s 2017 first-rounder, might have made the L.A. team last year if he hadn’t suffered a back injury at the end of the 2016-17 season. He missed half of last season, but still posted solid numbers in junior on his return, posting 22 goals and 58 points in just 32 games. He could easily win a bottom-six role immediately and work his way up the depth chart as the season rolls on.

One Year Remaining, Non-Entry-Level

F Nate Thompson ($1.65MM, UFA)
G Peter Budaj ($1.03MM, UFA)
F Jonny Brodzinski ($650K, RFA)
F Zack Mitchell ($650K, RFA)
D Oscar Fantenberg ($650K, UFA)

The team has few contracts that they have to worry about among non-entry level deals. Fantenberg may be the most intriguing of the bunch as the 26-year-old defenseman showed some offensive potential in limited action after coming over from the KHL last year. While he played in just 27 games last season, he posted 13 points and managed to play a significant role in their four-game playoff series with the Vegas Golden Knights. Other than Mitchell, who came over from Mitchell, all are unrestricted free agents and will have to prove their value to get a new contract in the future.

Two Years Remaining

F Tyler Toffoli ($4.6MM, UFA)
D Jake Muzzin ($4MM, UFA)
D Derek Forbort ($2.53MM, UFA)
F Trevor Lewis ($2MM, UFA)
F Kyle Clifford ($1.6MM, UFA)
D Kurtis MacDermid ($675K, RFA)
G Jack Campbell ($650K, UFA)

Toffoli posted solid numbers for the fourth straight year, putting up 24 goals and 47 points as he enters the second year of a three-year, $13.8MM deal. The 26-year-old flashed some offensive potential two years ago when he scored 31 goals. Hoping that he might build on that number, Toffoli has scored just 40 goals in the past two years, so the team hopes he can return to an elite level soon. Muzzin is a solid top-four defenseman on a team that is loaded in defense and proved his value by putting up a career-high in points with 42, despite missing eight games last seasons.

Read more

Three Years Remaining

F Ilya Kovalchuk ($6.25MM, UFA)
D Dion Phaneuf ($5.25MM, UFA)
D Alec Martinez ($4MM, UFA)
F Tanner Pearson ($3.75MM, UFA)

The majority of the team’s significant contracts are three years and above and the team added a critical addition in the offseason when they won the Kovalchuk sweepstakes as he chose Los Angeles over a number of other teams to sign a contract with. Many believe that Kovalchuk only signed with L.A. because they were the only ones to offer three years to the 35-year-old winger, but Kovalchuk adds a new element to the team’s top line as he made it clear that he wanted the opportunity to play next to a top-line center. Kovalchuk, might not produce the type of numbers he did five years ago when he was with New Jersey, but Kovalchuk is still expected to post at least a couple of 20-goal seasons for the Kings. He did score 63 goals in his last two seasons in the KHL, so his abilities remain high.

While the Kings took on the contract of Phaneuf in order to unload Marian Gaborik, the team may have got an overpaid player in Phaneuf, but they have a player who can play in the top-four still and immediately provided the team with some quality defensive play upon joining the team. He may no longer have the elite skills of a top-pairing defenseman, but he’s still good enough to provide important depth. Martinez has also been one of the team’s top defenders even if his offensive output went down this year. After two season with at least 30 points, he dropped to just 25 points last year. However, his defensive presence and more importantly his shot-blocking skills have been key for the Kings. He blocked a career-high 206 shots last season.

The Kings handed Pearson a four-year, $15.MM deal after last season when he had a breakout season, scoring 24 goals in the 2016-17 season. Before that he had just 27 goals over his first two years. However, he regressed last year, finishing the season with just 15 goals. The team will need more out of the 26-year-old if they want to keep their success going.

Four Or More Years Remaining

F Anze Kopitar ($10MM through 2023-24)
D Drew Doughty ($7MM next season; $11MM through 2026-27)
F Dustin Brown ($5.88MM through 2021-22)
G Jonathan Quick ($5.8MM through 2022-23)
F Jeff Carter ($5.27MM through 2021-22)

Kopitar, who inked an eight-year, maximum extension back in 2016, continues to prove his value to his contract as he posted up career numbers last year. The 30-year-old who once posted 81 points for the Kings back in the 2009-10 season, finally broke that career-high this year with a 92-point season, including a career-high 35 goals. While few people believe that Kopitar can repeat that type of success a second straight year, Kopitar should be good for 70-80 points and is likely going to be playing with Kovalchuk at his side, which can’t hurt his numbers.

