Free Agent Focus: New York Rangers
With free agency now just hours away, teams are preparing for a frenzy of action. There will be several prominent players set to hit the open market while many teams have key restricted free agents to re-sign. The Rangers don’t have many UFAs of note but their RFA class is going to be one to keep an eye on.
Key Restricted Free Agents
F Ryan Strome – While they were undecided about tendering him a qualifying offer until about two hours before Wednesday’s deadline, it wasn’t because they were unhappy with Strome’s performance but rather a concern about an arbitration award. Those concerns may be well-founded as the 41 assists and 59 points were both new career benchmarks and have him well-positioned to earn a sizable raise on the $3.2MM salary he earned last season. The fact they qualified him suggests there is some optimism they can avoid going to a hearing and the hope is that they’ll be able to sign him before it gets that far.
D Anthony DeAngelo – Last year, New York held the hammer and used it, basically leveraging DeAngelo into a cheap one-year deal with him not having any real leverage to work with. The power has swung over to the other side now, however. The 24-year-old had 52 career points heading into last season but managed to produce 53 points in 2019-20 despite not seeing an increase in playing time. That performance has him well-positioned to land a substantial raise via an arbitrator and after the Rangers played things out to their advantage last season, expect DeAngelo to at least file for a hearing to give himself the leverage this time around.
G Alexandar Georgiev – Georgiev enters this offseason in the same spot he was a year ago, albeit behind a different starter this time around. He has shown flashes of being a capable starter at times over his brief NHL career but inconsistency has been a challenge as well. Just 24, it’s possible that New York pushes for a one-year or two-year deal to give them more time to evaluate his long-term upside and fit for his role while also giving themselves a bit more short-term cap flexibility with the Upper Limit flattened out.
Other RFAs: D Brandon Crawley, F Phillip Di Giuseppe, F Gabriel Fontaine, F Ryan Gropp, F Brendan Lemieux, D Darren Raddysh
10.2(c): F Dawson Leedahl (ineligible for an offer sheet)
Key Unrestricted Free Agents
F Jesper Fast – The 28-year-old has been a steady middle-six winger for the past five years and while he doesn’t put up a ton of points (he has ranged between 20 and 33 points in that span), he plays with an edge physically and is a capable penalty killer. Even in a lowered cap environment, there should be a fair bit of interest but it appears it’ll be coming from elsewhere as Fast and the Rangers were well apart on contract terms leading up to the trade deadline. Fast earned the 28th spot in our Top-50 UFA Rankings.
G Henrik Lundqvist – It was a move that had been anticipated for a while but the Rangers officially bought out the franchise legend back in September with Igor Shesterkin and Georgiev set to be their tandem of the present and future. The 38-year-old has made it known that he wants to continue playing but he’ll be facing a significant drop in pay from the $8.5MM AAV he had before the buyout. Washington has been widely speculated as a landing spot although other teams will certainly show interest in him in either a mentoring role or even a platoon situation.
Other UFAs: F Matt Beleskey, G Jean-Francois Berube, F Steven Fogarty, F Greg McKegg, F Micheal Haley, F Vinni Lettieri, F Boo Nieves, F Danny O’Regan
Projected Cap Space
On the surface, the Rangers have plenty of space to work with following the buyout of Lundqvist and the Marc Staal trade as they have roughly $58.8MM committed to 14 players, per CapFriendly. But it won’t take long for that to be whittled away as they get their three primary RFAs re-signed and then fill out the rest of their roster. There will be a bit of room to work with in the free agent or trade market but there shouldn’t be a splash like there was last year with the Artemi Panarin signing.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Free Agent Focus: Ottawa Senators
With free agency now just a few days away, teams are preparing for a frenzy of action. There will be several prominent players set to hit the open market while many teams have key restricted free agents to re-sign. The Senators have several restricted free agents to deal with this offseason while one of their top scorers is now set to hit the open market.
Key Restricted Free Agents
F Connor Brown – The move from Toronto to Ottawa last offseason gave the 26-year-old the opportunity to take on a much bigger role which is something that wouldn’t have happened had he stayed with the Maple Leafs. He responded quite well, posting career highs in assists (27) and points (43) while finishing just one point behind Brady Tkachuk for the team lead in scoring. He also was called upon to play more than 20 minutes a night which will certainly help bolster his arbitration case. Brown is a year away from UFA eligibility but it wouldn’t be surprising to see the Sens try to try to sign him to a medium-term deal to have him as one of the veterans as they come out of their rebuild.
F Chris Tierney – Had it not been for the pandemic, Tierney might have had a shot at three straight seasons with 40 points or more which is pretty consistent production for someone that isn’t too far removed from being a role player in San Jose. Between that and his penalty killing acumen, he has become a useful middle-six pivot for Ottawa which should help him earn a small raise on his $2.975MM qualifying offer that the team tendered. Tierney is eligible for arbitration and is also a year away from UFA eligibility.
G Matt Murray – Before he puts on an Ottawa sweater for the first time, GM Pierre Dorion will need to reach a contract with his newly-acquired goaltender. Murray’s numbers dipped considerably with Pittsburgh this past season and his .899 SV% was a career-low and Pittsburgh turned around and committed to Tristan Jarry as their new starter. He’s a year away from UFA eligibility but expect the Senators to try to work out a long-term deal which could wind up approaching the $6MM range. With no prospects that are ready to take over as the number one in the near future though, it’s a price tag that’s justifiable to pay.
