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Mika Zibanejad

Rangers, Zibanejad Exchange Arbitration Numbers

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With the arbitration hearing for New York Rangers center Mika Zibanejad coming up this Tuesday, July 25th, the two sides have exchanged salary figures. According to Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman, Zibanejad’s side is asking for $5.35MM, while the team is offering $4.1MM.

While there’s been no word thus far on the term either side is requesting, it is reasonable to assume that Zibanejad would like just a one-year award if the negotiations go all the way through the arbitration process. The first year in New York did not go as planned for the 24-year-old pivot, as injury limited him to just 56 games. While the swift Swede was still able to put up 37 points, he snapped his 20-goal season streak and was unable to show off much of his physical game, playing a much more careful style. Nevertheless, Zibanejad still displayed his scoring ability, with a career-high 0.66 points per game and an 11.8% shooting percentage, as well as his two-way ability with a +9 rating and career-best 52% face-off winning percentage. He also skated in 12 playoff games and looked impressive, registering nine points and a +4 rating in nearly 18 minutes of ice time per game.

The Rangers may have expected more from Zibanejad in year one, but when he was healthy he was everything they could ask for. The last thing that New York wants is a short-term deal that exposes Zibanejad to unrestricted free agency anytime soon. Having traded Derick Brassard to acquire Zibanejad just around this time last year, they want to make that deal count. Expect the Rangers to do what they can to lessen the annual average value of the deal based on injury concerns in 2016-17, but in the end do what it takes to secure a long-term deal. New York will likely be the side to budge, despite a strange first season together, and this contract will likely end up as a five or six year pact (or longer) worth somewhere around $4.75MM+ per year, similar to the deal Brassard himself signed with the Rangers back in 2014.

Remaining Arbitration Dates

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While the league continues to try and lock up their young players, several arbitration dates remain on the docket for the next few weeks. Starting on Thursday, teams and players will head to hearings to determine their salary for the upcoming season (or seasons). For more information on how the arbitration process works, check out Mike Furlano’s two part breakdown of the system from last summer.

The remaining arbitration dates are as follows:

July 20 – Colton Parayko (St. Louis), Tomas Tatar (Detroit)

Originally scheduled: Tyler Johnson (Tampa Bay) who signed a seven-year, $35MM contract.

July 21 – Ryan Dzingel (Ottawa)

Originally scheduled: Michael Chaput (Vancouver) who signed a one-year, $688K contract

July 22 – Viktor Arvidsson (Nashville)

Originally scheduled: Micheal Ferland (Calgary) who signed a two-year, $3.5MM contract.

July 24 – Austin Watson (Nashville), Brian Dumoulin (Pittsburgh)

July 25 – Mika Zibanejad (NY Rangers)

Originally scheduled: Joey LaLeggia (Edmonton) who signed a one-year, two-way, $700K contract and Ondrej Palat (Tampa Bay) who signed a five-year, $26.5MM contract.

July 26 – Ryan Spooner (Boston)

Originally scheduled: Jordan Martinook (Arizona) who signed a two-year, $3.6MM contract.

July 27 – Robin Lehner (Buffal0)

Originally scheduled: Marek Mazanec (Nashville) who signed a one-year, two-way, $650K contract.

July 28 – (none)

Originally scheduled: Jean-Gabriel Pageau (Ottawa) who signed a three-year, $9.3MM contract.

July 31 – Matt Nieto (Colorado)

August 1 – Connor Hellebuyck (Winnipeg), Reid Boucher (Vancouver)

August 2 – Calvin de Haan (NY Islanders)

Originally scheduled: Kevin Gravel (Los Angeles) who signed a one-year, two-way, $650K contract. 

August 3 – Nate Schmidt (Vegas), Nino Niederreiter (Minnesota)

August 4 – Mikael Granlund (Minnesota), Conor Sheary (Pittsburgh), Nathan Beaulieu (Buffalo)

Johnson, Palat Signings Likely To Factor In Rangers Negotiations With Zibanejad

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With Mika Zibanejad’s arbitration hearing scheduled just nine days from now, the real question is whether the New York Rangers plan on locking up their young center before that time. With the loss of center Derek Stepan and the lack of depth at the center position, the need for Zibanejad is even more evident and locking up the 24-year-old to a long-term deal would be important as his value should only increase if he goes through arbitration and accepts a one-year deal.

