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Philipp Grubauer

Germany, Switzerland, Russia Announce Members Of 2022 Olympic Team

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The first three members of each participating Olympic hockey nation are being announced this week, with top names like Connor McDavid, Auston Matthews, David Pastrnak and Victor Hedman already locked in to compete for their respective countries. Today, Germany, Switzerland, Slovakia, Latvia, Denmark and Russia all revealed the first three names on their roster sheet.

For Germany, it comes as no surprise that Leon Draisaitl leads the way. The Edmonton Oilers superstar is one of the most dangerous playmakers in the world, winning the Hart and Art Ross trophies in 2020. He’ll be joined by Philipp Grubauer, who gives the German squad an elite goaltending option for the tournament.

The third member is an interesting choice though, as Moritz Seider, the Detroit Red Wings prospect who has yet to even make his NHL debut, has already locked in his spot at the Games. The 20-year-old defenseman was the sixth-overall pick in 2019 and has is expected to make an impact for the Red Wings in short order.

Switzerland has a trio of impressive NHL talents, starting with Nashville Predators captain Roman Josi. The 31-year-old defenseman won the Norris Trophy in 2020 and has helped his small country take home two silver medals at the World Championship. In fact, in 2013 when Switzerland came in second, Josi was named tournament MVP. Josi will be joined by Timo Meier of the San Jose Sharks and Nico Hischier of the New Jersey Devils, two established NHL forwards that have represented Switzerland on several occasions in the past.

The Slovaks may now have quite the same star power, but there’s still plenty of NHL experience announced today. Andrej Sekera, Erik Cernak and Jaroslav Halak will all be donning their nation’s colors next year, bringing the building blocks of a strong defensive unit. Cernak, 24, has developed into an extremely valuable and versatile player for the Tampa Bay Lightning, winning two Stanley Cup championships in his first three years of NHL action.

Latvia and Denmark, who don’t usually have much of a chance at a medal actually have some NHL talent of their own to announce today. Rudolfs Balcers, Zemgus Girgensons and Kristians Rubins will take part for Latvia, while Oliver Bjorkstrand, Nikolaj Ehlers and Alexander True make up a great start for the Danes.

It’s Russia that will draw the most attention today though, as the three players announced have all been considered among the best in the world at some point. Alex Ovechkin, a player who is chasing down history by attempting to catch and break Wayne Gretzky’s NHL goal record, Nikita Kucherov, the 2019 Hart Trophy winner and Andrei Vasilevskiy, the most recent Conn Smythe recipient, make up a trio that’s hard to match. Russia, who will be competing as the “Russian Olympic Committee” is the reigning Olympic champion after taking home the award (then as the Olympic Athletes from Russia) in 2018 when the NHL did not participate.

NHL Central Registry Rejects Philipp Grubauer’s Contract

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With the sheer volume of contracts that were filed with NHL Central Registry at the start of free agency, it has taken them some time to review them all to ensure they’re in compliance with all of the CBA rules.  Once in a while, deals are rejected because an element doesn’t meet the criteria and CapFriendly reports (Twitter link) that this is the case with the Kraken’s deal for goaltender Philipp Grubauer.  CapFriendly has the full details of the deal here.

Since more than half of the salary is paid out in the first three years of the contract ($18.5MM out of $35.4MM or 52.25%), it qualifies as a front-loaded contract which has some stricter rules than non-front-loaded deals and those rules changed when the new CBA was agreed on last year.

One of the rules for front-loaded contracts is that any salary variance from one year to the next cannot exceed 25% of the salary in the first year.  Grubauer’s salary in 2021-22 was set to be $5MM and 25% of that is $1.25MM.  Accordingly, any year-over-year variance cannot be greater than $1.25MM.  However, Grubauer’s original 2022-23 salary was $6MM and his 2023-24 salary was $7.5MM, a difference of $1.5MM.  This is what caused the contract to be rejected.

This shouldn’t be any cause for concern for the Kraken.  They just have to fiddle with the salary numbers to come up with a new agreement.  Geoff Baker of the Seattle Times reports (Twitter link) that a revised contract has already been filed that moves $250K in salary from 2023-24 to 2022-23, keeping the cap hit the same.  Technically, Grubauer is now a free agent once again but that shouldn’t last long once that revised contract is approved by the league.