Other RFAs: F Rudolfs Balcers, F J.C. Beaudin, F Filip Chlapik, G Joey Daccord, D Christian Jaros, F Nick Paul
Key Unrestricted Free Agents
F Anthony Duclair – In a move that came as somewhat of a surprise, the Senators opted to non-tender the winger after they weren’t able to come to terms on a new contract with Duclair representing himself in negotiations. The 25-year-old had a career year offensively with 23 goals and 40 points but on the other hand, only two of those tallies came in his final 23 games as he struggled in the second half of the season. Nevertheless, while he is a streaky player, he has established himself as a better scoring threat than he was when he entered the UFA market as a non-tender player two years ago. Whether that’s enough to earn him a bigger raise than Ottawa was initially offering him remains to be seen.
D Mark Borowiecki – The fan favorite was unable to agree to terms on a new deal with the Sens and instead will hit the open market for the first time in his career. The 31-year-old surprisingly posted 18 points in 2019-20; that’s only the third time in his career that he has hit the double-digit mark. Borowiecki isn’t known for his offensive prowess but rather his leadership, physicality, and willingness to block shots. That combination should generate a fair bit of interest as an upgrade on a third pairing somewhere.
G Craig Anderson – Prior to the Murray acquisition, Dorion had already confirmed that the 39-year-old wouldn’t be returning. While Anderson’s days as a starter are done, he has still played in at least 34 games in each of the last seven seasons. Considering the 2020-21 season (now targeted to start in January) is expected to be a bit more compressed than normal, the fact that he can handle a larger than average workload could make him appealing to teams as a backup. Coming off of a season that saw him post a 3.25 GAA and a .902 SV% though, he’s looking at a substantial pay cut from the $4.75MM he played under the last two years.
D Ron Hainsey – Ottawa has expressed an interest in retaining Hainsey who was one of the few veterans on a relatively inexperienced back end this past season. Given that he’ll turn 40 next season though, it’s likely that the Senators will be looking to bring him back in a more limited role, not one that will have him averaging more than 20 minutes a night again. If so, they’re certainly offering less than the $3.5MM he made in 2019-20.
Other UFAs: D Andreas Englund, F Jayce Hawryluk, F Morgan Klimchuk, D Hubert Labrie, F Matthew Peca, F Scott Sabourin
Projected Cap Space
With just over $42MM in commitments to 10 players for next season per CapFriendly, cap space isn’t an issue here. However, Ottawa has historically been a budget team so they’ll likely come in well below the $81.5MM Upper Limit when their offseason spending is completed.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Offseason Keys: Tampa Bay Lightning
The offseason is now upon us with the Stanley Cup being awarded last week. Having covered all of the teams that missed the postseason or were eliminated before the Stanley Cup Final, let’s take a look at the teams in that final matchup. After covering the Stars on Sunday, we wrap up our annual series with the Lightning. The full series can be found here.
After being swept by Columbus last season, no one really knew what to expect from Tampa Bay this year. Sure, on paper, they were just as strong as ever but look where that got them the year before. GM Julien BriseBois added some sandpaper and some veteran defensemen and it worked out perfectly as they took out the Blue Jackets, Bruins, Islanders, and Stars to take home the title. After a few days of celebration, it’s all about tearing things down as the key to their offseason is simply freeing up cap space while keeping as much of the roster intact as they can. Not surprisingly, each of the following keys revolves around that one element.
Navigate Trade Protection
There are some teams that rarely hand out any form of trade protection. Tampa Bay is not one of them. Of their seven highest-paid forwards, only one doesn’t have the ability to at least block a trade to some teams and that’s Brayden Point because he’s simply too young to have one. On defense, their top-three paid players have either a full no-trade clause or a full no-move clause. One advantage of being in the market they’re in is no state taxes which has allowed the Lightning to sign some of those players below market value. The trade-off, however, is players getting some security in the form of trade protection.
Let’s look at their cap situation quickly. At the moment, they have just over $76MM in commitments to 16 players for next season. However, they have several key restricted free agents to re-sign and have to fill out the rest of their roster as well. One, if not two, high-salaried players will need to go. Here’s the listing of their veterans making $4MM or more and their trade protection:
F Nikita Kucherov – $9.5MM through 2026-27, NMC
G Andrei Vasilevskiy– $9.5MM through 2027-28 (too young for trade protection yet)
F Steven Stamkos – $8.5MM through 2023-24, NMC
D Victor Hedman – $7.875MM through 2024-25, NMC
D Ryan McDonagh – $6.75MM through 2025-26, NTC
F Brayden Point – $6.75MM through 2021-22 (too young for trade protection yet)
F Ondrej Palat – $5.3MM through 2021-22, NTC
F Yanni Gourde – $5.166MM through 2024-25, NTC
F Tyler Johnson – $5MM through 2023-24, NTC
F Alex Killorn – $4.45MM through 2022-23, 16-team NTC
Trying to convince one (likely two) of these players to waive their trade protection to leave a Cup-winning team to go somewhere where the tax situation may not be as favorable is where BriseBois finds himself right now. This is something that’s going to be much easier said than done in this cap environment.
Avoid Offer Sheet Risk
There are two notable restricted free agents that Tampa Bay has to try to re-sign with their limited cap space in defenseman Mikhail Sergachev and center Anthony Cirelli. With their cap situation and limitations on moving money with all of the trade protection in place, both players are prime offer sheet targets if someone wants to try to force their hand.
Sergachev has been steady offensively in his three seasons with the Lightning and wasn’t asked to jump into a big role right away. This allowed him to slowly develop his defensive game and the results were certainly promising this season. He had a career-best 10 goals during the regular season while logging more than 20 minutes a night for the first time. In the postseason, he chipped in with 10 more points and saw his playing time jump up to more than 22 minutes a game. He’s already a top-four defender and at 22 years of age, there is still plenty of room for continued improvement. Sergachev is someone that should be a fixture on their back end as long as they can afford to keep him.