Zibanejad was the key piece to the trade that the Rangers received for trading veteran center Derick Brassard one year ago to Ottawa. The promising playmaker had two solid seasons with Ottawa before New York acquired the former 2011 sixth-overall pick. Had it not been for a broken leg, Zibanejad would have easily duplicated his performance this year in his first season for New York. He managed to play 56 games and score 14 goals and add 23 assists on the season.

Yet now, some key decision-making must be made by Rangers’ brass as to what to offer the young playmaker. The New York Posts’ Larry Brooks writes that the team should look to the recent contracts that the Tampa Bay Lightning handed out to Tyler Johnson and Ondrej Palat. Johnson just signed a seven-year deal that pays him $5MM annually and Palat was locked up to a five-year contract, worth $5.3MM per year. That’s a starting point. And according to Brooks, both Johnson and Palat are slightly more productive players. Palat has averaged .71 points per game, while Johnson .68 points per game. Zibanejad has averaged just .56 points per game in his career and has been less successful in playoff games as well. Therefore, Brooks suggests that he should be receiving somewhat less money than the Tampa Bay duo, perhaps at $4.8MM per season. The general belief is the Rangers may play it tough in negotiations with Zibanejad since he left respected Newport Sports Agency to use his half-brother to negotiate with.

The key to the negotiations will most likely come down to how many years they can get Zibanejad to sign for. The general belief is that he wants as short of a deal that he can get, because even an average season or two should produce an even better contract in a year or two. Toss in the possibility that with newly signed free agent Kevin Shattenkirk on board, the defense should contribute even more on offense and be more of a benefit to Zibanejad’s play. However, the Rangers will be far more interested in locking him up for five years. So how much more will New York have to offer him to get this deal done. Afterall, no Ranger has reached arbitration since 2007 when Sean Avery and Nikolai Zherdev.

 

RFA Arbitration Hearings Begin Soon

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Although it’s likely that many of these restricted free-agents come to terms with their teams before the hearing dates, the list of set dates has been released. Last year, only one RFA actually made it to their date without a deal. We should see more players actually make it to the arbitration process this year, but how many is unclear. It could be zero, or it could be five.

That said, these arbitration hearings begin in only 11 days, so the crunch is on. Teams will hope to hammer out details with players they hope to lock in for longer than two years. PHR published a preview highlighting players most likely to see a massive pay-raise, but arbitration by its nature can be rather capricious.

According theScore’s Cody Wilkins, the set dates are as follows:

 

July 20 – Tyler Johnson (Tampa Bay), Colton Parayko (St. Louis), Tomas Tatar (Detroit)

July 21 – Ryan Dzingel (Ottawa), Michael Chaput (Vancouver)

July 22 – Micheal Ferland (Calgary), Viktor Arvidsson (Nashville)

July 24 – Austin Watson (Nashville), Brian Dumoulin (Pittsburgh)

July 25 – Joey LaLeggia (Edmonton), Mika Zibanejad (NY Rangers), Ondrej Palat (Tampa Bay)

July 26 – Jordan Martinook (Arizona), Ryan Spooner (Boston)

July 27 – Robin Lehner (Buffal0), Marek Mazanec (Nashville)

July 28 – Jean-Gabriel Pageau (Ottawa)

July 31 – Matt Nieto (Colorado)

August 1 – Connor Hellebuyck (Winnipeg), Reid Boucher (Vancouver)

August 2 – Calvin de Haan (NY Islanders), Kevin Gravel (Los Angeles)

August 3 – Nate Schmidt (Vegas), Nino Niederreiter (Minnesota)

August 4 – Mikael Granlund (Minnesota), Conor Sheary (Pittsburgh), Nathan Beaulieu (Buffalo)

Rangers Ready To Move Nick Holden For Help At Center

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Don’t be surprised if the New York Rangers move out defenseman Nick Holden in the coming weeks. After signing Kevin Shattenkirk and re-signing Brendan Smith to long-term contracts last week, the Rangers now have five solid defensemen and rather than have Holden languish on one of the bottom-six defensive rotation spots, the team may be ready to use the veteran defender as a trade chip to acquire a center. According to the New York Post’s Larry Brooks, the Rangers might be looking to use Holden to go after Toronto’s Tyler Bozak if the Maple Leafs make the 31-year-old center available now that they have signed Patrick Marleau to a three-year contract.

