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Pavel Datsyuk

Free Agent Focus: Carolina Hurricanes

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After a season which many fans and front office types would consider a success, the youthful Carolina Hurricanes came closer to a playoff spot than many believed they would. With a blue line that was built for today’s NHL, the ’Canes were quick and resilient, leading to 86 points and many encouraging signs.

The team even pulled the trigger on what was once considered an unthinkable trade, dealing long-time captain and face of the franchise Eric Staal to the New York Rangers months before he became an unrestricted free agent.  The return of that deal – two second round draft picks – has already been used to acquire another good young player, taking Teuvo Teravainen off the Blackhawks’ hands in return for paying Bryan Bickell this season.

The Hurricanes are a cap-floor team, meaning they will not spend the entire $71 million allowed this season.  They are, however poised for another season of growth, with Justin Faulk and Noah Hanifin leading from the back end.

Key Restricted Free Agent: C Victor Rask – Among the talented young forward group, Victor Rask stands out. His rise from second round pick to twenty-goal man has come quicker than many expected, eclipsing the mark in just his second NHL season. After what was an excellent rookie year (33 points), Rask proved he could skate with the big boys in 2015-16, racking up 48 points and tying $6MM dollar man Jordan Staal for second on the team.

While his possession numbers dipped playing against stronger competition, Rask is still only 23 and finding his footing among his NHL peers. Grouped with Jeff Skinner, Elias Lindholm and now Teravainen, he could be part of an excellent core going forward for the ’Canes.

Expect him to get something similar to the two-year, $5.4MM extension Lindholm received last summer. While Rask has slightly better production than Lindholm had at the time, he trails a bit in the pedigree department – Lindholm was drafted fifth overall in 2013 and broke in as a 19-year old.

Other RFAs: LW Brendan Woods, D Michal Jordan, D Ryan Murphy

Key Unrestricted Free Agent: F Riley Nash – Just a few days ago the ’Canes key UFA would have been long-time goaltender Cam Ward, but after re-signing him to a two-year $6.6MM deal, they have almost no one of importance headed out on the market.

Nash represents the best of the group, and after another underwhelming but effective season as a bottom six forward should get plenty of interest on the market. Nash will never be an offensive dynamo, but plays a smart possession game against some tough opponents. While it might be a bit disappointing given his first-round pick status, he’ll play for a long time in the NHL with this style.

He’s coming off a year in which he earned $1.15MM and chipped in with 22 points, seeing his ice-time drop off with the emergence of the other young forwards.  If Carolina doesn’t bring him back, look for him to get another deal around the league for somewhere under $2MM per season.

Other UFAs: F Nathan Gerbe, F Ryan Malone, W Chris Terry

Projected Cap Space: $22.5MM, 19 players under contract.

As stated above, Carolina won’t be spending up to the cap and are focused on the slow burn of rebuilding. That being said, they did have a cap hit of $61 million last season, and could have some money to spend this year.  After seeing Staal and his big contract shipped out, it would be surprising to see him back, but if they have concerns about James Wisniewski’s surgically repaired knee, they might go after one of the younger defensemen on the market.

Also watch for them to eat salary in return for assets like they did with Bickell, including being a destination for the $7.5MM cap-hit of Pavel Datsyuk after his retirement from the NHL.

“Huge Loss”: Red Wings GM Discusses Datsyuk’s Retirement

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Red Wings GM Ken Holland spoke with the media Saturday, hours after Pavel Datsyuk announced his retirement from the NHL.

In an interview broadcast on Detroit’s 97.1 The Ticket, Holland revealed details about the two sides contract negotiations in 2013, when Datsyuk signed the current 3-year contract. According to Holland, Datsyuk’s camp asked for a 5-year extension, which would have kept him under contract until 2019. The Red Wings GM countered with a 3-year term, which was accepted.

“He’s our best player. If I countered with a 1-year deal, he’s playing with another team.”

Early in the first season of this contract, 2014-15 season, Holland says he was approached by Datsyuk in his office about returning to Russia after that season for “the reasons you heard today”. Datsyuk “didn’t know the rules” about how an early retirement would affect the Red Wings, according to Holland.

The Red Wings did “everything [they] could to keep him here this year”, including a meeting with the team’s owners, Mike and Marian Ilitch. After understanding how leaving would affect the organization, Datsyuk agreed to stay for at least the 2015-16 season. Holland hoped he would stay for 2016-17 as well, but accepted that he might have to deal with him leaving before then.