Washington Capitals Re-Acquire Vitek Vanecek

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Now that the Seattle Kraken have signed Philipp Grubauer in free agency, they are sending Vitek Vanecek back to the Washington Capitals. It was just a week-long vacation for the young netminder, who was claimed in the expansion draft and now sent back to Washington in exchange for a 2023 second-round pick.

This move will raise quite a few eyebrows, given the Kraken passed up the opportunity to select Brenden Dillon from Washington, only to see him flipped for two-second round picks on Monday. In fact, it’s one of those picks that Washington is using to reclaim Vanecek, sending Winnipeg’s 2023 selection.

At any rate, the Capitals have their tandem of Vanecek and Ilya Samsonov back intact and basically only lost a second-round pick in the expansion draft. The 25-year-old goaltender actually carries a cap hit of just $716K this season, less than the league minimum of $750K. That’s because of the three-year deal they signed him to back in 2019 before he’d ever even played at the NHL level. In 37 appearances this season, Vanecek posted a .908 save percentage, a 21-10-4 record and a 2.69 goals-against average. The Capitals would have been forced to look outside the organization if he hadn’t become available again, but they’ll now be able to go about an offseason as if nothing happened.

For Seattle, adding a second-round pick is important, even if it comes with some regrets. The big win here was signing Grubauer, who can anchor the franchise even if they go through a few growing pains in the early years. He and Chris Driedger will form the NHL tandem, while Joey Daccord is also still in the system.

Seattle Kraken Sign Philipp Grubauer, Jaden Schwartz

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July 28: The Seattle Kraken saved cap space at seemingly every turn through the expansion draft, passing on several high-profile candidates. They’ve now decided to use that cap space in free agency, signing Vezina finalist Philipp Grubauer. Kevin Weekes of NHL Network first heard a deal could happen between Seattle and Grubauer, while Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet reports it will be a six-year contract with an average annual value of $5.9MM. The team has also officially announced a five-year contract for free agent forward Jaden Schwartz, which will carry an average annual value of $5.5MM.

It’s a huge swing for the expansion franchise, inking number four and nine from our Top 50 UFA List. Add in Alexander Wennberg, who signed earlier today for three years and $13.5MM and the Kraken have quickly used their cap space to improve the roster. Still, the Grubauer move in particular brings up several questions.

Seattle now has three NHL goaltenders on the roster between Grubauer, Chris Driedger and Vitek Vanecek. That will lead to a crunch before the start of the season given all three are waiver-eligible, meaning there could be a trade coming in the next few weeks. Friedman tweets that the Washington Capitals would be interested in re-acquiring Vanecek if possible, though it’s unclear what it would cost them at this point. Remember, the Kraken passed on selecting Brenden Dillon from the Capitals in expansion, only to watch Washington flip him for two second-round picks. If the return on Vanecek is any less than that, it will certainly raise some voices in criticism of GM Ron Francis.

For Grubauer specifically, he leaves one of the best teams in the league for a complete question mark. Colorado recently re-signed both Cale Makar and Gabriel Landeskog for huge cap hits, not leaving a lot of room to fit in their starting goaltender. The 29-year-old Grubauer could very well become the face of the franchise in Seattle after his outstanding 2020-21 performance, but he won’t have quite the same team in front of him.

The Avalanche now are left scrambling for a starting option, with not many left on the free agent market. Trade targets like Darcy Kuemper stand out as top options, though that also comes at a cost. Losing Grubauer is painful, but the team was going to be in a very tough financial situation if they tried to outbid a $5.9MM cap hit.

Schwartz meanwhile joins the Kraken as the team’s first big forward addition (apologies to Wennberg), signing a long-term deal. He will likely slot into the team’s top line, though there are now several wingers that could be interchangeable pieces in Seattle. After a down year with the St. Louis Blues, Schwartz still landed a slight raise on the $5.35MM cap hit he has carried over the last five seasons.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images

Snapshots: Avalanche Free Agents, Blue Jackets, Golden Knights

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The Avalanche haven’t gotten into substantive contract discussions with pending UFAs Gabriel Landeskog and Philipp Grubauer, reports Peter Baugh of The Athletic (subscription link).  Landeskog, Colorado’s captain, has spent the last ten years with the Avs and will be hitting the open market for the first time.  He’s believed to be seeking a long-term contract and an eight-year pact would basically lock him up for the rest of his career.  However, they have to be mindful of the fact that Nathan MacKinnon is two years away from needing a substantial raise and Cale Makar will get one this summer as a restricted free agent.  If Landeskog wants top dollar, they may not be able to afford it.

