Mike Hoffman

Atlantic Notes: Hoffman, Deslauriers, Czarnik

February 11, 2018 at 7:55 pm CDT | by Brian La Rose Leave a Comment

At least five teams have shown interest in Senators winger Mike Hoffman, Postmedia’s Bruce Garrioch reports. Interestingly enough, not all of them are teams that are expected to be buyers in the next couple of weeks either as the Sabres are among the group that also includes the Blues, Devils, Hurricanes, and Sharks.

Hoffman is having a quieter year offensively than he has had the last couple of seasons but he still sits second on Ottawa in scoring with 37 points (15-22-37) in 54 games. He also has two years left after this one on his contract with a cap hit just shy of $5.2MM so if the Senators do decide to move him, they’ll be justified in a high asking price. Garrioch notes that the team is torn on what to do as they know they can get a strong return in a trade but he has started to show some chemistry recently with Matt Duchene who has one more year left on his current deal.

Senators Notes: Dorion, Anselmi, Karlsson

February 11, 2018 at 10:28 am CDT | by Holger Stolzenberg 3 Comments

Armed with a new three-year extension, Ottawa Senators general manager Pierre Dorion has a tough task ahead of him, but he has already said that change is coming. He has stated that he has been listening to offers for the entire team with the exception of captain Erik Karlsson, winger Mark Stone and defenseman Thomas Chabot after a tough season which sees them in seventh place in the Atlantic Division after a season in which they went to the Eastern Conference finals last season.

The Ottawa Citizen’s Bruce Garrioch writes the real question is how big of a change will Dorion want to make at the deadline or during the offseason. Names have surfaced range from Mike Hoffman, Zack Smith, Jean-Gabriel Pageau, Ryan Dzingel, Cody Ceci, Dion Phaneuf and Johnny Oduya.

“The phone is always busy,” Dorion said. “We’ve put ourselves in the position that we are and people know that last year we had a lot of players that were key components to us getting to the final four teams. I think other teams are looking at us. We have the assets, but we’re going to make good hockey deals and that’s very important for this organization.”

The Senators are looking for established young players, who have NHL experience already as well as high-end prospects and picks. Of course, the team is unlikely to trade their whole team away either.

“These next three weeks are very important for the team that we need to set in place for the following years,” Dorion said. “At the same time, branding something, telling people exactly what our plan is, isn’t the best course of action. There will be changes that will be made.”

Tom Brennan of The Ottawa Sun writes that the Ottawa Senators front office mayhem continued last week when they announced that president and CEO Tom Anselmi would be vacating his role. The scribe believes he resigned three weeks ago, because of what one source described as “craziness.” In 24 months, the Senators have gone through two presidents, three chief financial officers and three chief marketing officers. With the team struggling in attendance, hiring Dorion to an extension might have been one of the smartest moves owner Eugene Melnyk has done in quite a while and shows that he wants stability within the organization.
The Ottawa Sun’s Ken Warren writes that with the news that the Senators are taking a step back and trying to rebuild the team will only hasten the departure of Karlsson. Why would Karlsson want to stay on a team with front office instability and has already admitted they intend to rebuild? On top of that, Warren believes the team likely doesn’t want to commit $80-$100MM. It looks more likely the team would be more likely to shed salary.
In the same article, Warren also points out that Dorion still has a lot to prove as general manager. While he’s drafted well, some of Dorion’s moves have been questionable, including trading prospect Jonathan Dahlen for fourth-liner Alexandre Burrows, whose contract is only holding the team back. Exposing defenseman Marc Methot in the expansion draft didn’t help as he was a great partner to Karlsson. The scribe also adds that he believes the team overpaid for both Pageau and Smith.

Snapshots: Blues, Thornton, Lewis, Lightning

February 10, 2018 at 5:37 pm CDT | by Holger Stolzenberg 4 Comments

In a mailbag column, The Athletic’s Jeremy Rutherford writes (subscription required) that while the Blues have been linked with a number of high-profile teams such as the Ottawa Senators, Buffalo Sabres, Montreal Canadiens, Edmonton Oilers and the New York Rangers, it’s unlikely the team will make a big move for a big name forward with years on his contract like a Max Pacioretty or a Mike Hoffman despite recent rumors to the contrary.

