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Nikita Kucherov

Atlantic Notes: Larkin, Lightning, Moore

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The Detroit Red Wings have two options in regards to signing restricted free agent Dylan Larkin this summer. The team could go short-term or long-term. With a solid, but hardly spectacular season, the Red Wings might want to wait and see how the 21-year-old develops over the next year or two and hand out short contracts to see if he’s worth the money. That makes sense considering the team is capped out with so many long-term deals having been handed out to veterans over the past few years.

However, NBC Sports’ James O’Brien writes that the team needs to look at the long-term option instead and lock up Larkin as quick as possible as he compares Larkin’s situation to that of Leon Draisaitl of the Edmonton Oilers, who signed an eight-year, $68MM deal a year ago, which is starting to look like a bargain after the many signings since then.

Larkin, who has shown that he’s one of the few answers in Detroit still hasn’t broken out with the Red Wings. While his rookie campaign showed plenty of promise with 23 goals, he’s failed to duplicate that number since. However, while he did just tally 16 goals a season ago, his 47 assists was a career-high along with his 63 points, suggesting he might be due for a breakout season. Signing Larkin to a long-term deal now while his value isn’t through the roof might be better than waiting another two years when they will be forced to shell out top dollar in the future with the cap constantly increasing.

  • While it’s already been reported that the eight-year, $76MM extension that Nikita Kucherov signed will not take the Tampa Bay Lightning out of a potential Erik Karlsson trade, the team will have to make some moves if it does pull the trigger on a trade as the team has less than $3MM in cap space for this coming year. Brandon Schlager of the Sporting News writes that the most obvious candidates that would have to be moved would be forwards Ryan Callahan ($5.8MM AAV for two more years), Tyler Johnson ($5MM for six more years), Alex Killorn ($4.45MM for five more years) and defenseman Braydon Coburn ($3.7MM for one year).
  • Kevin Paul Dupont of the Boston Globe attempts to break down what the Boston Bruins defense will look like next season as well as what the team should expect out of their top free agent target, John Moore. The scribe writes that general manager Don Sweeney hasn’t struck gold yet with his long-term free agent deals, pointing to the contracts handed out to Matt Beleskey and David Backes. Beleskey was an outright failure, while Backes has been average, at best. Moore is just 27 years old and will be playing already for his fifth team, which isn’t a good sign. What the team’s plans are for his usage is also unknown as if the team intends to put him on the team’s second-line defensive pairings, then the team would force either Torey Krug or Brandon Carlo to the third-line pairing, which doesn’t make sense either unless the team intends to move Krug. However, there is still no proof that Moore is good enough to be a top-four player.

Nikita Kucherov Signs Eight-Year Extension

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The Tampa Bay Lightning continue to lock up their stars, this time inking Nikita Kucherov to an eight-year extension. The deal was announced by Kucherov’s agent Dan Milstein of Gold Star Hockey on Twitter. The team then officially released the signing, announcing that the deal comes with an average annual value of $9.5MM. Stephen Whyno of the Associated Press has the full breakdown:

  • 2019-20: $1.0MM salary + $11.0MM signing bonus
  • 2020-21: $4.0MM salary + $5.0MM signing bonus
  • 2021-22: $3.5MM salary + $8.5MM signing bonus
  • 2022-23: $4.0MM salary + $5.0MM signing bonus
  • 2023-24: $5.0MM salary + $5.0MM signing bonus
  • 2024-25: $5.0MM salary + $4.0MM signing bonus
  • 2025-26: $5.0MM salary + $3.0MM signing bonus
  • 2026-27: $4.0MM salary + $3.0MM signing bonus

Kucherov, 25, is heading into the final year of his current contract and was scheduled to become a restricted free agent for the final time next summer. Instead, he’ll stay with the Lightning at a price that lets the team retain the rest of their core. Though $9.5MM will make Kucherov the highest-paid player on the Tampa Bay roster, it doesn’t cripple their ability to add more talent going forward. In fact, Chris Johnston of Sportsnet and Joe Smith of The Athletic both tweet that a Kucherov extension does not take the team out of the running for Erik Karlsson who is expected to sign a massive long-term extension with whichever team acquires him from the Ottawa Senators. The Lightning would need to move money out, but the team always expected to sign Kucherov to an expensive extension.