Doughty just signed an extension of his own this summer. While he’ll make a solid $7MM next season, that number bumps up to a team-high $11MM for the next eight years after that. The extension came at the right time as the 28-year-old posted a career-high of 60 points last year, but an eight-year deal now will run until he’s 36 years old, which could hurt the team’s long-term outlook.

The 33-year-old Brown finally had a big season for the club. He scored 28 goals. However, Brown hasn’t tallied that many goals since the 2010-11 season. In fact, his goal numbers have decreased since then as he went from 28 to 22 to 18 to 15 to 11 to 11 and then to 14 in the 2016-17. To assume that Brown, who is in the middle of an eight-year, $47MM deal, can repeat those goal numbers after five years of mediocrity is unlikely. Carter, however, may be the opposite. The 33-year-old suffered a severe cut to his left leg that forced him to miss all, but 27 games of the season last year. He still managed to score 13 goals upon his return, but Carter should return to his standard numbers this season as he’s tallied at least 24 goals over the previous five seasons.

Quick bounced back after an injury-plagued 2016-17 season. As goaltender salaries continue to rise in the NHL, Quick is proving to be one of the best deals in the NHL at $5.8MM, which is right in the middle of NHL goalie salaries. Quick posted a 2.40 GAA and more importantly a .920 save percentage in 64 games. The team is so confident in his health that they traded solid backup Darcy Kuemper to Arizona and are using Campbell as their backup. The team even has a top goalie prospect in the wings in Cal Petersen, but it’s unlikely that Quick will give him an opportunity to do more then eventually be a backup.

Buyouts

D Matt Greene ($833K in 2018-19)

Retained Salary Transactions

None

Salary Cap Recapture

F Mike Richards ($1.32MM through 2019-20)

Still To Sign

None

Best Value: Quick
Worst Value: Brown

(Excluding entry-level contracts)

Looking Ahead

The Kings are obviously hoping that the addition of Kovalchuk will push the Kings from a playoff team into a Stanley Cup contender, but they are also battling with time as much of the team is over 30 years old now. Even Kopitar has hit 30, suggesting that time is not on their side for very long. Add in that many of those mid-30 players are on long-term deals and the team will have some trouble adding too much more help, which will force them to look at youth. With a little luck a player like Vilardi or one of those college free agents can help, but so far they have had little help.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Adrian Kempe| Alec Martinez| Alex Iafallo| Anze Kopitar| Cal Petersen| Daniel Brickley| Darcy Kuemper| Derek Forbort| Dion Phaneuf| Drew Doughty| Dustin Brown| Dustin Brown| Ilya Kovalchuk| Jake Muzzin| Jeff Carter| Jonathan Quick| Jonny Brodzinski| Kyle Clifford| Los Angeles Kings| Marian Gaborik| Matt Greene| Mike Richards| Nate Thompson| Oscar Fantenberg| Peter Budaj| Salary Cap| Salary Cap Deep Dive 2018

2 comments

Poll: Ottawa’s Impending Free Agents

August 5, 2018 at 7:20 pm CDT | by Zach Leach 4 Comments

The Ottawa Senators are a team in trouble. The Senators finished with a 28-43-11 record last season for a total of 67 points, second-lowest in the NHL. The team also placed close to the bottom in both goals for and goals against, which combined for a the league’s second-worst goal differential of -70. Ottawa dealt with a public relations nightmare this summer surrounding Mike Hoffman and ended up having to deal the dependable scorer away for pennies on the dollar. They have thus far failed to add any difference-makers via trade or free agency this off-season as well. On top of that, owner Eugene Melnyk is reportedly hemorrhaging money and appears to have a singular focus of spending as little as possible this season. That task is made difficult by a roster that features overpaid, ineffective veterans such as Bobby Ryan, Marian Gaborik, and Mikkel Boedker and a 37-year-old goalie coming off the worst season of his career in Craig Anderson. The Senators are the popular pick to be the worst team in the NHL in 2018-19, but even that has no silver lining, as the Colorado Avalanche own Ottawa’s first-round pick, potentially the first overall pick in next year’s draft.

It almost seems like so much is going wrong in Ottawa that things can only get better. Unfortunately, that is simply not the case. Early in this off-season, the Senators made a contract extension offer to all-world defenseman Erik Karlsson, who is slated for free agency next summer. When Karlsson dismissed this initial offer, the team made it know that they were open to trading the face of the franchise. Just this week, the team was unable to come to terms on a long-term extension with top scorer Mark Stone, instead signing him to a one-year deal that will make him an unrestricted free agent after the season, where he will potentially be the biggest available name behind Karlsson. Perhaps the biggest bargain on the team, Ryan Dzingel’s team-friendly contract runs out after next season and the young forward will want a significant raise, even if that means it doesn’t come from the penny-pinching Senators. Finally, Matt Duchene, who Ottawa gave up substantial trade capital to acquire early last season – when their future looked much brighter – is also entering the final year of his contract and may not want to stick around any longer in Ottawa after the team fell apart soon after his acquisition.