Due to the high trade demands being made for these players, Rutherford believes that trading a top prospect for a player who has a large contract to fit into their salary cap space doesn’t make a lot of sense as the team wants to have as much flexibility when free agency arrives this summer. Instead, the scribe believes the team needs to go the rental route and acquire a player (for a much cheaper price) so the team can make their run.

The team already is without their 2018 first-round pick which they traded for Brayden Schenn, so moving a top prospect could set the team back long-term. The team should look into a player such as Rick Nash, Michael Grabner or Patrick Maroon as options as they likely won’t cost them one of their top prospects in Jordan Kyrou, Robert Thomas or Klim Kostin.

The Athletic’s Kevin Kurz (subscription required) writes that alarms should sound after San Jose Sharks center Joe Thornton refused to say that he will definitely be back this season. That’s a surprise considering he is a player who last year played through torn MCL and ACL injuries during the playoffs. Historically, he’s been a player who goes out on the ice no matter how hurt he is, so the idea that he might not be back this season suggests the injury is worse than people think. Could he have already played his last game as a San Jose Shark?
Fox Sports West Patrick O’Neal tweets that Los Angeles Kings forward Trevor Lewis was sent back to Los Angeles to be re-evaluated after being injured in Friday’s game against the Florida Panthers. While indications are that the injury isn’t serious, head coach John Stevens wanted to have him evaluated after he sustained a serious crash against the boards.
Tampa Bay Times’ Joe Smith writes that the rumors of a potential Ottawa Senators-Tampa Bay Lightning deadline deal refuses to go away. He writes that there have been a number of rumors, including talk of Erik Karlsson, and points out that Ottawa’s chief scout is expected to be at the Tampa Bay game tonight.

Deadline Primer: Ottawa Senators

February 4, 2018 at 3:50 pm CDT | by Holger Stolzenberg 3 Comments

With the trade deadline fast approaching, we will be taking a closer look at the situation for each team. Where do they stand, what do they need to do, and what assets do they have to fill those needs? Next up are the Ottawa Senators.

It certainly hasn’t been the year that the Ottawa Senators imagined after a deep playoff run just a year ago. With a combination of veterans and young talent, including two-time Norris Trophy winner Erik Karlsson, it looked like the team was trending in a positive direction. Very little has gone right as the Senators are struggling in a weak Atlantic Division and while they haven’t been mathematically eliminated from the playoffs, the team has little to no chance. The team’s struggles have suddenly made the team sellers, but what are they willing to move?

Record

17-25-9, 7th in Atlantic Division

Deadline Status

Seller

Deadline Cap Space

$5.8MM – full-season cap hit, 0/3 retained salary transactions, 49/50 contracts per CapFriendly

Draft Picks

2018: OTT 1st (only if it’s a Top-10 pick), OTT 3rd, OTT 4th, OTT 5th, OTT 6th, OTT 7th, NYR 7th
2019: OTT 1st (unless Ottawa kept 2018 pick), OTT 2nd, OTT 4th, OTT 5th, OTT 6th, OTT 7th

Trade Chips

While there have been constant assurances from Ottawa general manager Pierre Dorion that the team will not trade Karlsson, especially before the trade deadline, there remains constant rumors and suggestions that teams might make major offers to pry the team’s captain away as rumors continue to surface that while he loves Ottawa, he doesn’t believe ownership will be able to deliver a winner. The team could get better much faster if they can get a great return on Karlsson.

However, assuming Karlsson stays put, the team has made numerous other players available, the most notable would be winger Mike Hoffman, who the team believes it should also be able to get a good return for. The 28-year-old center still has two more years on his contract after this one and has scored 92 goals over the past four seasons. Throw in the fact that centers are at a premium and the team could benefit greatly from a deal centering around Hoffman.

Five Players To Watch For: W Alexandre Burrows; C Mike Hoffman; D Erik Karlsson; D Johnny Oduya; C Jean-Gabriel Pageau

Team Needs

1) Unloading High-Priced Contracts: If they can find a taker for one of their two most bloated contracts in defenseman Dion Phaneuf or perhaps more importantly forward Bobby Ryan, that could fix a lot of the team’s problems. If the team could free up some cap space, then they can make a competitive offer in a year to extend Karlsson, who is looking to break the bank. However, Phaneuf still has three more years after this one at $7MM per year, while Ryan has four more years at $7.25MM. Neither would be particularly easy to unload without retaining a large chunk of their salaries.