In fact, Tampa Bay looks like they’re in fine shape even with their newest extension. The team currently projects to have around $14MM in cap space next summer without factoring in any increase in the ceiling, and have only Brayden Point left as a key restricted free agent. Several names on the blue line will be expiring, but with the new deal for Ryan McDonagh the team has solidified their blue line without even addressing the Karlsson situation. In the 2020 offseason, when Andrei Vasilevskiy and Mikhail Sergachev will be looking for big raises, Ryan Callahan’s $5.8MM contract will be coming off the books—provided it hasn’t already been traded away.

While handing out long-term extensions like this does put quite a bit of risk on the team’s shoulders, Kucherov is worth every ounce. The Russian winger has gotten off to a Hall of Fame-level start to his NHL career, scoring 334 points in 365 games including cracking 100 (exactly) in the 2017-18 season. An exceptional goal scorer and exquisite passer, Kucherov can create offense by himself or pair with Steven Stamkos as one of the most dynamic duos in the league. Not only does he have the ability to lead the league in scoring at any time, but he’s also received Selke votes twice as one of the league’s best defensive forwards. That’s not his calling card, but Kucherov is capable in nearly every facet of the game.

Kucherov only just turned 25 last month, meaning he’ll finish this extension at age-33. Even as he enters the middle of the deal and no longer provides excess value, the Lightning have players to pick up the slack. Despite trading two top prospects away for McDonagh at the deadline and not selecting in this year’s first round, Tampa Bay still has plenty of young names that will be graduating to the NHL in the coming seasons. Those players will become key if the Lightning and GM Steve Yzerman pursue Karlsson or any other big tickets, as they’ll have to move out some salary to make everyone fit. Fortunately for the club, other than Callahan there are few undesirable deals on the books for the Lightning. J.T. Miller, Tyler Johnson, Ondrej Palat and Alex Killorn all have their warts, but would likely all have suitors on the trade market if made available. That flexibility allows Yzerman to go after even bigger names, while retaining his homegrown stars for the prime of their careers.

Photo courtesy of USA today Sports Images

Ryan McDonagh Signs Seven-Year Extension With Tampa Bay Lightning

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The Tampa Bay Lightning have done it again, extending one of their players for a reasonable cap hit. This time it is Ryan McDonagh, who has signed a seven-year extension that carries an average annual value of $6.75MM. The deal will kick in for the 2019-20 season, after the final year of his current contract.

The move allows Tampa Bay to keep their new defensive core. The team acquired McDonagh in a giant trade from the New York Rangers right at the trade deadline this year. The Rangers traded McDonagh, a dominant top-four shutdown defenseman along with J.T. Miller (who already signed an extension) for Vladislav Namestnikov, prospects Brett Howden and Libor Hajek, a 2018 first-round pick and a conditional second-round pick in 2019. While he was coming off an injury when he was traded, he came exactly as advertised, leading the defense’s second unit, while Victor Hedman manned the first.

The seven-year deal should run until McDonagh reaches 36 years of age. However, to get the veteraen defenseman at $6.75MM is a reasonable cost and much lower than some of the other defenseman who have recently signed such as Drew Doughty and Oliver Ekman-Larsson. McDonagh, who is solid two-way defenseman, didn’t post his best offensive numbers between both teams as he combined for four goals and 29 points, but a healthy full season in Tampa Bay should get him back to his regular numbers.

Tampa Bay still has to lock up superstar Nikita Kucherov, who is in the final year of his contract, although he will only become a restricted free agent next season if he gets there, although the general belief is that the Lightning fully expect to sign him to an extension in the next few months.

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.

Nikita Kucherov Not Likely To Get Extension Immediately

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The Tampa Bay Lightning’s season is over and now the team must shift its focus for next season. And while the Lightning have a t0-do list for the upcoming season, don’t expect Nikita Kucherov’s extension to be among the top priorities for the team, writes The Athletic’s Joe Smith (subscription required).