With Hoffman and Derick Brassard already gone, the Senators face a very real possibility that they will begin the 2019-20 season without all of their top six scorers from the 2017-18 season (make that top seven if they succeed in trading Ryan). Between the value each would have on the open market prompting them to test the waters and the mounting pressure on the team to trade them during what will almost certainly be another season of struggles, the odds of each of them returning is slim. If the team was second-worst last year, did nothing to improve this off-season, and doesn’t have the pick that could otherwise land them a franchise cornerstone in next year’s draft, it is scary to think about how much worse things could get in Ottawa if all four of these prominent free agents depart.

This begs the question: how many of Karlsson, Stone, Dzingel, and Duchene will still be Senators this time next year?

Bobby Ryan| Colorado Avalanche| Craig Anderson| Derick Brassard| Free Agency| Marian Gaborik| Mark Stone| Matt Duchene| Mike Hoffman| Mikkel Boedker| Ottawa Senators| Pierre Dorion| Ryan Dzingel

4 comments

East Notes: Zadina, Faulk, Murray, Gaborik

July 5, 2018 at 8:58 pm CDT | by Brian La Rose 4 Comments

While there was some speculation that Detroit’s top pick at the draft, winger Filip Zadina, was eligible to play in the AHL next season, notes Helene St. James of the Detroit Free Press.  It was originally believed that Zadina was on loan to Halifax of the QMJHL which would have made him eligible to play in the minors.  However, that does not appear to be the case which makes him subject to the usual rules for CHL draftees that restricts him from going to the AHL until he turns 20.  Naturally, the Red Wings are hopeful that this is all for naught and that he makes the team in a full-time role in training camp.  If that doesn’t happen, however, then he’ll be heading back to the Mooseheads.

Elsewhere in the East:

  • In his latest 31 Thoughts podcast (audio link), Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman links the Red Wings as a team that has shown interest in Hurricanes defenseman Justin Faulk. Detroit is certainly in need of some more skill on their back end while Faulk has become an even likelier candidate to be moved following Carolina’s acquisition of Dougie Hamilton back at the draft.
  • Blue Jackets defenseman Ryan Murray was one of the few arbitration-eligible players who opted not to file for salary arbitration. Aaron Portzline of The Athletic reports (Twitter link) that there haven’t been any contract discussions with the 24-year-old.  While his decision not to file leaves him open for an offer sheet, that’s still a very unlikely scenario given how few of those get handed out.
  • Part of the reason the Senators didn’t buy out winger Marian Gaborik during the first window last month is that he has yet to be declared fully recovered from his back injury, reports Postmedia’s Bruce Garrioch. However, Ottawa will have another window to do so later this summer thanks to defenceman Cody Ceci and winger Mark Stone filing for arbitration.  The window will open up for 48 hours once both players have signed.

Carolina Hurricanes| Columbus Blue Jackets| Detroit Red Wings| Filip Zadina| Justin Faulk| Marian Gaborik| Ottawa Senators| Ryan Murray

4 comments

Buyout Candidate: Marian Gaborik

June 16, 2018 at 11:18 am CDT | by Brian La Rose 1 Comment

Technically speaking, Senators winger Marian Gaborik was the centerpiece of the return the Senators received when they dealt defenseman Dion Phaneuf to the Kings back in February.  Of course, he wasn’t a typical centerpiece in that he was acquired strictly for financial reasons, not because they actually wanted to acquire him.  As a result, even though they just got him, he could very well be sent packing by Ottawa over the next two weeks.

It has been a rather drastic fall from grace for the 36-year-old in recent seasons.  After he played a key role in the Kings winning the Stanley Cup in 2014, Los Angeles signed him to a front-loaded seven-year contract, one that looked bad right at the start.

Since then, Gaborik has yet to play in 70 games in a single season and this past year spent a lot of time as a healthy scratch although he did fare a little better with Ottawa after the trade.  However, a part-time player that puts up around 20 points a year isn’t worth $4.875MM on the cap let alone for three more years which is how much time is left on his contract.

Because of the way the deal is structured, the sum of the combined cap hits over the next six years will actually exceed the salary that he’s owed over that time.  That would be a concern for some teams but the budget-conscious Senators aren’t one of those.  From the minute this trade was done, it looked like the sole motivation was getting out of as much of Phaneuf’s longer-termed contract as possible and that Gaborik was merely a sunk cost to accomplish that.  A buyout would represent lowering that sunk cost by just over $3.6MM (one-third of his remaining salary) of real money which to them matters a lot.