2) Young experienced talent/Picks: While the team has a lot of youth, what the team really needs is to form a nucleus around center Matt Duchene, who they traded for during the season. The team has a lot of young talent, but what they need is young players who have already established themselves somewhat in the league and won’t be a liability early on as they try to transition to the NHL. As for picks, the team traded away their 2018 first-rounder in the Duchene trade, but (fortunately for them) it was top-10 protected which could give the Senators the chance to keep the pick for this year. However, if that’s the case, then the first-rounder will transfer to 2019. Replacing that lost first-rounder should be a key priority for a team that is struggling.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Poll: Who Is The Most Valuable Trade Chip Available?

January 23, 2018 at 5:50 pm CDT | by Gavin Lee 9 Comments

The NHL trade deadline is now just over a month away. On February 26th, teams from around the league will definitively lay forth their plan for the rest of the season. Sellers, will send expiring or aging assets off to contenders while trying to build for the future while buyers will happily snatch up players and give them a taste of the Stanley Cup playoffs.

So, who is the most valuable asset out there?

There is obviously a lot of debate over who really is on the market, so if we’re to answer the question above we’ll have to choose from some sort of list. Luckily Frank Seravalli of TSN maintains such a list on his Trade Bait board, a ranking of the top assets based on skill and availability. Right now that list is headed by Evander Kane, as it seems nearly guaranteed that he’ll be moved to a contender before next month’s deadline. After all, the Sabres haven’t even approached him about a potential contract extension.

It also includes some players who haven’t heard there names in the news much, but seem like logical assets that might be available for the right price. Below we’ve listed the top-10 options from TSN’s board, but feel free to add an option in the comments. If you feel as though Erik Karlsson or John Tavares are truly on the market, vote for the “other” option and make sure you explain why. You can also leave a comment if you don’t think one of the players listed is actually available.

[Mobile users click here to vote!]

Pacific Notes: Calgary Winger Search, Jones, Oilers

January 20, 2018 at 8:30 am CDT | by Brian La Rose Leave a Comment

Although Flames winger Micheal Ferland has emerged as a top-six winger this season, Calgary could still be on the lookout for winger help between now and the trade deadline. In an appearance on Sportsnet 960, Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman suggested (audio link) that Ottawa’s Mike Hoffman is a player that they’re at least keeping tabs on, calling them a team on the periphery. Hoffman would certainly add another offensive threat on the wing but he also has two years remaining on his contract at a cap hit just below $5.2MM. With Calgary needing to re-sign or bring in replacements for several key players in that timeframe (including goalie Mike Smith, center Mikael Backlund, winger Matthew Tkachuk as well as Ferland himself), there’s no guarantee that they’ll want to take on someone signed for a couple more years at this time even if Hoffman would fit in well with what they need.

Elsewhere in the Pacific:

Paul Gackle of the Mercury News notes that Sharks goaltender Martin Jones was seen walking with a noticeable limp on his left leg following Thursday’s loss to Colorado, suggesting that Jones may be playing through an injury. He speculates that the injury could be related to one Jones suffered in late November that caused him to miss a game. At the very least, San Jose can take comfort in the fact that they still have Aaron Dell who can take on a bit more of the workload if need be for the time being but if that’s the case, that will make it even less likely that they’ll look to move Dell, arguably their best trade chip.
The injury to Oilers center Ryan Nugent-Hopkins likely won’t play much of an impact in Edmonton’s trade deadline preparations, Sportsnet’s Mark Spector suggests. While there’s a strong assumption that Nugent-Hopkins will eventually have to be traded with Connor McDavid’s new $12.5MM AAV contract kicking in next season, it’s unlikely that they would have been looking to move him until the summer anyway and the news he’ll miss five-to-six weeks all but cements that.

Ottawa Begins To Prep For Trade Deadline

January 14, 2018 at 2:02 pm CDT | by Holger Stolzenberg Leave a Comment

With the Ottawa Senators on their bye-week, general manager Pierre Dorion is certainly not taking a vacation. The GM must start making decisions about the avenue his club will be taking in the coming weeks as the trade deadline begins to loom closer. After a lackluster start of the season, especially after the team acquired center Matt Duchene from Colorado, the team must decide whether they plan to blow the team up or just make a couple tweaks to their roster.