Toronto, which is currently over the cap by $3.9MM (via Cap Friendly) after the signing, must make a move to get them below the cap. Bozak would make sense as he is on the last year of his contract at $4.2MM and is not likely to be resigned with the Maple Leafs cap issues that will be greeting them in the future. Bozak had a productive season with Toronto last year, putting up 18 goals and 37 assists, while averaging 16:26 of time on the ice. The Rangers, who traded away center Derek Stepan to Arizona to free up some cap space to invest in their defense, must find help to fill that vacant center position as the team currently only has Kevin Hayes, Mika Zibanejad, J.T. Miller and recent free agent acquisition David Desharnais on its roster at that position. Bozak would provide that much needed depth and could even earn a spot as the team’s second center, according to Brooks.

The Rangers don’t need Holden as much on defense as they also have two young defenders who are ready to contribute on defense in 23-year-old Brady Skjei, who had a solid season for the Rangers last year, and 21-year-old Anthony DeAngelo, who they picked up in the Stepan deal. While the Leafs did just sign 36-year-old veteran Ron Hainsey from the Stanley Cup Champion Pittsburgh Penguins to add to their defense, adding a quality veteran like Holden might be a good fit and offer defensive depth they currently do not have.

 

Offseason Keys: New York Rangers

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While tomorrow’s expansion draft is currently headlining a busy NHL offseason, there are still several other storylines for each team in the months to come. Here is a closer look at what lies ahead for the New York Rangers.

The Rangers were one of the top scoring teams in the league in 2016-17 and made it to the second round of the playoffs before being ousted by the Ottawa Senators.  GM Jeff Gorton already made one move of significance this offseason with the buyout of Dan Girardi but there is still work to be done.  Here’s what else will likely be on the to-do list for New York this summer.

Add A Right Side Top Pairing Defender

Of the six defensemen the Rangers have under contract for next season, only one is a right hand shot.  That one player is Steven Kampfer who is signed on a two year, two-way league minimum contract and is a depth player at this stage of his career.  In other words, New York is on the hunt for someone to play the right side in a top role.

New York has been linked to pending unrestricted free agent defenseman Kevin Shattenkirk pretty much all season long with the speculation being that the blueliner would like to play there as well.  His defensive shortcomings don’t make him a prototypical top pairing player but he’s the best available on the open market and would still represent a significant upgrade on that side.

Finding the right fit financially for Shattenkirk or someone via a trade may be a bit of a tight squeeze though unless they’re swapping out a big contract in return.  As things stand, the team has $61.6MM committed to 18 players per CapFriendly but have a few of their own free agents to re-sign including one particularly prominent one (more on him shortly).  However, the Girardi buyout saved them nearly $2.9MM for this season and it’s expected that they’ll reinvest that money and more into landing a much-needed defensive upgrade.

New Deal For Zibanejad

After being New York’s top acquisition last summer, Mika Zibanejad had a solid first season in the Big Apple with 37 points (14-23-37) in 56 for the highest points-per-game average of his career.  He did, however, miss 25 games with a broken fibula.  Despite that, he should be in line for a nice raise this summer.

The Rangers owe Zibanejad a qualifying offer of $3.25MM (his 2016-17 salary) and however long his next contract is, it should surpass that without any issue.  He’s arbitration eligible and is two years away from unrestricted free agency which suggests that a short-term contract isn’t something New York will want to pursue at this time.

Given his status as a top six center and the fact that any real long-term deal will buy out more UFA years than RFA ones, Zibanejad’s next contract will likely cross the $5MM range.  That will take a big bite out of their remaining cap space but getting this deal done will no doubt be one of Gorton’s top priorities with an eye on getting pen to paper sooner rather than later.

Determine Stepan’s Future

Center Derek Stepan has been one of the more consistent point producers for the Rangers over the years and is in the middle of a six year, $39MM contract.  Part of that pact calls for a full no-trade clause to kick in as of July 1st.  Accordingly, if Gorton has any intentions of moving him (or at least sizing up the market for Stepan), it will be much easier to get a deal done before the calendar flips to next month.  Early indications are that the GM is looking at what might be out there at the very least.

Mar 25, 2017; Los Angeles, CA, USA; New York Rangers center Derek Stepan (21) moves the puck against the Los Angeles Kings during the third period at Staples Center. The Rangers won 3-0. Mandatory Credit: Kelvin Kuo-USA TODAY SportsAlthough Stepan carries a hefty cap hit at $6.5MM, there’s bound to be plenty of interest in him.  He has hit more than 50 points in five of the last six seasons and the one he didn’t was the lockout-shortened 48 game campaign (where he tallied 44 points).  In a market where available top six centers are extremely difficult to find, he rises up the list in a hurry.