As for Grubauer, he could have a shot at doubling the $3.33MM AAV he had on his last contract which could also price him out of what the Avalanche can afford.  But they also can’t afford to go into next season with Pavel Francouz – who didn’t play at all in 2020-21 – as the number one.  Whether it’s Grubauer or someone else, they’ll need to set aside some money for goaltending.

Elsewhere around the league:

  • The Blue Jackets are looking into adding an advisor to their coaching staff, relays Aaron Portzline of The Athletic (subscription link). No one on their staff has ever served as a head coach at the NHL level so bringing in someone in a mentorship type of role would make sense.  Portzline suggests veteran bench boss Jacques Martin could be a viable candidate for such a position and that the 68-year-old is interested in a position like that.
  • What do the Golden Knights need to add this offseason? Team owner Bill Foley told David Schoen of the Las Vegas Review-Journal that power play help will be a priority this summer.  They were held without a power play goal in 15 opportunities in their semifinal loss to Montreal which contributed to a 9.5% success rate in the playoffs, the lowest among all postseason teams.  Even during the regular season, they were below the league average with the man advantage.  While Vegas has built impressive depth up front, bringing in someone to help boost their power play would certainly give them a big lift offensively.

Negotiation Notes: Larsson, Andersen, Makar, Canucks

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After locking up Ryan Nugent-Hopkins to a long-term deal earlier today, the Edmonton Oilers will next turn their attention to reaching a new deal with defenseman Adam Larsson. According to TSN’s Darren Dreger in the latest edition of “Insider Trading“, that is more of a “when” than an “if” at the is point. Dreger states that the two sides are already close to a new deal and “in the final stretch” of negotiations. He expects that an extension will be reached soon. For Expansion Draft purposes, soon may not be until later next month, but a handshake agreement will do in the meantime. Larsson, 28, is one of the more stable defensemen in the NHL. If the defensive-minded right-shooter hit the open market, he would draw plenty of attention, but like Nugent-Hopkins, Larsson appears willing to settle on a deal to keep him in Edmonton with reigning Hart Trophy winners Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl. So really, with RNH signed and Larsson not far behind, the Oilers may actually be focusing on external negotiations already, as Dreger notes they must add a goalie and complementary scoring forwards this summer.

  • It may come as a surprise following a career-worst season, but there is mutual interest in an extension between the Toronto Maple Leafs and goaltender Frederik Andersen. TSN’s Pierre LeBrun reports that agent Claude Lemieux recently met with the Maple Leafs’ brass and both sides expressed interest in a new deal, perhaps to the surprise of both. Andersen is likely not keen to enter the open market after a down year (and really many years of slow decline) when he could instead stay in familiar territory in Toronto. The Leafs also need a netminder this off-season and may be content to stick with Andersen, despite his struggles, given the play of Jack Campbell this season. LeBrun does point out that Toronto has told Andersen’s camp that he would be sharing the net with Campbell, potentially even starting out at less than 50% of starts, but Andersen is reportedly open to that arrangement.
  • Every year there is the threat of offer sheets and every year it never happens, but LeBrun notes that rumblings around the league are that Colorado Avalanche star Cale Makar could be the prime candidate this summer. With the Avalanche needing to extend the First Team All-Star as well as captain Gabriel Landeskog, starting goaltender Philipp Grubauer, and top-six forward Brandon Saad, all while saving room to extend superstar Nathan MacKinnon and replace several impending UFA’s next summer, cap space is tight in Denver. If another team swooped in with an offer that Makar couldn’t refuse, it might just be too much of a handicap for the Avs. Doubtful, but possible. Colorado can eliminate the risk of an offer sheet to their young phenom if they can lock Makar up before the market opens on July 28.
  • The Vancouver Canucks are already hard at work on extension for arguably their two most important players, defenseman Quinn Hughes and center Elias Pettersson. The pair of restricted free agents are centerpiece players for the Canucks and the team will whatever it takes to keep them around as long as possible. Dreger notes that GM Jim Benning and company are meeting again this week with agents from CAA Sports, who represent both young stars. A number of possibilities are on the table for both players, including a three-year bridge deal for Pettersson in the same vein as the recent contracts of Mathew Barzal and Brayden Point. However, it seems like long-term is the ideal goal. Pettersson is reportedly open to a long-term deal like that of Mikko Rantanen, while Hughes has explored contracts with terms between four and six years.

