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Matthew Peca

Montreal Canadiens Sign Matthew Peca

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The Montreal Canadiens have added one of the more interesting names on the free agent market, signing Matthew Peca to a two-year contract worth $1.3MM annually. Peca was a Group VI unrestricted free agent after failing to get a real chance to crack the lineup in Tampa Bay.

The 25-year-old managed to appear in just 10 games for the Lightning both this year and last. However, Peca made the most of his opportunity this year, posting two goals and five points in those 10 appearances. He was also impressive in his stint as a leader on the deep Syracuse Crunch roster in the AHL where the center posted 13 goals and 33 assists there.

While Peca has the skills to play the center position, a position of need, he is more than capable of filling a key wing position and could develop into a solid second or third-line option for Montreal or at worst, become a top AHL option for the Laval Rocket.

Free Agent Focus: Tampa Bay Lightning

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Free agency is now less than a day from opening up and there are quite a few prominent players set to hit the open market while many teams have key restricted free agents to re-sign. Here is a breakdown of Tampa Bay’s free agent situation.

Key Restricted Free Agent: F Cedric Paquette — Nine points hardly seems like a lot of points for key restricted free agent, but the 24-year-old Paquette isn’t about offense. The defense-first forward has been a key part of the team’s bottom-six line, which included Ryan Callahan and Kunitz line that was constantly put against opponents’ top lines. Now that he’s been qualified, Paquette, who scored just five goals during the regular season (and one in the playoffs) might be more needed than ever with Kunitz likely headed elsehere. Regardless, he could be in line for a significant raise after making $812K last year on his two-year bridge deal. Now with arbitration rights, he could walk away with quite a bit more.

D Slater Koekkoek — The 24-year-old blueliner has worked hard to try and break into the deep defensive core of Tampa Bay and did manage to get into 34 games last season and avoid a trip down to the Syracuse Crunch, but Koekkoek’s usefulness came to an end after Tampa Bay acquired Ryan McDonagh at the trade deadline. From that point on, he appeared in just three regular season games and did not appear in the playoffs. While the team intends to bring him back, recent rumors that the team might consider trading the youngster are also a possibility. He made $800K last year on a one-year deal.

Other RFA’s: F Adam Erne.

Key Unrestricted Free Agents: Andrej Sustr — The 27-year-old depth defender could easily find himself on a new team with the amount of defenders under contract in Tampa Bay. The blueliner had been a regular on the Lightning’s defense over the past three years, but he found himself often a healthy scratch with the addition of players like Mikhail Sergachev, Jake Dotchin, Koekkoek as well as McDonagh. After making $1.95MM last season in the last of his restricted free agent years, the team must decide if they want to bring back the undrafted free agent they signed back in 2013.

Chris Kunitz — The 38-year-old winger was a big part of the Lightning’s shutdown line along with Callahan and Paquette in his one year with Tampa Bay, but there is little indication that Kunitz is expected return. Despite a productive season in which he tallied 13 goals and 29 points last season, rumors suggest he’s interested in a possible return to Pittsburgh.

Other UFA’s: D Mat Bodie, F Erik Condra, F Alex Gallant, D Jamie McBain, F Matthew Peca.

Projected Cap Space: The Lightning don’t have much cap space to work with this offseason as the team has just $5.3MM. On top of that, Tampa Bay has quite a few free agents they must deal with next year including Nikita Kucherov, McDonagh and Yanni Gourde to name a few, so they need to have as much cap room to maneuver with as possible. Despite their interest in John Tavares, don’t expect the team to dip heavily in the free agent market this year and more likely depend on their AHL depth to carry them through.

East Notes: Aaltonen, Pacioretty, Tolchinsky, Lightning

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Maple Leafs pending RFA center Miro Aaltonen will return to the KHL, his agent Todd Diamond told TSN’s Darren Dreger (Twitter link).  Aaltonen joined Toronto last offseason but spent all of 2017-18 at the AHL level where he posted 20 goals and 23 assists in 64 regular season games while adding 13 points in Toronto’s run to the Calder Cup.  With both Tomas Plekanec and Dominic Moore set to depart via unrestricted free agency this offseason, some believed that the 25-year-old Aaltonen would have had a shot at a fourth line role with the big club but instead, he will head back overseas.

More from the East:

  • Canadiens winger Max Pacioretty is seeking a six- to eight-year term if he is going to sign an early extension with the team, reports TSN’s Frank Seravalli. However, Montreal does not appear to be willing to give him that long of a deal which is why his name has come up in trade speculation as of late.  Seravalli links the Kings as a possible suitor as they look to add a top-six winger while the Sabres have been linked to him recently as well.
  • Hurricanes pending RFA winger Sergey Tolchinsky has signed a tryout contract with CSKA Moscow, the KHL team announced (link in Russian). The 23-year-old spent all of this past year with Carolina’s AHL affiliate in Charlotte where he collected 26 points in 43 games.  With him eyeing a return home, it wouldn’t be surprising to see the team decide to give him a qualifying offer so that they can retain his NHL rights if he decides he wants to come back in the next few years.  The deadline to do so is Monday at 4 PM CST.
  • Lightning assistant GM Julien BriseBois provided an update regarding several of their pending free agents to Lindsay Kramer of the Post-Standard. The team will not tender a qualifying offer to winger Alex Gallant while they also will not try to re-sign unrestricted free agent defenseman Mat Bodie and Jamie McBain, nor will they pursue winger Erik Condra.  However, they do intend to try to bring back center Matthew Peca, who will hit the open market as a Group VI free agent next month.