Meanwhile, Cirelli had a breakout year offensively with 16 goals and 28 assists in 68 games but that’s not the only reason he’ll be highly coveted. The 23-year-old has already become a high-end defensive player and finished fourth in Selke Trophy balloting this season. The various injuries throughout the season gave Cirelli a chance to showcase himself as a top-six forward and he made the most of it, sending notice around the league that he’s ready for that role on a full-time basis. Assuming Stamkos shifts to the wing more permanently next season, the Lightning should be able to give him that spot.
Even defenseman Erik Cernak could be someone that’s targeted. He doesn’t have the best of offensive numbers but if there’s a team that wants him in their top four, Tampa Bay may be hard-pressed to match. Talks for offer sheets can begin on Friday so freeing up that cap space is something they’ll want to do sooner than later if they can in order to give themselves a bit of leverage in talks with their youngsters.
Plan Ahead For Point
Point’s three-year deal last offseason gave the Lightning some short-term flexibility and to their credit, they made the most of it, utilizing that space to add several key depth players that helped them win the Stanley Cup. But he’ll be eligible for a new deal starting next offseason and if an extension can’t be reached, he’ll enter the 2022 offseason one year away from UFA eligibility.
Needless to say, that’s not a spot that they’re going to want to be in with him. Getting an early extension done will be a top priority a year from now but for them to be able to afford it (it should check in close to Kucherov’s price tag), they’re going to have to free up some cap room to have three players making that much money.
That’s something that BriseBois will have in mind as he tries to navigate this tricky salary cap situation. There are two windows to try to open up cap space for. One is to simply be in compliance for next season but there will be even more motivation to try to clear out players signed beyond 2021-22 to give them the space needed to lock up Point as early as a year from now.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Free Agent Focus: Philadelphia Flyers
With free agency now just a few days away, teams are preparing for a frenzy of action. There will be several prominent players set to hit the open market while many teams have key restricted free agents to re-sign. The Flyers will be entering free agency with a relatively light list of players needing new contracts but they will have a few to retain or replace.
Key Restricted Free Agents
F Nolan Patrick – Technically, his designation is simply unsigned as because he missed all of this past season, he doesn’t have enough service time to technically become an RFA (that’s eligible for an offer sheet). It’s safe to say that Patrick will be tendered an offer, especially since GM Chuck Fletcher expressed optimism that he’d be able to return next season. However, after two relatively quiet seasons and now an entire year away from the game, it’s safe to say that the 2017 second-overall selection is heading for a cheap short-term contract until he can show that he has fully recovered from his migraines and is ready to become a part of their core forwards.
D Philippe Myers – The 23-year-old hasn’t yet played a full season with the Flyers but he has already become an important part of their back end and logged just over 20 minutes per night in the playoffs. The sudden retirement of Matt Niskanen just opened up an even bigger opportunity for Myers to seize next season as he now stands as their top right-shot defender. With that in mind, it may make sense from his perspective to take a short-term contract and hit arbitration coming off of what should be a career year. From Philadelphia’s perspective, they’d be wise to try to lock him up long-term now before the cost inevitably goes up. They now have the cap room to do such a move without significantly affecting their cap situation with Niskanen’s $5.75MM set to come off the books. For a player with just 87 career games played (regular season and playoffs), this is quickly becoming an intriguing contract.
Other RFAs: F Nathan Noel, F Mikhail Vorobyev
Key Unrestricted Free Agents
F Tyler Pitlick – After a down season with Dallas in 2018-19, the change of scenery helped Pitlick as he posted the second-best offensive numbers of his career despite the pandemic wiping out a month of the regular season. He can kill penalties and play with some edge in a bottom-six role and even with a flattened cap likely hurting the role player market, he should be able to land a deal that’s a bit higher than the $1MM he made over each of the last three seasons.
F Derek Grant – Very quietly, Grant put up 15 goals this past season, the most in his career and fourth-most among pending UFA centers. Of course, considering that accounts for more than half of his career total, no one should be expecting a repeat in 2020-21. But what he can provide at the very least is some strong work at the faceoff dot and an ability to play the penalty kill. That sounds like a prototypical fourth-line center but Grant’s offensive success this season should help him stand out amongst the crowd.
F Nate Thompson – The 36-year-old came over from Montreal as a depth addition but wound up playing a largely regular role after being acquired. Thompson has played in 13 NHL seasons and has posted a faceoff percentage that’s better than 50 in all of them. That’s his calling card and at the very least, it should help him earn an end-of-roster spot with someone for next season with a chance to play his way back into a regular spot on the fourth line.
Other UFAs: F Kurtis Gabriel, D Andy Welinski, D Reece Willcox
Projected Cap Space
Following Niskanen’s retirement and the recent re-signing of Justin Braun, the Flyers have a little under $73MM in commitments to 18 players. With Myers being the only notable player in need of a new deal at this time, Fletcher will have an opportunity to venture into the free agent market or take on a bit of money in a trade to give Philadelphia a boost heading into next season.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Offseason Keys: Dallas Stars
The offseason is now upon us with the Stanley Cup being awarded earlier this week. Having covered all of the teams that missed the postseason or were eliminated before the Stanley Cup Final, let’s take a look at the teams in that final matchup, beginning with the Stars.
The Stars managed to qualify for the seeding portion of the NHL’s Return to Play on the backs of solid defensive play and goaltending as only three teams scored fewer goals than they did before the pandemic hit. While their offensive scuffling continued for parts of the playoffs, they were able to get past Calgary, Colorado, and Vegas before ultimately falling to Tampa Bay and did so with their backup goalie in net for the overwhelming majority of the postseason. Accordingly, GM Jim Nill’s keys to a successful offseason largely revolve around taking care of his own players (while he waits on Rick Bowness to decide if he wants the full-time coaching job) rather than trying to make any significant splashes in terms of adding top talent from elsewhere.