Gorton could also potentially dangle Stepan for defensive help if they want to trade for a high priced defender instead of trying to land a free agent.  Of course, they could also keep him and once again run with him and Zibanejad as their one-two punch which would still represent one of the younger top six duos in the league.

With his no-trade clause kicking in less than two weeks from now though, a decision will need to be made on Stepan’s future with the team in the not-too-distant future.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Expansion Primer: New York Rangers

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We’re continuing to break down each team’s situation as it pertains to the 2017 NHL Expansion Draft, coming up next week: which players are eligible, and which will likely warrant protection or may be on the block. Each team is required to submit their protection lists by 4pm CDT on June 17th. The full rules on eligibility can be found here, and CapFriendly has provided a handy expansion tool to make your own lists.

Until today, the Expansion Draft plan for GM Jeff Gorton and the New York Rangers remained unclear. The time had come and gone to ask overpaid blueliners Marc Staal and Dan Girardi or the underachieving Rick Nash to waive their No-Movement clauses and the team declined. They were also cutting it close should they choose to extend one of their impending free agent forwards and make their expansion decisions easier, with protection lists due on Saturday. New York has one of the deepest groups of forwards in the NHL, even with rookies Jimmy Vesey and Pavel Buchnevich draft-exempt, yet the team had not taken any steps to protect their core. At least not until this morning…

The Rangers announced two moves earlier today, the first being an extension for impending restricted free agent forward Matt Puempel. With term now on his contract, Puempel meets all the criteria to be one of two mandatory forwards exposed in the Expansion Draft, saving them from otherwise having to expose a core forward. The second announcement was the long-awaited end to the Girardi era, as the stated their plans to buy out the veteran tomorrow, opening up a slot on the blue line for them to protect the underrated Nick Holden.

Eligible Players (Non-UFA)

Forwards
Rick Nash (NMC), Derek Stepan, Chris Kreider, Mats Zuccarello, J.T. Miller, Kevin Hayes, Michael Grabner, Mika Zibanejad, Jesper Fast, Daniel Catenacci, Matt Puempel, Oscar Lindberg, Nicklas Jensen, Brandon Pirri

Defense
Marc Staal (NMC), Ryan McDonagh, Kevin Klein, Nick Holden, Steven Kampfer, Michael Paliotta, Adam Clendening

Goaltender
Henrik Lundqvist, Antti Raanta, Mackenzie Skapski

Notable Exemptions

Jimmy Vesey, Brady Skjei, Pavel Buchnevich, Cristoval Nieves

Key Decisions

With Rick Nash holding on to his No-Movement clause, the Rangers have just six spots left to protect a large group of impact forwards: Mats Zuccarello, Derek Stepan, J.T. Miller, Chris Kreider, Kevin Hayes, Michael Grabner, and restricted free agent Mika Zibanejad. Despite a unexpected outburst of 40 points in his first season in New York, Grabner is the easy target to point at as not like the rest of the Rangers’ young and mostly homegrown talents. Many Ranger fans wouldn’t have minded holding on to Grabner, at $1.65MM next year, over Nash, who will make $7.8MM again in 2017-18 after recording less than 40 points in three of the past four seasons.

It’s hard to make a case for any of the other six being offered up instead of Grabner. Zuccarello is the oldest of the group, but he’s still only 29 and has led the team in scoring in three of the past four seasons. Zucarello is almost certainly safe. At just 23 years old, Miller has taken a bigger and bigger role for the Blueshirts with each year and is perhaps the franchise’s best building block. He too is a near guarantee. While both Stepan and Kreider have heard whispers of trade rumors in each of the past two seasons, with Stepan’s growing louder in recent days, both are far too good to give up for free and will likely be protected. After trading away Derick Brassard last off-season to acquire Zibanejad, it seems highly unlikely that the team would risk losing him already, even if his first season in New York was marred by injury. Finally, Hayes, who has done nothing but excel in any role the Rangers have given him since signing with the Rangers out of college three years ago, and it would be a major surprise to see them choose Grabner over him.