Holland “doesn’t feel burned” by Datsyuk’s decision, saying “Pav was concerned about the Detroit Red Wings” and calling him “real honourable”.

“His heart isn’t here anymore.”

Because Datsyuk will likely play in the KHL next season, he wanted the Red Wings’ blessing to leave.

Holland said he’s “not overly optimistic” about moving Datsyuk’s contract, based on what the small group of teams with interest are asking for in return. The team isn’t worried about the potential cost, however. Holland compared it to buying a car or house: “if you can’t afford it, you can’t afford it.”

The Red Wings won’t trade young prospects like Anthony Mantha in order to move the contract, according to Ansar Khan of MLive.com.

Whether or not they move Datsyuk’s contract, Holland said the Red Wings will look younger next year. That’s in no small part due to the inexpensive nature of entry-level contracts.

Holland’s intent would be to move the contract for a conditional draft pick before the opening of free agency July 1, saying it wouldn’t make sense to do anything after the free agent market is over.

 

Datsyuk Announces Retirement From NHL

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As expected from yesterday’s news, Detroit Red Wings center Pavel Datsyuk officially announced his retirement from the NHL today at a press conference in suburban Detroit. During the brief press conference, Pierre LeBrun tweeted that Datsyuk made the decision because of his family. Yahoo’s Nick Cotsonika tweets that Datsyuk will play in the KHL next season. Red Wings beat writer Ansar Khan tweets that the Wings will be making a statement at 2pm EST at the Joe Louis Arena.

The 38-year-old has been rumored for some time to walk away from the NHL. In April, an interview with Detroit Free Press writer Mitch Albom shed light on Datsyuk wanting to spend more time with his daughter in Russia. As written about at length by many analysts, the $7.5MM cap hit remains for the Red Wings due to Datsyuk extending his contract at the age of 35. Though the AAV was $7.5MM, Datsyuk benefitted from a front loaded contract where he made $10.5MM in 2014-2015, $7MM in 2015-2016, and was slated to make $5.5MM in 2016-2017. Datsyuk’s agent Dan Milstein pointed out, however, that Datsyuk only made $15MM in the first two years of his contract because he declined a $2MM bonus this past February. Milstein also indicated that the Red Wings would have no problem trading the contract away.

Regardless, Datsyuk’s decision puts the Red Wings in a lurch heading into the 2016-2017 season. Even if the Red Wings successfully move the contract, it will most likely include a high draft pick or prospects. Forwards Tomas Jurco and Teemu Pulkkinen were two names floated as potential trade bait. Should the Red Wings opt to take the hit, it will most certainly restrict them from trying to land any potential free agents. The Wings have been linked with Alexander Radulov, and more recently, Steven Stamkos, should he hit the market.

 

Free Agent Focus: Detroit Red Wings

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The 2015-2016 Detroit Red Wings were a team in transition. Jeff Blashill took over a team that on paper, looked ready to build on their performance from 2014-2015 where they nearly upset eventual Eastern Conference Champion Tampa Bay. Instead, the Red Wings were an inconsistent bunch, struggling mightily on the power play, especially in the playoffs, and searching for an identity between their storied past, and their dynamic future, which includes budding superstar Dylan Larkin. The Red Wings were bounced in five games by the Lightning in the first round, and general manager Ken Holland found himself facing a restless fanbase and crucial offseason.

Cap Space: $11,073,789 according to CapFriendly. This number will change if Pavel Datsyuk’s contract is moved to another team. Additionally, the Red Wings are looking at a number of trades to free up room. 

Key UFAs: Darren Helm. The 29-year-old center has been with the Red Wings for his entire career, first making an impact during the Wings 2008 Stanley Cup run. Helm has blazing speed and is a huge factor on the penalty kill. After having a career year in 2014-2015,  Helm posted numbers a bit below with 26 points. (13-13). The Red Wings expected Helm to show a consistency in scoring, but the lack of a scoring touch has been missing from Helm’s game, especially on breakaways. Helm has already been offered a contract, but with the emergence of speedster Andreas Athanasiou and Larkin, Helm’s loss wouldn’t be devastating should they not come to terms.

Other UFAs Forwards Brad Richards, Drew Miller, and Joakim Andersson. Defenseman Kyle Quincey.