Re-Sign Or Replace Khudobin
With Ben Bishop only able to make three playoff starts, Anton Khudobin was forced to carry the load. While he had struggled in the undisputed number one role in previous opportunities over the years, he made the most of it in the playoffs, posting a 2.69 GAA with a .917 SV% in 25 games played. He already was on his way to being one of the more intriguing unrestricted free agents between the pipes. With this performance under his belt, he certainly has cemented himself as one of the top free agents available which is great news for him, but not so much for Dallas.
Bishop has been limited in recent years in terms of starts, making no more than 51 in any of his three seasons with the Stars. Part of that is due to injury but part of it is also managing his workload. He turns 34 next month and still has three years left on his contract. Khudobin, a backup that is capable of playing more of a 1B role, was a perfect fit in that sense. But now the Russian has a chance to command a cap hit that could be close to the $4.916MM AAV that Bishop carries on his deal. With several other players to re-sign (more on them later on), they may not be able to afford to keep Khudobin, especially if they want to try to add least add another forward to give them a bit more scoring depth.
The good news for Dallas here is that there is no shortage of free agent options available and by all accounts, there are a few netminders available in trades as well. But they’re not their first choice – they’ve made it clear already that keeping Khudobin is their priority – so if they have to pivot elsewhere, they will have other options to consider. If they can find a way to keep Khudobin at a rate that works for them though, that’d be even better.
Work On Heiskanen Extension
Last season, Miro Heiskanen narrowly missed out on being a finalist for the Calder Trophy. This year, he was even better before the pandemic hit before taking his game to another level for most of the playoffs to the point where he’d have been a strong candidate for the Conn Smythe Trophy had the Stars defeated the Lightning. With two years out of three now completed on his entry-level deal, he’s now eligible to sign a contract extension. It’s safe to say that this is going to be high on Nill’s priority list.
There aren’t a lot of great comparable options for Heiskanen as, quite frankly, there aren’t many highly-drafted defensemen that have done what he has this early in his career. The best options are probably Thomas Chabot (9.82% of the cap at the time of signing) and Aaron Ekblad (10.27%). In current-year figures, that’s an approximate range of $8MM per year and $8.37MM. For someone that can play upwards of 25 minutes a night (he logged nearly 26 per game in the playoffs) and contribute significantly at both ends of the ice, a price tag in that range makes sense, even with the cap being flattened out. There’s no point in working on a bridge contract one year out from the deal being up; it’s a long-term pact or nothing.
Getting something done now would take the pressure off both sides for next season and give Nill some extra certainty of his 2021-22 cap situation which could come in handy depending on whether or not he’s interested in adding a player or two signed beyond next season. It’s something that’s easier said than done but getting Heiskanen’s extension done sooner than later would be a big accomplishment.
Re-Sign Key Youngsters
The list of their restricted free agents isn’t the longest but each of their three young regulars present intriguing cases that will need to be addressed.
Radek Faksa’s bridge deal has come to an end and the center is now a year away from unrestricted free agency. While his offensive game hasn’t progressed like they would have hoped, he has become a capable checking pivot at the very least that can still chip in with a few goals here and there. He can opt for arbitration which would take him to UFA status next offseason so if Dallas wants to keep him on a multi-year deal, they’ll have to deal with this case before too long.
Denis Gurianov’s presence on the roster to start the season was uncertain after spending most of his first two seasons in North America in the minors. By the time the pandemic hit, he led the team in goals with 20. In the playoffs, he was even better with 17 points (9-8-17) in 27 games. All of a sudden, he has gone from a player on the fringes to a key part of their attack. Still, given the small track record, how willing will either side be to commit to a long-term deal? A one-year deal could be the safer play here and would also give them a bit more cap room to try to add someone in the coming weeks.
As for Roope Hintz, he was their breakout performer in the 2019 postseason and carried that into this year where he had 33 points (19-14-33) in 60 regular season games before going quieter in the playoffs with just two tallies. His track record is a little longer than Gurianov’s overall but they may not be willing to lock him up long-term yet either. Both he and Gurianov aren’t arbitration-eligible so these could linger if not dealt with quickly.
It would be difficult for Nill to try to add to this group without knowing what these three will cost along with signing another goalie so getting these done in the near future would certainly be ideal for the Stars.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Offseason Keys: New York Islanders
The offseason is now upon us with the Stanley Cup being awarded earlier this week. Having covered the teams that weren’t a part of the NHL’s return and the ones ousted in the Qualifying Round and the first two official rounds, we shift our focus to the ones that were eliminated in the Conference Finals. Next up is a look at the Islanders.
Even though the Islanders made it to the second round of the playoffs last season, many dismissed them as an afterthought heading into this year, putting them as a bubble team at best. That wound up holding true as they were sixth in the Metropolitan Division before the pandemic hit (out of a spot in the postseason) but the expanded format in the Return to Play put them in. New York certainly made the most of it as they took out Florida, Washington, and Philadelphia before falling to the eventual Stanley Cup champions in Tampa Bay. GM Lou Lamoriello will now turn his focus towards trying to help them take that next step. Here’s what he will need to accomplish in order to have a shot at accomplishing that.
Free Up Cap Space
Yes, this again. It’s hardly the first time this has been a key in this series and even though we’re near the end, it won’t be the last either. The Islanders have nearly $9MM in cap room which doesn’t seem bad but when you consider that their list of restricted free agents includes their leading scorer and two regulars on the back end (Ryan Pulock and Devon Toews) that logged over 20 minutes a game, it’s clearly not going to be enough to keep them in the fold let alone try to add to their core group.