Thus, it seems Grabner will likely join Puempel as the Rangers’ unprotected forwards and with the decisions in net and on the blue line pretty clear-cut, the Rangers have gone from a confusing expansion scenario about 24 hours ago to one of the easiest teams to project.

Projected Protection List

Scheme: 7F/3D/1G

Forwards

Rick Nash (NMC)
Mats Zuccarello
J.T. Miller
Derek Stepan
Chris Kreider
Mika Zibanejad
Kevin Hayes

Defensemen

Marc Staal (NMC)
Ryan McDonagh
Nick Holden

Goalie

Henrik Lundqvist

The Rangers barely have any decisions to make in regards to their protection on defense and in net. All-world keeper Henrik Lundqvist is obviously safe, leaving skilled backup Antti Raanta as an intriguing target for the Golden Knights. Vegas GM George McPhee has stated that the team could select many promising goalies in the Expansion Draft and guage who to keep and who to trade away after the fact. Raanta could indeed be one of those picks.

On the blue line, the buy out of Dan Girardi will leave one more spot open to join go to the team’s best defender and captain, Ryan McDonagh, and Marc Staal, who was not asked to waive his No-Movement clause. The only real candidate to fill that spot is Nick Holden. Kevin Klein, who is reportedly mulling retirement, meets the 40/70 criteria to fill the one-defenseman exposure quota, but is not a viable target for Vegas. The only other defenseman under contract for the Rangers is journeyman Steven Kampfer, another player who would be a strange selection for the Golden Knights. Restricted free agent Adam Clendening, despite showing signs of upside in 2016-17, has already been informed that he will not receiving a qualifying offer and will become an unrestricted free agent, like several other Rangers blue liners, and again it is unlikely that the Knights will waste picks on UFA’s.  For all intents and purposes, the Girardi buyout ensures that no further changes will be coming to the New York defense in the coming week.

If Vegas passes on Raanta, they will likely instead turn to offense and, more likely than not, Michael Grabner. After his best season since he nearly won the Calder Trophy in 2010-11, Grabner appears to be back at the top of his game and could be hard to pass up for a Vegas team that will have a hard time finding scoring in the Expansion Draft and this summer’s free agency class. The loss of Grabner would be far greater than that of Jesper Fast or Oscar Lindberg or any other possible player, though don’t rule out the possibility that the Knights simply take youth and upside over established skill.

The situation in New York has gained great clarity today and now they face one of the more predictable expansion situations in the NHL. However, that doesn’t mean that they will escape the draft unscathed. A deep, talented team like the Rangers seems destined to take a hit next week.

Rangers Look To Add Core Piece

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According a column written this morning by the New York Post’s Larry Brooks, it seems quite apparent that the Rangers are not satisfied with their current roster. After a second-round ousting at the hands of the Senators, big changes seems inevitable in New York. The primary concern of course is on defense, where they will look to unload one of Marc Staal and Dan Girardi. As of yet, however, Brooks says neither has been asked to waive their no-movement-clause in preparation for the expansion draft. Management may yet be hopeful Vegas will prove benevolent and claim one of the albatross contracts, but the more likely scenario still remains a buyout. What happens in the wake of a Girardi or Staal departure is what management is seemingly focused on.

Winnipeg’s Jacob Trouba has been linked to trade rumors since his contract negotiations dragged into the regular season. Rangers GM Jeff Gorton is apparently quite interested, but nothing new has surfaced in those preliminary trade talks. Although not mentioned in the article, the Wild are likely to move a defenseman and Mathew Dumba could fit the bill for New York. Minnesota would be looking for an offensive player in return. Brooks confirms the speculation that Colorado’s Tyson Barrie is on the team’s radar. It’s unclear what the Rangers would offer that would truly entice the Avalanche, as there are undoubtedly many suitors for Barrie’s services. Even more confusing, the Rangers are apparently in committed efforts to acquire Nathan MacKinnon. I still see MacKinnon moving as a near impossibility for anything short of a king’s ransom. And if the Rangers are incessantly inquiring about MacKinnon, it could theoretically derail the Barrie conversation. Their need for a right-handed, mobile defenseman has to trump all other desires at the moment.

In terms of who could be on the way out, Rick Nash is always a viable candidate. He will be entering the final year of his contract worth $7.8 MM, and at 32, he still has a bit of trade value (especially if salary is retained).  Mats Zuccarello was arguably the best Rangers forward last season, but he’ll be due a pay day in two seasons. Considering that Mika Zibanejad, Jimmy Vesey, Kevin Hayes, and J.T. Miller all will need new contracts before then, will he be truly be worth a core player’s contract? They could combine two of those aforementioned younger assets to get their right-handed D, but then they would take a monumental step back in terms of offensive depth. Whatever route they decide to go, one has to imagine that picks and prospects will be a huge part of the final arrangement.