The Ottawa Citizen’s Bruce Garrioch writes that blowing the team up is unlikely, but writes Dorion has spent quite a bit of time with team scouts to try to figure out what has gone wrong and what the best course of action should be for the franchise. The scribe suggests the team is unlikely to tear down the entire team, but writes that several players are likely heading out of Ottawa by the deadline. While Dorion remains realistic about his team’s playoff chances, the team remains just nine games out of a playoff spot and have had some recent success before the break, so it’s unlikely any deal would be made soon in case the team can turn its fortunes around.

Garrioch believes that forward Mike Hoffman is the most likely candidate to be traded as the interest in him is quite high. Despite his recent chemistry with Duchene, the scribe believes that a top-six winger should get a good return for the team, whether that be in prospects, picks or both. The 28-year-old has had three straight 25+ goal seasons and still has two years remaining after this one on his contract for a $5.19MM AAV. Hoffman currently has 11 goals and 29 points in 42 games. The money the team would save from moving Hoffman could be used to lock up Mark Stone, who the franchise has deemed untouchable along with defenseman Erik Karlsson. Veteran Derick Brassard is also not going anywhere.

Zack Smith’s contract and hard-nosed style has also drawn many calls from other teams, while Garrioch adds that defenseman Johnny Oduya and fourth-liner Alexandre Burrows are veterans and have received some attention as well. The 29-year-old Smith still has three years on his $3.25MM AAV deal, which isn’t too high of a price for a solid center. The 36-year-old Oduya has been solid on the team’s third pairing, but has more than 100 games of playoff experience, while the 36-year-old Burrows has 85 games of playoff experience as well. Garrioch does suggest that while youngster Jean-Gabriel Pageau is a trade candidate, it’s unlikely that he will be traded as he’s still a quality young player.

Blues Notes: Allen, Kostin, Prospects

January 13, 2018 at 2:22 pm CDT | by Holger Stolzenberg 6 Comments

While many in St. Louis look at the St. Louis goaltending situation and immediately wonder why backup Carter Hutton isn’t getting even more time in the net while starter Jake Allen is struggling, The Athletic’s Jeremy Rutherford (subscription required) writes that there is no reason to consider moving Allen or even suggesting that Hutton is the answer in net for St. Louis.

In a mailbag, Rutherford covers multiple topics, but is quick to point out that the team could consider moving Allen for a valuable winger to add to the team’s offense, but that would only create other problems next season. While there might be some merit to adding a top-six winger such as Ottawa’s Mike Hoffman for Allen, Hutton has not proven he can be a starting goaltender, nor has he proven he should be a tandem goaltender just yet. Sure, the 32-year-old Hutton is having a great season as he has a 1.84 GAA and an impressive .940 save percentage in 16 appearances, but can he continue to play at that level with an increased role? On top of that, Hutton will be an unrestricted free agent next season, meaning the Blues would either have to lock Hutton up the moment they trade Allen or they could spend less than half a season to observe Hutton, but take a chance they might get outbid for his services. And what if Hutton’s not the guy? The team would be out a netminder next season.

Rutherford also argues that the 27-year-old Allen has been quite successful in his career for St. Louis. While he currently has weak numbers this year with a 2.75 GAA and a .908 save percentage, he still boasts a career 108-60-14 career record. While his save percentage numbers have historically dropped as the season wears on, Allen has always been solid in the playoffs, boasting a .922 career save percentage and even had a .935 save percentage in the playoffs last year. Giving up on him is probably not the way to go.

Among many topics he weighs in on, Rutherford also notes that it is highly unlikely that general manager Doug Armstrong promised prospect Klim Kostin an opportunity to get called up if he performed well at the World Junior Championships, like Kostin claims. He doubts Armstrong would make a promise like that to anyone and considering that Kostin has no points in his last three games since returning from the WJC and he has two points in his last 12 games with the San Antonio Rampage of the AHL, it would seem even more unlikely that Kostin will get recalled soon. Kostin has even found himself on the Rampage’s fourth line lately, suggesting he’s still struggling to adjust to the North American game.
While Rutherford admits that the team is looking for wing help, he writes that it’s unlikely the team would move one of their four top prospects, Jordan Kyrou, Robert Thomas, Tage Thompson or Kostin to make that happen. One reason would be that if the team wanted to make a pitch for Hoffman or Montreal’s Max Pacioretty, they would also have to unload salary to make the deal work. Moving a top prospect and salaried players such as defenseman Carl Gunnarsson, plus another player would be too much. However, the scribe notes that if the right deal came along, the team could move one of them as they’d still have three top prospects remaining in their system.