The back end may be where Lamoriello tries to trim from. Nick Leddy ($5.5MM) and Johnny Boychuk ($6MM) have two years left on their respective contracts and of the two, Leddy is the easier to move. While his point production has dipped in recent years relative to how he performed upon being acquired, he’s still trusted by head coach Barry Trotz to log over 21 minutes a night. The list of free agent defensemen that can play that many minutes is low so there should be some trade value here. Boychuk, meanwhile, has a buyout-proof contract due to signing bonuses and front-loading and is more of a depth defender at this stage of his career. Finding a taker without significant retention would be difficult.
Things aren’t any easier up front either. Andrew Ladd also has a buyout-proof deal (it’d count more on the cap to buy him out over merely sending him to the minors) while Leo Komarov and Cal Clutterbuck are overpaid for their roles but won’t have much of a trade market as well. Casey Cizikas is also overpaid for his role but on an expiring deal, there could be some interest.
It’s unlikely that Lamoriello will want to subtract from his core. Finding a way to do that, re-sign his players, and still add to his roster is going to take a lot of creativity.
Re-Sign Barzal
Mathew Barzal has played three years in the NHL. He has led the Islanders in scoring in all three of those seasons. In doing so, he has replaced former captain John Tavares as their franchise player. With his entry-level deal now concluded, he stands to land a massive raise on the $863K he earned in each of the last three years. In a normal market, simply adding a zero to the end of that dollar amount might be a rough idea of what his next deal may cost.
Of course, this isn’t a normal market. While Barzal has been their top point producer in his three seasons, his point total has been in the low 60s the last two seasons (the pandemic playing a part in that this year). That should be enough to keep him out of the top end of the post-ELC price points at the very least. It’s fair to at least wonder if it’s enough to get Lamoriello to see if Barzal is willing to take a bridge deal as well. Doing so would lessen the amount of cap room to free up and would position the 23-year-old to take another run at restricted free agency with arbitration rights a year or two from now with the potential of the salary landscape being more favorable.
However, other teams are certainly aware of New York’s cap situation. There’s a reason that Barzal has been a speculative offer sheet candidate for a while now. Lamoriello has already said that the Islanders will match any offer made but if Barzal wants a long-term deal, he can try to leverage it through that route and force their hand to match. The odds of Barzal being in an Islander uniform next season are high but the deal he gets could go a few different ways.
Add Offensive Help
This past season, the Islanders were 23rd in scoring and 24th on the power play. The year before, when they had 101 points, they were 21st in goals scored and 29th with the man advantage. Barzal was the lone player to reach 60 points (right on the dot) while Brock Nelson (26) and Anders Lee (20) were the only Islanders to get 20 goals. Again, the pandemic played a role in that but even so, goal production has been an issue. With a gritty, defense-first roster, this isn’t that surprising of a stat but for them to take that next step, they’re going to have to add.
With their cap situation and who still needs new deals, shopping at the top of the free agent market almost certainly isn’t going to happen. Instead, they’ll have to look in the bargain bin and try to find someone that can contribute in a middle-six role. Basically, something like they tried with Derick Brassard last summer who picked up 32 points for a $1.2MM price tag while adding eight points in 18 playoff games.
Retaining him could be an option but that would still only keep the offense from 2019-20 intact without really adding to it. It’s unlikely that Lamoriello will be active in the early going in free agency but as the weeks progress, he would be wise to see if there’s a bargain or two to be had to give them a bit more offensive firepower.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Free Agent Focus: Florida Panthers
With free agency now just a few days away, teams are preparing for a frenzy of action. There will be several prominent players set to hit the open market while many teams have key restricted free agents to re-sign. The Panthers barely have half of their roster under contract for next season so new GM Bill Zito certainly has his work cut out for him over the coming weeks.
Key Restricted Free Agents
F Lucas Wallmark – One of the parts coming back in the Vincent Trocheck deal at the trade deadline, Wallmark didn’t get much of an opportunity to make his mark before the pandemic hit as he played in just seven games and only played twice in the postseason. The 25-year-old is eligible for salary arbitration but considering he has only played in two full NHL seasons thus far, an award likely wouldn’t be too high if he makes it to a hearing. After making the league-minimum $700K in salary this past season, his qualifying offer is only $735K.
D MacKenzie Weegar – Injuries limited the 26-year-old to just 45 games in 2019-20 but he still managed to set career highs in goals (seven) and points (18). Even more importantly, head coach Joel Quenneville trusted him enough to play him more than 20 minutes a game which is a figure that will play a prominent role if he makes it to arbitration. After making $1.6MM last season, Weegar should be in line for another million or so in his final trip through restricted free agency although it wouldn’t be surprising to see Zito try to buy out a UFA year or two which would push the price tag closer to the $3MM mark.
Other RFAs: G Phillipe Desrosiers, D Emil Djuse, F Dryden Hunt, F Mason Marchment, F Sam Montembeault, F Aleksi Saarela, D Thomas Schemitsch, F Dominic Toninato
Key Unrestricted Free Agents
F Mike Hoffman – Goal scorers are always a highly sought after commodity on the open market and Hoffman has been one of the more consistent in that department in recent years. In five of past six seasons, he has scored between 22 and 29 goals with the outlier being a 36-goal campaign in his first season with the Panthers in 2018-19. He is particularly adept at scoring with the man advantage and Florida took full advantage of that as 28 of his 65 tallies in his two seasons with them came on the power play. Hoffman may not quite be a prototypical front-line winger but he is certainly one of the top offensive threats that will be hitting free agency and he should have considerable interest.
F Evgenii Dadonov – Hoffman isn’t the only winger of note that’s about to hit free agency. Dadonov has spent a lot of his last three seasons with Florida on their top line, picking up 182 points in 225 games along the way. While his production dipped this season to only 49 points, he is still one of the top wingers available on the market and his ability to play both wings will certainly bolster his case. Three years ago, there was certainly some trepidation from teams about signing Dadonov given that he was coming back from the KHL and that he didn’t play particularly well in his first stint with the Panthers earlier in his career. With three productive seasons under his belt, his market should be more robust this time around.