Ultimately, the Rangers want a dynamic, top-line forward who can create offense on his own. However, they absolutely need to fill a gap on an aging defense if they hope to remain in playoff contention. If they can add both, it would be a total boon for Gorton and management. But in a competitive trade market, it seems wise to temper expectations.

Atlantic Division Snapshots: Pastrnak, Brassard, Red Wings

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Despite a first round elimination at the hands of the Ottawa Senators, the 2016-17 campaign has to be considered a success for the Boston Bruins organization. The team returned to the postseason after back-to-back non-playoff seasons and showed tremendous resilience during their six-game series loss, nearly overcoming injuries to key regulars Brandon Carlo, David Krejci, Torey Krug and Adam McQuaid to push Ottawa to OT in game six. Perhaps the silver lining to the season was the development of young Czech winger David Pastnak, who in his third year saw a marked increase across the board in terms of offensive production, setting career-highs in goals (34) assists (36) and points (70). Pastrnak stuggled some in the postseason, finishing with just five shots on goal and regularly turning the puck over, but as Joe Haggerty of CSNNE writes, the 20-year-old will be a better player long term in part because of the playoff experience.

Pastrnak also wrapped up his ELC, making him a RFA this summer. Boston will have a decision to make; do they try to lock up the talented offensive right wing to a long term deal or employ a short term bridge contract to keep the AAV down? Should the team choose the latter, Haggerty speculates a deal similar to that given by Chicago to Artemi Panarin (two years, $12MM) could work for both sides. If Boston chooses the former, they might have to approach the value of the accord signed by Calgary winger Johnny Gaudreau last summer, in Haggerty’s estimation. According to Cap Friendly, the Bruins are projected to have around just $10MM in cap space available with Drew Stafford set to hit unrestricted free agency and Ryan Spooner joining Pastrnak as a RFA. The team should have room as it stands to accommodate a new Pastrnak contract regardless of whether it’s a lucrative long term pact or a shorter term bridge deal. Still, what Boston does will likely have a great impact on what other moves the team can make this summer to fill holes on the roster.

Elsewhere in the Atlantic Division:

  • One of the second round’s more interesting subplots involves Ottawa center Derick Brassard facing his old team, the New York Rangers, and the player for whom he was acquired just last July, fellow pivot Mika Zibanejad. Expecting to contend for the playoffs in 2016-17, Ottawa GM Pierre Dorion wanted to add the more experienced and established Brassard to his lineup. It also didn’t hurt that the skilled center from Hull, Quebec is a proven playoff performer known in some circles as “Big Game Brass.” For their part, the Rangers needed to get bigger and younger and did so by adding the talented Zibanejad to the team. Neither player had the regular season they hoped – Brassard finished with just 14 goals and 39 points while Zibanejad missed time with a broken leg and scored 37 points in 56 contests. With scoring expected to be at a premium in the series between Ottawa and New York, it was widely felt whoever performed better between the two would give their team a significant edge. Well, after one game, Don Brennan of the Ottawa Sun has the two players even, though the Senators are up in the series. As Brennan noted, neither player registered a point and both finished with roughly 17 minutes of ice time. Brassard was credited with five shots on goal, Zibanejad with four. While it would be unfair to paint the winner of the series as also the winner of last summer’s trade, it’s evident the two players will be heavily relied upon to help their respective team advance to the Eastern Conference Final and at this point in the season that’s really all that matters.
  • With their 25-season playoff streak broken, the Detroit Red Wings enter the offseason with a lot of work to do to reshape their roster into a contender, and without the resources (i.e. cap space) to easily tackle the challenge. In all probability, the team will be forced seek roster improvement via the trade market and with limited chips the team can afford to move, it’s likely Detroit will have to deal one of their starting-caliber goalies, if for no other reason than to open up much-needed cap space. Helene St. James of the Detroit Free Press expressed the same belief in a recent mailbag feature. As the scribe notes, the Wings are currently projected to have less than $6MM in cap space with key forwards Andreas Athanasiou and Tomas Tatar scheduled to be RFA’s. The offseason goalie market is expected to be full of starting options, with Pittsburgh likely to entertain a trade of Marc-Andre Fleury rather than risk losing Matt Murray in the expansion draft. Ben Bishop, Brian Elliott, Jonathan Bernier and Ryan Miller headline the UFA crop of netminders and could represent viable starting options for any team looking for a #1. Those factors will hamstring the Red Wings in their attempt to move either Jimmy Howard or Petr Mrazek in return for fair value. In all likelihood, the team will have to be satisfied primarily with cap relief as opposed to acquiring young assets to further their retooling effort. Although St. James does offer up one intriguing possibility, noting that current Stars GM Jim Nill, formerly an assistant GM in Detroit, knows Mrazek and Howard well from his time with the Wings and could pursue one in an effort to upgrade his options between the pipes.