Minor Moves: Niku, O’Reilly, Peca

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The Winnipeg Jets have recalled Sami Niku as expected, now that Josh Morrissey has been suspended for Game 5. If Niku does get into the lineup, he’ll be checking another box in what has been an outstanding season. Not only did he make his North American professional debut in the AHL, he won the league’s award for most outstanding defenseman, was named to the All-Rookie and First All-Star team, and scored in his NHL debut. A playoff appearance would be icing on the cake for the seventh-round pick.

More minor moves from around the league…

  • Cal O’Reilly has been recalled by the Minnesota Wild as another “Black Ace.” He’s unlikely to get into a game for the team, as Michael Russo of The Athletic tweets his recall was just delayed. O’Reilly has been an elite minor league player for more than a decade, and put up another excellent season with the Iowa Wild. 64 points in 75 games marked the fifth time he’s put up at least 60 in an AHL season.
  • Matthew Peca has been returned to the Syracuse Crunch ahead of their first round playoff series, despite the Tampa Bay Lightning being in the NHL playoffs. It was unlikely that Peca was going to get into a game without an injury, so he’ll go back to the AHL to stay ready. Unlike O’Reilly, Peca could be given an opportunity in the NHL playoffs if Tampa needs an extra body at some point. He’ll start his first round AHL series against the Rochester Americans tomorrow evening.

Minor Transactions: 02/21/18

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After a busy night in the NHL, the league has just three games on tap for today. Instead, teams might use their time off to cement their status for the trade deadline and make inquiries around the league. All the minor moves we’ll keep track of right here. Refresh the page throughout the day to make sure you stay up to date on all the comings and goings.

Complete List Of Potential Group VI Unrestricted Free Agents

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Back in November, we took a look at some of the potential Group VI free agents that could hit unrestricted free agency early this offseason. Of that group, Josh Leivo was extended and Stefan Noesen eclipsed the number of games played needed to stay with the New Jersey Devils organization. Now, CapFriendly has compiled a complete list of players still at risk of becoming free agents early, including how many games they need. To refresh your memory on how a player qualifies for Group VI free agency, they must meet three requirements:

  1. The player is 25 years or older (as of June 30th of the calendar year the contract is expiring).
  2. The player has completed 3 or more professional seasons – qualified by 11 or more professional games (for an 18/19 year old player), or 1 or more professional games (for a player aged 20 or older). This can include NHL, minor league, and European professional league seasons played while under an SPC.
  3. The player has played less than 80 NHL games, or 28 NHL games of 30 minutes or greater for a goaltender.

The entire list of players at risk can be found below, but make sure you check out CapFriendly for more detailed information on how they could avoid the designation this summer.

*Indicates that the player could still play in enough games this season to become ineligible for Group VI free agency

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Tampa Bay’s Ondrej Palat Out Indefinitely

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The Tampa Bay Lightning will be without one of their top forwards as Tampa Bay Times writer Joe Smith reports that forward Ondrej Palat went back to Tampa for further medical testing and is out indefinitely after being speared by Minnesota Wild’s Jared Spurgeon in the third period of Saturday’s 5-2 loss.

Despite having the best record in the league at 31-12-3, the Lightning have been struggling of late, having lost three in a row and five of their last seven games. The loss of Palat will not help the slumping team, especially while Tampa Bay is on an eight-game road trip, which started Saturday in Minnesota. The 26-year-old Palat has eight goals and 22 assists this year in 46 games. He has one goal and four assists in the team’s last five games despite their struggles.

The Tampa Bay Lightning announced they have recalled center Matthew Peca and wing Michael Bournival from the Syracuse Crunch of the AHL. The 24-year-old Peca has been having a solid season with Syracuse with eight goals and 23 assists in 42 games and was recently named as an AHL All-Star. He leads the team in both assists and points. The 25-year-old Bournival has 13 goals and 14 assists in 40 games with the Crunch. He already has 108 career NHL games under his belt between Tampa Bay and the Montreal Canadiens.

Eastern Notes: Lightning Roster, Hall, Ryan

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The Tampa Bay Lightning started their bye week Friday, yet made news this afternoon when they placed forward J.T. Brown on waivers. However, Tampa Bay Times’ Joe Smith writes that general manager Steve Yzerman said the move was made to open some roster flexibility for potential callups from their AHL Syracuse Crunch roster.

Smith writes the team is enamored with the play of several of their AHL players, including Adam Erne, Carter Verhaeghe, Alexander Volkov and Matthew Peca and have suggested on many occasions the team may want to see some of them in a Lightning uniform this season.