F Erik Haula – In a market that is very weak down the middle, Haula could very well be the best of those available. While he hasn’t come close to replicating the 55-point season he had in Vegas in 2017-18, he has quietly played at a 40-point pace in each of the last two years when he has been in the lineup. The problem is that the 29-year-old has been hit hard with injuries over that time and has played just 63 times combined in the past two seasons which may be a cause for concern for some teams. Haula is capable of holding his own as a second-line center in the right situation and may be able to get that opportunity in free agency.
D/W Mark Pysyk – After being a defenseman for most of his career, Pysyk was asked to play on the wing more regularly this past season and held his own all things considered, chipping in with nine goals and nine assists. Not all of that time was spent on the fourth line either. Not many players in the league can shift between the two roles which would give the 28-year-old a chance to stand out in a marketplace full of role players. He almost certainly won’t command the $3.5MM salary he made in 2019-20 but his success on the wing will boost his value compared to had he just played on the third defense pairing.
Other UFAs: F Brian Boyle, F Ryan Haggerty, F Joel Lowry, F Danick Martel, F Jack Rodewald, F Paul Thompson
Projected Cap Space
Cap room is an issue for many teams this offseason but that’s not the case for Florida as they have more than $21MM in space, per CapFriendly. However, that’s only with a dozen players signed so there are a lot of spots that need to be filled. Depending on what their internal budget for 2020-21 is going to be set at, the Panthers could potentially be a team to watch for in the coming days in terms of seeking a prominent free agent or leveraging their cap room to add players via trade.
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Offseason Keys: Vegas Golden Knights
The offseason is now upon us with the Stanley Cup being awarded earlier this week. Having covered the teams that weren’t a part of the NHL’s return and the ones ousted in the Qualifying Round and the first two official rounds, we shift our focus to the ones that were eliminated in the Conference Finals. Next up is a look at Vegas.
This past season was an interesting one for the Golden Knights. They surprisingly fired Gerard Gallant midseason and brought in Peter DeBoer (who coached the Sharks to a first-round upset over Vegas the year before) as his replacement. They were quite sharp in the early going in the playoffs despite a rather public goaltending controversy before they were ousted by Dallas in the Western Conference Final. On the surface, it would seem like GM Kelly McCrimmon only has some tinkering to do but if they want to make a splash, they’ll have some work to do to make that happen.
Clear Up Cap Room
It’s a familiar refrain for many teams this offseason but with Vegas being a speculative option for pending top free agent Alex Pietrangelo, they would need to free up some cap space first. If they want to keep Robin Lehner, that will also require some financial flexibility to be opened up. Even if they simply want to retain their pending free agents, you guessed it, they’ll need to free up some money.
As things stand, Vegas has just over $76.5MM in commitments for next season to 18 players, per CapFriendly. Considering they’ll need most of that remaining room simply to fill out the rest of their forwards and back end, that means that any significant acquisition (or re-signing) is going to require a notable player heading out the door.
With Cody Glass likely to push for a bigger role next year and a weak free agent class down the middle, the time may be right to explore a Paul Stastny trade. The veteran has a $6.5MM AAV for one more year and only a 10-team no-trade list which could make him appealing to some teams looking for more of an impact player. Winger Alex Tuch is coming off of a down year which has him in early speculation as well although he’s still just 24 and has six years left on his deal with a $4.75MM price tag. The late-season addition of Alec Martinez could give them some flexibility to deal from their back end as well.
On the one hand, it’s hard to believe that a team that’s three years old is facing salary cap difficulty already but when you look at the talent on their roster, it’s not so surprising. If they want to add another impact player though, they’ll also have to subtract from their core to make it happen.
Make A Goaltending Decision
When Lehner was brought in at the trade deadline, the original thought was that he’d allow them to give Marc-Andre Fleury a bit of rest down the stretch and give them starter-caliber goaltending in the stretch run. That’s not exactly how things played out. After the post-stoppage training camp, Lehner emerged as the front-runner for the starting job and that’s how it played out as he made 16 of their 20 playoff starts, leading Fleury’s agent Allan Walsh to post a since-deleted tweet depicting a sword bearing DeBoer’s name stabbing Fleury in the back.
Not surprisingly, that has led to plenty of speculation about Fleury’s willingness to stick around for next season although he has indicated that his preference is to stay. Meanwhile, there was speculation last month that Vegas and Lehner were nearing a long-term contract extension although that hasn’t yet materialized.
Notwithstanding the controversy in the early going in the playoffs, it’s difficult to envision Vegas keeping both around. Both want to be starters and, again, they’d need to clear out a fair bit of salary to make it happen.
From a win-now perspective, keeping Lehner would seemingly be the way to go. At 29, he’s still in the prime of his career while Fleury turns 36 next month. He’s still a quality goaltender but his days of being a 60-game starter are likely over. However, trading him would carry some challenges as he still has two years left on a contract that carries a $7.5MM AAV. They can retain up to 50% of that in a trade but is that something they’re going to want to do? A buyout would give them some short-term flexibility but add more than $2MM onto the cap for two years after the deal is set to expire. Meanwhile, Lehner isn’t interested in another short-term contract so taking a short-term pact with an agreement to do something more lucrative when Fleury’s deal is up isn’t in the cards.
They’d like to keep both but doing so may be too pricey. In that case, McCrimmon has a week to decide which one he’d like to keep with Lehner set to be one of the top goalies available on the open market.