Ottawa’s Expansion Conundrum

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The Ottawa Senators are in for a tough decision come the completion of their playoff run, whenever that might be. Ottawa has a team which is built upon depth and scoring by committee, but each NHL team can only protect 7 forwards, 3 defensemen, and 1 goaltender – or alternatively, 8 total skaters and 1 goaltender in the upcoming expansion draft. The Senators are in a situation where they will likely prefer to lose a veteran with a large contract. This seems doubly true because the organization is believed to have an internal cap for financial reasons, and will need to clear space in order to hand out hefty raises to Mark Stone and Kyle Turris following the 2017-18 campaign.

Obviously, Erik Karlsson, Stone, Turris, and Mike Hoffman will be protected. Karlsson is a perennial Norris favorite, captain of the team, and one of the best offensive defensemen the game has seen in decades. Stone and Hoffman are the driving forces behind offensive production, and are both on the young end of their primes. Turris has finally, fully come into his own as a number one center, posting  a 27 goal, 55 point season. Considering the price to acquire him (Mika Zibanejad) and the relative value of centers to this team which isn’t too formidable up the middle, Derick Brassard also seems a certainty to stay. Craig Anderson is the obvious pick in net. He’s been an absolute rock that the team has depended on the past few seasons, and this year was simply extraordinary. Cody Ceci is also a rather safe bet, consider minutes logged, age, and his role on the back-end. Marc Methot should seemingly be a core piece to the defense as well, but as we will soon see, his situation is far more complicated. So, in terms of definitely protected players:

Forward:    Hoffman, Stone, Turris, Brassard

Defense:    Karlsson, Ceci

Goalie:    Anderson

That leaves 3 forwards and 1 defensemen, or, alternatively, 2 total skaters to protect. It seems somewhat unlikely (although not impossible) that they will opt for the latter option. If we look at the potential list of who can be protected, there are no easy answers. Up front, Alexandre Burrows seems to have been a solid fit, as he has played well since being promoted to Turris’ right wing on the top line, and his cap hit drops to a measly $2.5 MM going forward. Zack Smith has been a more-than-capable third-line center, and is signed to a cap-friendly deal for four years after this. Bobby Ryan is incredibly overpaid ($7.25 MM) considering his performance this past year (25 points), but has expressed his profound disappointment in his own season to the relative acceptance of the fanbase. It doesn’t hurt his cause that he has been Ottawa’s best skater this post-season by far, leading the team with 7 points through 6 games. Jean-Gabriel Pageau and Ryan Dzingel could also receive consideration for a protected forward spot, but only one is likely to remain unguarded.

In terms of defense, Dion Phaneuf has a bloated contract which would be especially helpful to be rid of. Phaneuf is getting an absurd $7 MM per year , but he is on the “must-protect” list due to his modified no-trade, no-movement clause. The team could ask him to waive, but considering his solid play of late, this is more difficult to conceive. There is also no guarantee that Vegas would be interested in the player. The up-and-coming Fredrik Claesson is exempt from the expansion draft and needs no protection. Therefore, it seems likely that Methot ($4.9 MM) will be the odd man out, as he would likely be exposed in the 7-3 option. This would be a difficult pill for Ottawa fans to swallow, as Methot has arguably been their best shutdown player and he logs a ton of tough minutes.

For a team that has worked so hard to shore up its back-end and add depth up front, there are no easy solutions for GM Pierre Dorion. If you lose Methot, you lose your best defensive defenseman – if you expose a resurgent Ryan, you surrender a creative offensive weapon. Either way, Vegas is likely going to pick one of its integral players from Canada’s capital city.

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