“I wanted the flexibility within our roster, when the time comes, to recall players currently excelling in Syracuse and give them an opportunity to play,” Yzerman told the Times.

Erne has received some praise from Yzerman already, saying he’s “been playing his way out of the American League.” The 22-year-old wing was a second-round pick in 2013 and has 11 goals and 25 points in 37 games with the Crunch. He played 26 games for Tampa Bay last year. Verhaeghe, a former third-rounder in 2013, has eight goals and 16 assists in 24 games. Volkov, the team’s second-round pick in the 2017 draft, has 10 goals and 22 assists in his first season in the AHL and is just 20 years old. Peca was named as an AHL all-star and leads the team with 29 points.

  • The Athletic’s Craig Custance (subscription required) interviewed New Jersey Devils head coach John Hynes, who says that wing Taylor Hall has made a successful transition to team leader, but it took a while. Hall, who was acquired by trade in the offseason two years ago was unhappy about being traded to New Jersey, although he said it had more to do with the troubles in Edmonton and his inability to turn the franchise’s success around. Hynes added that it took a full year for Hall to recover from the change. However, the 26-year-old former first overall pick in 2010 spoke with general manager Ray Shero after last season and they talked about him taking over the leadership role this season and he’s done just that. He has 15 goals and 27 assists in 39 games this year. “Now, I think you see a guy, he’s gone through that mourning period and now, this is his team,” said Hynes. “New Jersey’s his team, it’s his city, he has pride in what we’re doing. He’s bought in and he’s helping drive our team to become a much more competitive team than we have been in the past.”
  • The Athletic’s Eric Duhatschek writes (subscription required) that the best way for the Ottawa Senators to make a contract work for future 2019 unrestricted free agent Erik Karlsson work would be spend this offseason working hard to unload the contract of veteran Bobby Ryan. The scribe writes that while center Matt Duchene will also need a new contract, he is already making $6MM and likely wouldn’t command a contract too much more than that. However, Karlsson is likely to cost at least $10MM per year and possibly as much as $12MM per year if the salary cap continues to rise. If the team can find a way to unload Ryan, who will make $7.25MM for the next four seasons after this one, that would solve a lot of Ottawa’s problems. Duhatschek suggests finding a way to have the Vegas Golden Knights, who should have up to $40MM in cap space available next year, take Ryan off their hands and even suggests the Senators retain half his salary to make that work.

Early Notes: Tolvanen, Peca, Latta

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Eeli Tolvanen, the Nashville Predators’ first-round pick from the recent draft, has signed on with Jokerit of the KHL for the 2017-18 season. The deal also includes an option for 2018-19, and will provide a landing spot for Tolvanen after his earlier issues. The Finnish winger was planning on staying in North America and joining Boston College, but failed to meet their admissions standards and was rejected.

Instead, Tolvanen will play in the KHL for at least a year before deciding where next to spend his professional career. The undersized winger spent two years in the USHL, where he put up 54 points in 52 games last season for the Sioux City Musketeers. Nashville selected him with the 30th-overall pick.

  • The Tampa Bay Lightning have signed Matthew Peca to a one-year, two-way contract worth $650K at the NHL level. Peca made his NHL debut last season and spent ten games with the Lightning, scoring two points. The undersized forward had another big season with the Syracuse Crunch, and should be expected to spend the majority of 2017-18 in the AHL once again.
  • The Arizona Coyotes signed Michael Latta yesterday to a similar one-year, two-way contract. Latta split last year between the Ontario Reign and Rockford IceHogs, scoring 22 points. Traded mid-season for Cameron Schilling, Latta will now try a new organization for the time being. Never able to quite duplicate the offensive prowess he showed for the Guelph Storm before being selected in the third round, Latta is now AHL depth for the Coyotes.
  • Montreal has announced several front office changes, hiring Franvis Bouillon as a development coach, and moving Rob Ramage to Director of Player Development. Ramage will be replacing Martin Lapointe, who has been promoted to Director of Player Personnel, while Vincent Riendeau has moved from Assistant General Manager of the AHL team to Director of Goalie Development and pro scout.

Tampa Bay Lightning Recall Byron Froese

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The Tampa Bay Lightning have flipped prospects today, calling up Byron Froese from Syracuse and assigning Matthew Peca. The Lightning will take on the New York Rangers tonight at Madison Square Garden, before travelling to Ottawa for the second half of their back to back tomorrow night.

Froese was acquired by Tampa Bay from the Toronto Maple Leafs in the Brian Boyle deal late last month, and had showed off in his three games in the AHL. Three points in two games was worth a call-up, and with the team desperately needing help at center he should get a chance to prove his NHL readiness.

The 26-year old Froese has 58 games of NHL experience, almost all of which came last year on the last place Maple Leafs. He is a very effective scoring threat at the AHL, with 26 goals and 42 points in 50 games this season. Likely never going to turn into a top-line player, he’ll try to force his way the bottom-six plans of GM Steve Yzerman before becoming a restricted free agent this summer.

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