Kucherov is in the last year of the bridge deal he signed in 2016 as a restricted free agent and will receive $4.77MM next year before reaching restricted free agency once again. The difference in the next negotiations is that the 24-year-old forward will have arbitration rights, giving him the leverage to potentially double his salary. An arbitrator could very likely side with a player who just put up 39 goals and tallied 100 points this season and reached the all-star game for the second time in his career.

However, Kucherov’s agent Dan Milstein says there haven’t been any talks of a new extension and he doesn’t expect any to start until after the 2018-19 season starts. After all, Kucherov isn’t going anywhere. Even with arbitration rights, Kucherov will be staying in Tampa Bay, but the Lightning will spend as much time as it can evaluating the play of Kucherov.

“He wants to stay in Tampa — he doesn’t want to go anywhere,” Milstein told The Athletic. “Worst-case, it’s arbitration, they’re not going to lose him. Both sides want him to be in Tampa.”

One possible reason is the way Kucherov struggled in the playoffs, especially in the final series before the Lightning were eliminated by the Washington Capitals in the Eastern Conference Finals. The lack of scoring from Kucherov and linemate Steven Stamkos were a major issue. While he put up solid 2018 playoff numbers (17 points in 17 games), most of those offensive numbers came in their first-round series against the New Jersey Devils as he scored five goals and five assists in five games. However, from that point on Kucherov struggled, managing just two goals in the next 12 games. He also admitted that he was not dealing with an injury in the playoffs.

“Definitely you want to score goals,” Kucherov said. “Sometimes, it just doesn’t happen, doesn’t go your way.”

Perhaps the lack of an extension will be a motivating factor for Kucherov. He is expected to take a 10-day trip to Russia (half the length of last year) before returning to Tampa Bay to begin training for next season.

Atlantic Notes: Kucherov, Stralman, Red Wings Draft

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While July 1st is known for the opening of free agency, it’s also the first day that players with one year remaining on their contracts can sign contract extensions.  That will be the case for Lightning forward Nikita Kucherov, who has vastly outperformed his current deal, one that carries a cap hit of $4.767MM.  In an interview with Sportsnet 650 (audio link), Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman suggests Tampa may be in for quite the battle to get a new deal done:

“But Kucherov made it pretty clear the last time that they used the full weight of the CBA on him, and next time he’s going to use the full weight of the CBA on them.“

The last time the 24-year-old was in need of a new deal, he had no arbitration rights and the team was tight to the salary cap.  That won’t be the case next time around – not only will he be able to go to arbitration, he could conceivably force a one-year deal and get to unrestricted free agency.  With Kucherov hitting the 100-point mark plus the expected increase in the Upper Limit, the Lightning may very well have to go past the $8.5MM AAV they gave Steven Stamkos to get an early extension done.

Elsewhere in the Atlantic:

  • Also with the Lightning, defenseman Anton Stralman will not face any disciplinary action for his retaliatory hit on Washington winger Tom Wilson on Tuesday night, reports Isabelle Khurshudyan of the Washington Post. The rationale for the decision stems from Wilson being judged to having turned his back after seeing Stralman approaching and Stralman’s angle which was deemed to target the shoulder.
  • The Red Wings will head into next month’s Entry Draft with a clear need to get younger on the back end. Not surprisingly, GM Ken Holland acknowledged to Ted Kulfan of The Detroit News that they will likely be drafting multiple defensemen in the early stages.  Detroit will be active in the first half of the draft with a total of seven selections in the first three rounds.

Poll: Which Conference Finals Team Benefitted The Most At Trade Deadline?

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With a lot of attention that has gone towards the success of trade acquisition Paul Stastny in the playoffs this season, the Winnipeg Jets and general manager Kevin Cheveldayoff look to have scored at the trade deadline this offseason. The GM was able to pick up Stastny’s expiring contract (50 percent of which was retained) as the team traded away Providence College prospect Erik Foley as well as their 2018 first-rounder and a conditional 2020 fourth-rounder (if Foley doesn’t sign with the Blues before he can become an unrestricted free agent in 2019). While losing a prospect and a first-rounder, the Jets have defintely benefitted by Stastny’s play, especially in the playoffs. The 32-year-old center, alongside youngsters Nikolaj Ehlers and Patrik Laine has put up six goals and nine assists in 13 games during the playoffs and has helped vault Winnipeg into a one-game lead in the Western Conference finals.