In the case of a lot of players who are buyout candidates, the idea of trading the player with the maximum 50% retention is an outside possibility.  While Ottawa will certainly explore that idea, it’s not exactly a palatable one because Gaborik has three years left.  There won’t be enough demand to justify trading for him at half price and carrying him for that long when they can just wait for the buyout and try to sign him to a one-year, incentive-laden deal a few weeks from now.  (As he’s 36, he is eligible to have incentives in his contract as long as he signs for a single season.)

Theoretically, Ottawa could wait a year to see if Gaborik could build on his late showing and have a good full season to see if there is any trade potential down the road and if not, buy him out in the summer of 2019.  However, because 2018-19 is the highest remaining salary of the remaining three years of the contract, their financial savings will wind up being about $1.5MM less if they went that route.  Realistically, they can find someone in free agency that can put up the 21 points that Gaborik has averaged over the past three years for that price or less so they may as well bite the bullet now if the plan is to buy him out before his contract expires.

Assuming this is the route that gets taken which seems inevitable at this point, it will be quite the precipitous drop for a player who was once regarded as one of the premier scorers in the league.  It will also look less than ideal for the Senators who will wind up effectively paying more than $11MM (Gaborik’s buyout cost in terms of real dollars plus what they are covering on Phaneuf’s contract as part of the trade) for the blueliner to not play for them.  That’s not a pretty picture no matter how one tries to paint it.

Marian Gaborik| Ottawa Senators

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Poll: Who Is The Most Likely To Be Bought Out?

June 6, 2018 at 4:15 pm CDT | by Gavin Lee 5 Comments

The NHL buyout period opens later this month, and teams will have to make tough decisions on some of their overpaid former-stars. Rory Boylen of Sportsnet has been all over potential buyout candidates throughout the season, and has now released his list of the top eight names that could see a paycheck start coming to not play for their current teams.

Last year we saw Simon Despres, Matt Greene, Antti Niemi, Benoit Pouliot, Jussi Jokinen, Lance Bouma, Ryan Murphy, Jimmy Hayes, Mark Stuart, Mike Cammalleri, and Devante Smith-Pelly bought out in the first window, and a similar number of players could find themselves on unconditional waivers this time around.

We’ve already heard about Matt Moulson’s expected buy out from the Buffalo Sabres, but Boylen throws eight different names into the mix. Several of them were once key parts of their franchise, while others never turned into the player they were expected to become.

Who do you think is the most likely player to be bought out when the window opens on the later of 48 hours after the Stanley Cup Final, or June 15th. Cast your vote below and make sure to leave an explanation in the comment section. For more information on how much each team would have to pay, check out Boylen’s excellent breakdown or head over to CapFriendly’s handy calculator.

[Mobile users click here to vote!]

Brandon Dubinsky| Jason Spezza| Marc Staal| Marian Gaborik| Paul Martin| Scott Darling| Troy Brouwer| Tyler Ennis| Waivers

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Ottawa Senators Could Use Buyouts This Summer

April 12, 2018 at 9:22 am CDT | by Gavin Lee 5 Comments

In his season-ending press conference, Ottawa Senators GM Pierre Dorion discussed several topics including the future of head coach Guy Boucher—which will be determined after the draft lottery—the decision to keep their 2018 draft pick, and the option of buyouts to help their cap situation this summer.

On buyouts, Dorion admitted that they had discussed the possibility with several players during their exit interviews. While he wouldn’t reveal exactly who those players were, one has to assume that Bobby Ryan and Marian Gaborik were among them. The pair are under contract for more than $12MM combined for the next three seasons (with Ryan extended even a year past that) but haven’t been able to live up to their previous career success.

With the team needing salary and cap space for not only Erik Karlsson’s potential mega-deal, but extensions for Matt Duchene and Mark Stone, buyouts could be an attractive option.

Ryan, 31, scored just 33 points this season and played just 62 games while dealing with several injuries. His 11 goals was the lowest of his career in a full-length season, and his play doesn’t seem like it will ever return to the 30-goal man of his youth. If a buyout were used however, it would be quite a financial commitment by the Senators.

Since signing bonuses are paid out regardless of a buyout, Ryan would be in line to collect more than $22.6MM of the remaining $30MM on his contract. Paying out that much for someone to not play for your team is something that the richer teams in the league can do, but Ottawa has never been one to hand out money.

Bobby Ryan| Marian Gaborik| Ottawa Senators| Pierre Dorion

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