Morning Notes: Maple Leafs, Hoffman, Lockwood

January 12, 2018 at 11:08 am CDT | by Gavin Lee Leave a Comment

The Toronto Maple Leafs are in their bye week after a pair of one-goal losses, and though the points totals say they’re tied with the Boston Bruins for second in the Atlantic Division, they actually trail behind. That’s because Toronto has played five more games than the Bruins, who are tied for the fewest GP so far in the league. As the Maple Leafs rest up from a grueling first half, GM Lou Lamoriello spoke with Terry Koshan of the Toronto Sun and discussed a potential deadline trade:

I certainly like our roster. I think it’s solid. We’ll have to wait and see what is transpiring, but you’re never good enough.

To do something for the sake of doing something is never a good thing. You don’t even want to use the word ‘substantial.’ Sometimes the smallest things become the biggest.

Lamoriello has maintained his position all along that he’ll only make a trade to improve the club if something presents itself, and isn’t out there knocking down doors to improve the Maple Leafs defense corps. While it does sound like there may be some minor tweaks out of Toronto as we head closer to the deadline, a major move might not be in the cards.

Lamoriello’s contemporary from Ottawa however could be barking up a very different tree. Darren Dreger joined TSN 1200 radio yesterday to discuss several Senators topics, including the potential trade of Mike Hoffman. Dreger reported that the market is strong for Hoffman, mentioning teams like St. Louis, Edmonton and Calgary as potential destinations. Hoffman has 29 points on the season but has recently found quite a bit of chemistry with Matt Duchene. Whether that duo is broken up is still to be seen, but the Senators will likely try to wait as long as possible to make a decision.
Unfortunately, for another Canadian team, it’s surgery for one of their top prospects. Vancouver Canucks prospect Will Lockwood, who injured his shoulder in the World Juniors for Team USA, is set to have surgery according to Rick Dhaliwal of NEWS 1130. Utica Comets GM Ryan Johnson told Dhaliwal that Lockwood would have the surgery in two weeks, and be out around six months. That’s a tough break for the University of Michigan, where Lockwood was having another strong season. He’ll have to make a decision on whether or not to turn pro after the season is over.

Morning Notes: Trade Bait, Golden Knights, Hurricanes

January 11, 2018 at 10:30 am CDT | by Gavin Lee 2 Comments

TSN’s Frank Seravalli released his updated “trade bait” board, and the name at the top once again is Buffalo’s Evander Kane. Kane was recently involved in a minor altercation at Sabres practice, and has a reported price tag of a first-round pick, prospect and conditional draft pick based on him re-signing with the acquiring team. Though Kane’s deal seems inevitable at this point, several other names on the list are interesting.

Ottawa’s Mike Hoffman appears fourth on the list, and fellow TSN insider Bob McKenzie believes a deal of the scoring forward is “more likely than not” at this point. Seravalli maintains that even though the Vegas Golden Knights are winning, James Neal remains a possible trade candidate, while Patrick Maroon seems like an easy rental piece after the Edmonton Oilers’ struggles this year.

The US Army has filed a notice of opposition against the Golden Knights trademark, according to Chris Creamer of Sportslogos.net. Creamer has been all over this story since the beginning, noting that both the Army and the College of Saint Rose who each use the Golden Knights name, had filed extensions when the first trademark opposition deadline came about. Alex Prewitt of Sports Illustrated gives us the Vegas hockey team’s response, in which they “strongly dispute” the idea that there is any confusion between the army parachute team and the NHL club.
The sale of a majority stake in the Carolina Hurricanes to new owner Thomas Dundon will close today according to Luke DeCock and Chip Alexander of the Raleigh News & Observer. Dundon will be purchasing just over 51% of the club, with an option to buy the rest after three years from now-minority owner Peter Karmanos. While it’s not clear how exactly the deal will impact the team on the ice, it should provide some extra stability to the executive level.

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