Of the other three teams that remain in the playoffs, the trade deadline also seems to have benefitted the Tampa Bay Lightning. Their acquisition of defenseman Ryan McDonagh and forward J.T. Miller from the New York Rangers at the deadline also brought some stability to the Lightning from both players. McDonagh added a stable presence on the defense’s second line, while Miller has excelled playing next to Steven Stamkos and Nikita Kucherov. McDonagh has aided the team’s offense with five assists in 11 games, while Miller has had two goals and five asissts in 11 games as well. In exchange for those two, the Lightning were able to avoid trading off any elite prospects to the Rangers, but still gave up a lot of pieces, including Vladislav Namestnikov, prospects Brett Howden and Libor Hajek, their 2018 first-rounder and another potential first-round pick in 2019 if Tampa Bay wins the Stanley Cup in either of the next two years.

The Washington Capitals, with little cap room to work with at the trade deadline, still were able to pull off a couple of small trades, although the addition of Michal Kempny has had a major affect on the Capitals’ defense. With a number of young, inexperienced blueliners and little money to add a high-profile player, the team traded the Toronto Maple Leafs’ third-round pick in 2018 for Kempny. While the former Blackhawks’ defenseman had never played a full season in the NHL, he is 27 and had quite a bit of experience in the KHL and Czech Republic.

Finally, the Golden Knights did make one big trade at the deadline, sending a 2018 first-round pick, a 2019 second-round pick and a 2021 third-round pick to acquire Tomas Tatar. While the addition of Tatar is not a rental like many of the others (he has three years left at $5.3MM AAV after this year), the team gave up a lot for a player who has made little impact in Vegas. The 27-year-old has been a healthy scratch for much of the playoffs, having only played in four games with no points.

So, which team has benefiited the most from this year’s trade deadline?

What conference finals team made the best trade deadline move?
Winnipeg Jets (Paul Stastny) 56.64% (405 votes)
Tampa Bay Lightning (Ryan McDonagh & J.T. Miller) 31.61% (226 votes)
Washington Capitals (Michal Kempny) 9.09% (65 votes)
Vegas Golden Knights (Tomas Tatar) 2.66% (19 votes)
Total Votes: 715

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Poll: Who Will Win The Eastern Conference Finals?

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In just over an hour, the Eastern Conference Finals will get underway between the Washington Capitals and Tampa Bay Lightning. This may have been deemed an improbable matchup last summer, after the Lightning had missed the playoffs entirely and Washington had bowed out at the hands of the Pittsburgh Penguins once again.

But this year is different, as the Lightning overcame their injury woes to lead the Eastern Conference in the regular season, while the Capitals slayed the demon that was the Penguins in the second round. Now Steven Stamkos, Nikita Kucherov, Alex Ovechkin and Evgeny Kuznetsov will try to take the next step on the way to their first Stanley Cup.

Just before the playoffs started, we polled or readers and asked who would represent the East in the Stanley Cup Finals. The top two vote-getting teams have already been eliminated, as the Penguins and Boston Bruins came in with 29 and 22 percent of the vote. The Lightning naturally were next, while the Capitals had just 84 people who believed they could go all the way.

Has your vote changed? Is this the year that Ovechkin finally shows that he can carry a team all the way to a Stanley Cup victory? Is the Tampa Bay depth too relentless to overcome? Who will come out of the Eastern Conference? Vote below, and make sure to explain your decision in the comments.

Who will win the Eastern Conference finals?
Tampa Bay Lightning (in 6) 37.28% (189 votes)
Washington Capitals (in 6) 26.23% (133 votes)
Washington Capitals (in 7) 11.05% (56 votes)
Tampa Bay Lightning (in 7) 10.85% (55 votes)
Tampa Bay Lightning (in 5) 8.68% (44 votes)
Washington Capitals (in 5) 4.14% (21 votes)
Washington Capitals (in 4) 1.18% (6 votes)
Tampa Bay Lightning (in 4) 0.59% (3 votes)
Total Votes: 507

[Mobile users click here to vote!]