Poll: Who Should Win The 2021 Vezina Trophy?

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Last week, the NHL released the finalists for the 2021 Vezina Trophy. The award for most outstanding goaltender is voted on by the general managers around the NHL, but let’s see what the hockey community thinks.

Marc-Andre Fleury kicked things off among the nominees, becoming a Vezina finalist for the first time in his 17-year NHL career. The highest he has previously finished is fourth, but he’ll set a new bar at age-36 after posting a .928 save percentage in 36 appearances. Fleury went 26-10 for the Vegas Golden Knights, taking home the Jennings Trophy along with Robin Lehner as the goaltenders for the team with the league’s lowest goals-against average. Among goaltenders with at least 20 starts, he trailed only Alex Nedeljkovic and Semyon Varlamov (neither of whom are finalists) in save percentage.

Next came Philipp Grubauer, almost exactly seven years Fleury’s junior. The 29-year-old has been excellent in the past as a tandem option but has never played enough to get into the Vezina conversation. That changed this year when Grubauer played 40 games for the Colorado Avalanche, posting a 30-9-1 record and .922 save percentage. He led the league in shutouts with seven and actually had a slightly lower goals-against average than Fleury (though still not as low as Nedeljkovic). For years the Avalanche goaltending was questioned, but Grubauer answered all the doubters with a legitimate Vezina-level campaign.

If either of the first-time finalists are to take home the trophy, they’ll have to topple a goaltender who lives in the final three. Andrei Vasilevskiy is a finalist for the fourth consecutive season after leading the league in wins once again. The Tampa Bay Lightning netminder won the award in 2019 and is the almost-unbreakable last line of defense behind a strong roster. While his name and pedigree will obviously make him a tough competitor in award voting, Vasilevskiy’s .925 save percentage trailed Fleury and his 2.21 goals against average was much higher than his fellow finalists.

All three goaltenders have incredible statistics and play for some of the best teams in the league. Who deserves to take home the Vezina? Cast your vote below–if you think it should have been someone else, make sure to explain why in the comment section!

[Mobile users click here to vote]

West Notes: Grubauer, Rossi, Dahlen

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Avalanche goaltender Philipp Grubauer had a dominant 2020-21 season, earning himself a Vezina Trophy nomination along the way as he posted a 1.95 GAA along with a .922 SV% in 40 games.  That has him extremely well-positioned heading into unrestricted free agency for the first time this summer, even in a flat-cap marketplace.  However, talks on his next deal haven’t started yet as his agent Allain Roy told Pierre LeBrun of The Athletic (subscription link) that those discussions will wait until Colorado’s playoff run comes to an end.  Grubauer is in the final season of a three-year, $10MM contract and could potentially double that on the open market this summer with a couple of recent comparables at $6MM or higher.

More from the West:

  • Wild prospect Marco Rossi has been given the all-clear and will skate for the first time on Saturday as he works his way back from a bout with myocarditis, relays Michael Russo of The Athletic (Twitter link). Rossi was initially diagnosed with COVID-19 following the World Juniors and was sent home for the season to recover before the heart issue was later revealed.  With this good news, Rossi should be ready for next season and will still have three years left on his entry-level contract as his deal will slide since he didn’t see any NHL action.
  • Jonathan Dahlen could be making his return to North America. Adam Johansson and Johan Svensson of SportExpressen report that the Sharks are expected to sign the winger for next season.  Unhappy with his situation with San Jose, he signed up for a second year with Timra in Sweden’s Allsvenskan after playing there on the final year of his entry-level deal.  He has been quite dominant in that stretch, notching 77 points in 51 games last year and 71 and 45 contests this season.  The 23-year-old restricted free agent was believed to be seeking a one-way deal to return to North America so it will be interesting to see if he gets it, assuming this eventually comes to fruition.