Add Defensive Depth
With Deryk Engelland playing a minimal role down the stretch and not at all in the playoffs, it seems as if he may be on his way out as a free agent. Jon Merrill is also set to hit unrestricted free agency as well. While Zach Whitecloud held his own in the playoffs, he’s still relatively inexperienced and although they have some youngsters with some promise including Nic Hague, more development time would certainly be beneficial.
With that in mind, looking to add a depth free agent or two is something McCrimmon may be looking to do independent of any of his other potentially bigger plans. Finding someone that can serve in a sixth or seventh role would be ideal but they’ll need to find someone who is willing to play for close to the league minimum to give them as much flexibility to re-sign their pending restricted free agents (headlined by Chandler Stephenson who had 22 points in 41 games after being acquired by Washington). On top of that, a veteran that could start in the minors but be recalled in case injuries arise may also be needed with Jaycob Megna set to hit the open market as well.
It’s not a particularly exciting type of player to target but it certainly appears that their in-season flexibility is going to be limited. If they can get a veteran or two on the cheap now, that might be enough to keep them from needing to add more blueline help when the 2021 trade deadline rolls around.
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Offseason Keys: Philadelphia Flyers
The offseason has arrived for most squads. Having covered the teams that weren’t a part of the NHL’s return and the ones ousted in the Qualifying Round and official first round, we shift our focus to the ones that were eliminated in the second round. Next up is a look at Philadelphia.
The Flyers were a playoff team for most of the season but really found their stride down the stretch and pushed themselves into the seeding games for the playoffs and avoided the Qualifying Round. From there, they jumped to the top spot and were able to get by Montreal in the first round before their offensive struggles were too much to overcome against the Islanders. Despite the weakened production, Philadelphia was one of the better offensive teams during the regular season so GM Chuck Fletcher may opt to not do too much there. Instead, the things on their to-do list this offseason revolve around the back end and between the pipes and largely involve small tweaks at most instead of big changes.
Re-Sign Myers
There aren’t many restricted free agents of note in Philadelphia, particularly with Nolan Patrick missing all of this season with lingering migraine issues. (While the team is optimistic he’ll play next season, he’ll almost certainly wind up with a cheap one-year deal.) But defenseman Philippe Myers is one whose case carries some importance.
The 23-year-old still hasn’t played a full season with the Flyers but he appears to be on his way towards becoming an important piece of their defensive core. He played in 50 NHL games this season, picking up a respectable 16 points while averaging 17 minutes a night. His workload increased in the playoffs, however, as he was bumped up to more than 20 minutes per game and into a spot in their top four. Myers even chipped in with three goals in those 16 contests.
While it’s a small sample size, it’s likely that Myers is back in that role for next season, especially with Justin Braun set to become an unrestricted free agent next week. A short-term contract would be easy enough to do and should come in fairly cheap given that he has less than 90 games of experience but if he plays well, the price of a long-term deal would go up considerably. As a result, Fletcher may want to kick the tires on what a longer pact would cost; even if it was a slight overpayment in the short term, it would have the potential to be a bargain down the road. That makes this case a bit more important than it might seem at first.
Move Gostisbehere
For a while now, it has seemed like an eventuality that defenseman Shayne Gostisbehere would be made available. That is now indeed the case as just a few days ago, it was reported that they are willing to move the 27-year-old.
Gostisbehere is only two years removed from a breakout 65-point season that made it appear as if he was on his way to becoming a top-notch offensive defender, Even though he’s not the best defender, that type of production would make up for it. Even the years that sandwiched that 2017-18 showing weren’t bad either with outputs of 39 and 37 points. Those certainly weren’t as good but that’s still well above average for a defenseman. Had 2019-20 even come close to that, this probably wouldn’t even be close to being considered at this point. But with only a dozen points in 42 games that saw him scratched down the stretch in the regular season and for most of the playoffs, his value has cratered quite quickly.
Further complicating things is his contract which has three years left at a $4.5MM price tag. That’s justifiable if he can get back to the mid-to-high 30s in points in a normal cap environment but his ability to bounce back is going to be in question and this is anything but a normal cap environment. If Fletcher can find a taker for Gostisbehere, he’s going to have to consider it. Selling low is never ideal but moving him out would at least give them some cap space to work with if they want to try to add to their forward group this offseason. It’s quite the fall from grace for Gostisbehere and it just goes to show how quickly things can change.
Pick A Backup Goalie
The Flyers are among the many teams that have a vacancy to fill between the pipes with Brian Elliott being eligible for unrestricted free agency next week. The team could opt to bring him back in a familiar mentoring role for Carter Hart while Alex Lyon waits in the wings as a cheap option as well but is almost certainly better off as a third-string option. There are plenty of options in free agency and the trade market, however, that will also be worth considering.
There are a couple of questions that Fletcher will need to answer in order to determine which goalie he wants to sign: How comfortable is he with Hart playing back-to-backs and how much do they want to spend in that spot?
While next to nothing is known about the schedule for next season, the current expectation is that the schedule will be somewhat compressed in an effort to get as many games in as possible. Having starting goalies play in both ends of a back-to-back is something that teams have been shying away from doing in recent years and while Hart is young enough that he could probably handle the role, it’s worth noting that he only has 88 career games under his belt (regular season and playoffs combined). Adding the extra pressure of frequently playing back-to-backs is something that they may not want to do.
That will take a bargain-priced goalie off the table which helps shape the answer to that second question. Even so, there is still a sizable gap price-wise between someone like Elliott and the top backup options available. They have a bit of cap room but most of that will go to Myers, Patrick, and rounding out the roster. If they want an upgrade at backup, they probably would need to free up a bit of cap room first.