NHL Announces Hart Trophy Candidates

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Who is the most valuable player in the NHL? In 2018, it will be one three forwards who finished in the top seven in scoring. However, it won’t be any of the names at #1-#4. Instead, the league announced that the finalists for the Hart Trophy are the Colorado Avalanche’s Nathan MacKinnon, the New Jersey Devils’ Taylor Hall, and the Los Angeles Kings’ Anze Kopitar, who finished fifth through seventh in points this season, respectively.

The three nominees, as voted on by the Professional Hockey Writers’ Association, will come as no surprise. All three were considered top candidates for the award this season after outstanding campaigns. MacKinnon and Hall each notched 39 goals en route to leading their teams back from the basement of the league last season to unlikely playoff berths. MacKinnon’s 97 points in 74 games was second only to Connor McDavid in per-game production among full-season players, while Hall’s 93 points – 41 more than the next-best player in New Jersey – was the largest proportion of team points in the league. Meanwhile in L.A., Kopitar bounced back from a down 2016-17 season personally with 92 points, while also playing Selke-caliber defense.

As always, there were deserving candidates who did not get the nod as a Hart finalist. McDavid obviously stands out as the reigning MVP and the league’s top scorer at 108 points. However, the struggles of McDavid’s Edmonton Oilers made it unlikely he would get a second consecutive shot at the award. The other top-four scorers – the Philadelphia Flyers’ Claude Giroux, the Tampa Bay Lightning’s Nikita Kucherov, and the Pittsburgh Penguins’ Evgeni Malkin – did not share those same struggles, but their Hart resumes weren’t helped by the other talented players on their teams, such as top-15 scorers Jakub Voracek, Steven Stamkos, Phil Kessel, and Sidney Crosby. Other snubs include Rocket Richard winner Alexander Ovechkin of the Washington Capitals, NHL assists leader and the captain of the upstart Winnipeg Jets, Blake Wheeler, and a player who may have pushed McDavid for the scoring title if not for injuries and suspensions, the Boston Bruins’ Brad Marchand. However, it is hard to argue that the three finalists picked by the PHWA are not the three most deserving players to be up for the Hart this season. The winner of hockey’s MVP award will be revealed at the NHL Awards on June 20th.

Snapshots: Three Stars, Keller, Makar, Boeser

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The NHL announced its three stars for the month of March as Edmonton Oilers’ Connor McDavid has found his way to the top once again, named the first star. McDavid picked up 13 goals and 15 assists in 16 games, which pulls him into the lead for the Art Ross Trophy race. Despite the Oilers struggles, McDavid has taken his game to a new level as he has hit career highs in goals (41) and points (103) and remains six points ahead of Tampa Bay’s Nikita Kucherov for top spot in the NHL.

Boston Bruins forward Brad Marchand is the league’s second star for March as he had 10 goals and 16 assists in 15 games. Anaheim goaltender John Gibson picked up third star honors after playing in 13 games, picking up nine wins and boasting a .931 save percentage during that span.

  • Arizona Coyotes announced rookie Clayton Keller was named NHL Rookie of the Month for the second time this season. Keller, who won the award in October, had a strong start to the season, but struggled during the winter months before picking it back up recently. He picked up 19 points in the month of March, including six goals over 17 games. The 19-year-old is ranked second among rookies in points with 63 behind the New York Islanders’ Mathew Barzal.
  • BSN Denver’s Adrian Dater tweets that the Colorado Avalanche will have to wait a little while longer to get bring in 2017 first-round pick Cale Makar into the fold. The fourth-overall pick has decided to return to the University of Massachusetts – Amherst for his sophomore year.  An elite power-play defenseman, Makar had a solid freshman year at Amherst, putting up five goals and 21 points and the Avalanche had hopes of instantly upgrading its defense for next year.
  • Sportsnet’s Rick Dhaliwal tweets that it is doubtful that Vancouver Canucks rookie Brock Boeser plays for Team USA at this year’s 2018 IIHF World Championships in Denmark. Boeser went down for the season with a back injury and likely will spend his summer getting ready for the 2018-19 season. The 21-year-old had a great rookie season in which he scored 29 goals and picked up 55 points.

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