2021 Vezina Finalists Announced

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Over the next week, the NHL will be releasing the finalists for all of the major regular season awards. First up is the Vezina Trophy, which is given to the best goaltender in the NHL and is voted on by the league’s general managers.

The finalists this season are Marc-Andre Fleury of the Vegas Golden Knights, Philipp Grubauer of the Colorado Avalanche, and Andrei Vasilevskiy of the Tampa Bay Lightning.

Fleury, 36, has been written off several times in his long career but seems to just get better with age. He posted the best regular season of his career in 2020-21, recording a .928 save percentage while splitting the net with Robin Lehner. The tandem already won the William M. Jennings Trophy for allowing the fewest goals in the league, and Fleury personally ranked among the top of almost every category. Despite winning nearly 500 games in the NHL, Fleury has never been a Vezina finalist before.

Grubauer, 29, is also a finalist for the first time. The Avalanche netminder posted a .922 save percentage in 40 appearances, leading the league in shutouts with seven. His record was impeccable, losing only nine games in regulation all season. Though Grubauer has put up numbers like this before, he has never carried a heavier workload. His career to this point may be easy to overlook, but among goaltenders with at least 200 starts, Grubauer’s .920 save percentage would put him fifth all-time.

The two new finalists will have to slay a giant if they want the award though, as Vasilevskiy is back again. The Lightning goaltender has been a Vezina finalist for four consecutive seasons, winning the award in 2019. For the fourth year in a row, he had led the NHL in wins, this time taking home 31 of his 42 appearances. His .925 save percentage matched his career-high (the number that won him the Vezina) and his goals-against average dropped even further. Even though he’s only 26, it seems clear that Vasilevskiy is destined to go down as one of the best goaltenders the NHL has ever seen.

Injury Updates: Panthers, Avalanche, Sabres Goalies, Watson

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The Panthers are in a battle for first place in the Central Division but will be without a few regulars for a little while.  The team announced (Twitter link) that goalie Chris Driedger has been ruled out for the rest of the road trip which takes him out for the next three games though he isn’t expected to be out much longer than that.  Winger Patric Hornqvist is listed as day-to-day with an upper-body injury.

Meanwhile, winger Carter Verhaeghe isn’t expected to play on the trip either, notes David Wilson of the Miami Herald.  As a result, Florida entered tonight’s game down two of their top four scorers plus their top netminder statistically.  Between that and Carolina holding two games in hand, the Panthers will have their work cut out for them if they want to secure that top seed.

Other injury notes from around the NHL:

  • Avalanche defenseman Bowen Byram and winger Logan O’Connor have both suffered setbacks in their recoveries from upper- and lower-body injuries respectively, reports Mike Chambers of the Denver Post (Twitter link). Byram was recently taken off the COVID-Protocol Related Absences (CPRA) List but his injury preceded his placement there.  As for O’Connor, he has been out since the end of March.  Both players are now listed as week-to-week.
  • On the other hand, Colorado is set to get several key regulars back as com’s Rick Sadowski mentions that wingers Mikko Rantanen and Joonas Donskoi plus goalie Philipp Grubauer could all return to the lineup on Friday. Those three were on the CPRA list until recently as well and would undoubtedly provide a boost to the Avalanche’s lineup as they look to chase down Vegas for the top seed in the West.
  • The Sabres are unlikely to have goaltenders Linus Ullmark or Carter Hutton return this season, reports Mike Harrington of The Buffalo News. Ullmark has not yet resumed skating after suffering a lower-body injury two weeks ago while interim head coach Don Granato noted that Hutton recently had a setback after resuming skating as he worked his way back from a leg issue.  That means that Dustin Tokarski and Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen will likely remain Buffalo’s tandem for the rest of the year.
  • The Senators have ruled out a return for winger Austin Watson this season, relays Postmedia’s Bruce Garrioch (Twitter link). Watson suffered a wrist injury back in late March, one that carried a four-to-six week recovery time and it appears it will be the latter with him not returning.  He wraps up his first year with Ottawa with 10 points, 40 penalty minutes, and 100 hits in 34 games.

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