Key RFAs: D Danny DeKeyser, and G Petr Mrazek.  DeKeyser was expected to be a top 4 defenseman in Detroit and might be paid as such. With Niklas Kronwall aging, and the core of Detroit’s defense disappointing, DeKeyser is seen as a steady presence who can log more minutes. Mrazek is a completely different case. With over $5.2MM invested in Jimmy Howard, Mrazek is widely seen as the #1 goalie in Detroit and will be compensated as such. The Red Wings have already started shopping Howard to free up money for Mrazek. The 23-year-old Czech was stellar between the pipes, and is seen as the caliber of a goalie who can steal games. In the regular season, Mrazek won 27 games and had a .921 save percentage.

Other RFAs: F Teemu Pulkkinen, D Alexey Marchenko.

For several seasons now, Ken Holland has swung and missed with trades and free agency. The Red Wings are no longer the dominant team they once were, and are clearly in transition with young players like Athanasiou, Larkin, and Anthony Mantha looking to take over. Holland vowed to make changes. His first order of business will be determining what to do with Datsyuk’s contract.  After that, the pressure is on Holland to reshape the roster into one that will bring the Red Wings back to dominance.

Pavel Datsyuk Not Returning To Detroit

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Accoring to former NHLer Aaron Ward, and confirmed by TSN’s Darren Dreger, Pavel Datsyuk will hold a press conference tomorrow to announce he will not return to the Detroit Red Wings.  Detroit will now look to move his contract to another team, in order to get out from under the $7.5MM cap-hit his contract will incur due to being signed after his 35th birthday.

Datsyuk has long been considering heading back to his home in Russia to play out his final hockey years in the KHL and be closer to family. The 37-year old has scored 314 goals and 918 points in his surely hall-of-fame career, winning two Stanley Cups along the way.  He was awarded the Lady Byng Memorial Trophy for sportsmanship four times, while collecting the Frank J. Selke, awarded to the league’s top defensive forward, three times.

Datsyuk’s departure will leave a hole not easily filled in the Detroit lineup, as even at his advanced age his presence on the ice was important.  He scored 49 points this season, a down one by his standards, but still logged over 19 minutes a night playing against the oppositions top lines.  Centres like Riley Sheahan, who recently re-signed for two seasons, and Dylan Larkin will now be relied on more heavily on game nights. Henrik Zetterberg, the last bastion of a past era of Detroit excellence will continue to lead the team, now without his longtime partner in crime.

If the Red Wings can move Datsyuk’s contract, it will give them some much needed cap relief, as the team currently sits at just over $60MM in salary for only 16 players, with notable restricted free agents Petr Mrazek and Danny DeKeyser still to sign.

Around The League: Coaching Vacancies, Goalies, Hertl, Datsyuk, Maatta

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As we sit less than two weeks before the 2016 NHL Entry Draft, there are two head coaching vacancies that still need to be filled, Anaheim and Calgary.  Elliotte Friedman’s latest 30 Thoughts column expanded on some of the likely candidates for each team.  For the Ducks, Rick Bowness, former Anaheim coach Randy Carlyle, and Travis Green are under consideration while for the Flames, Glen Gulutzan and Mike Yeo have come up.  Teams generally like to head their head coaches determined before the draft so it’s expected that these vacancies will be filled in the near future.

Elsewhere around the league:

  • Bruce Garrioch discussed the potentially intriguing trade market for goaltenders in his latest Sunday column. He highlights a trio of goalies that could be of interest this offseason, Anaheim’s Frederik Andersen, Pittsburgh’s Marc-Andre Fleury, and Tampa Bay’s Ben Bishop.  Andersen is a restricted free agent this offseason while Fleury and Bishop are under contract through 2018-19 and 2016-17 respectively.  Each of those teams has a high potential young netminder that has made a case that they’re ready for a larger workload.  Given that the free agent class is relatively light between the pipes and the potential for an expansion draft as soon as 2017-18, there’s a case to be made that those teams should be investigating what the trade market is for their veterans.
  • San Jose winger Tomas Hertl will not play in Game 6 of the Stanley Cup Final on Sunday night. Head coach Peter DeBoer noted that he’s “getting better every day”.  Hertl has not been ruled out for a potential Game 7 on Wednesday night should the Sharks extend the series once again.
  • Detroit GM Ken Holland was scheduled to meet with Pavel Datsyuk early this week but that meeting has been delayed due to the passing of Red Wings legend Gordie Howe. Datsyuk has one year remaining on his contract with a cap hit of $7.5 million.  It has been reported that the 37 year old would like to play in Russia next year but if he does so, his cap hit will not come off Detroit’s books.
  • It won’t be a quiet offseason for Pittsburgh defenceman Olli Maatta. As soon as the Stanley Cup Final ends, he will return home to his native Finland to begin his mandatory military training which will span the next two offseasons.

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