As things stand, it certainly seems like re-signing Elliott would make the most sense. While his days of being one of the better backups may be gone, he’s someone that accepts his role and works well with Hart. He also won’t need a multi-year commitment in a marketplace where quite a few backups should get an extra year to satisfy expansion exposure requirements. Philadelphia shouldn’t be in that situation as they could qualify Felix Sandstrom and expose him next offseason. Fletcher has a bit of time to think about this but the annual game of musical chairs in free agency often doesn’t last more than a couple of days so, within the next seven-to-ten days, he’ll need to make a decision on this situation.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Offseason Keys: Vancouver Canucks
The offseason has arrived for most squads. Having covered the teams that weren’t a part of the NHL’s return and the ones ousted in the Qualifying Round and official first round, we shift our focus to the ones that were eliminated in the second round. Next up is a look at Vancouver.
After a relatively quiet 2018-19 season, expectations weren’t that high for the Canucks heading into this year. They were a team that was definitely in the mix for a Wild Card spot but not many were expecting them to do a lot of damage. Then came the bubble where Vancouver was one of the bigger surprises. Following their victory over Minnesota in the Qualifying Round, they ousted the defending Stanley Cup champions in the first round and took Vegas all the way to seven games before they were eliminated. Now, GM Jim Benning’s key goals for this summer will be helping the team take that next step forward. However, accomplishing that primarily means taking care of some of their own.
Clear Contracts
The list of notable free agents is fairly long and their cap situation, while not entirely dire, isn’t good enough for them to keep everyone that they want to. Yes, they have about $14MM to spend but need to sign a starting goalie, two defensemen, and three forwards with a pair of notable skaters in defenseman Chris Tanev and winger Tyler Toffoli among those that are slated to hit the open market next month. There’s enough room to keep some but certainly not enough to keep everyone.
That makes freeing up cap space extremely crucial for Benning. While he has stated on multiple occasions that he doesn’t want to part with future assets to free up cap space, he may have to do so as if he doesn’t, an impact player is probably going to leave.
Who could they try to move to free up that space? There are plenty of options. Loui Eriksson has two years left at a $6MM AAV (tied for the highest on the team) but only $5MM left in money owing with his signing bonus already paid for next season. Brandon Sutter is entering his final year with a $4.375MM price tag on the cap and $3.5MM in salary still owed. Both players can still play in the NHL, albeit in limited roles.
A little farther down the list are winger Antoine Roussel and center Jay Beagle who both signed four-year, $12MM contracts just two summers ago. They had the cap room to make those veteran additions now but shedding one of those deals would also give them a bit of flexibility. Beagle is primarily a faceoff specialist at this point while Roussel, if healthy, can be an effective energy player in a bottom six.
At this point, it probably doesn’t matter which one of those veterans gets moved out to give them some extra wiggle room to keep their core players. The priority simply has to be freeing up cap space. It may not be something that Benning wants to do but he likely will have to bite the proverbial bullet here.
Goaltending Decision
Toffoli and Tanev aren’t the only UFAs of note that the Canucks have to contend with as starting goalie Jacob Markstrom is also less than two weeks away from hitting the open market. While it has taken some time going back to his days with Florida, the 30-year-old has blossomed into a capable number one netminder and will be entering the market as one of the top options available.
While he wasn’t able to get to 60 games for the third straight season due to the pandemic and a knee injury, Markstrom still managed to put up a .918 SV% which was the highest of his career. He did a bit better in the playoffs with a .919 mark in 14 games before a groin injury took him out and put Thatcher Demko into the starting role.
Demko was nothing short of spectacular and nearly single-handedly dragged Vancouver past Vegas before the Golden Knights edged them in that seventh game. That presents a bit of a question for Benning. Demko has long been viewed as their goalie of the future and might be ready for a bigger workload which is something that can’t happen as long as Markstrom is in the fold. And while it may be a bit early for teams to really be worrying too much about the expansion draft for the Kraken next year, Vancouver can only protect one goalie. If Markstrom re-signs, it puts them in a likely situation of losing one of them for nothing a year from now.
While Markstrom won’t be commanding the money that Sergei Bobrovsky did a year ago (seven years, $70MM), he should still be in line for a sizable raise on the $3.67MM AAV he had on this most recent deal. It’s possible that he could command somewhere between $5.5MM and $7MM which would take up a big chunk of that remaining cap room. Benning will have to decide in the very near future if Demko is ready to be the starter and if not, he’ll have to re-sign or replace Markstrom.
Extension Talks
The window to sign players to contract extensions has opened up and Vancouver has a pair of young stars that are a year away from needing new deals. With how well both have performed already, there’s certainly a case to be made that Benning should be looking to get deals done with defenseman Quinn Hughes and center Elias Pettersson before the price tag gets even potentially higher next offseason. Doing so would also give them a better idea of their long-term financial picture which could come in handy when it comes to forecasting what they can spend on their current pending UFAs.
Hughes had a phenomenal rookie campaign and finished tied for fourth overall in league scoring by defensemen and was just two points behind Norris finalist Victor Hedman for the third spot. That performance helped him finished second in Calder Trophy voting and he was even better in the playoffs when he finished third in scoring with 16 points (2-14-16) in 17 games. Hughes isn’t eligible for an offer sheet but that shouldn’t affect things much. On his next deal, he’ll be setting the new benchmark for Vancouver’s defensemen as he’ll come in well ahead of Tyler Myers and Alexander Edler ($6MM each).
As for Pettersson, he has back-to-back 66-point seasons to start his career and has established himself as a capable front liner. He has split time between center and the wing and that versatility will only make him more valuable down the road. He may still have another level to get to offensively and it’s safe to say he will be a forward that they will build around. Like Hughes, he’ll undoubtedly be setting the new high point for Vancouver’s forwards as he’ll surpass Eriksson’s $6MM price tag.
Both players are franchise cornerstones so locking them up is going to be high on Benning’s to-do list even though they don’t necessarily have to sign new deals until 2021.
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