Remaining RFAs Training Together As Season Approaches
If you navigate to the restricted free agent page on CapFriendly, only five names remain unsigned for the upcoming season. Two of them are New York Islanders players–Anatoly Golyshev and Kieffer Bellows–who are both already in training camp even though the team has not officially announced new contracts. The other three, Elias Pettersson, Brady Tkachuk and Quinn Hughes, are having their own kind of training camp in Michigan. Pierre LeBrun of The Athletic reports that the three are now skating together as they continue to wait out their contract negotiations.
Pettersson joined Hughes there as the Vancouver Canucks deal directly with representative Pat Brisson on new deals for the young stars. As recently as Tuesday, the super-agent told Rick Dhaliwal of CHEK TV that he and the club were speaking every other day, working to get deals done as soon as possible. But it’s now a couple of days into camp and the two most important players on the Vancouver roster are not even in the country.
In Ottawa, things are moving forward without Tkachuk, the team’s best forward and likely their next captain. GM Pierre Dorion once again told reporters including Wayne Scanlan of Sportsnet that the negotiations were “productive and positive,” but the 22-year-old is now missing from camp in an all-important year for the Senators. The team is looking to turn the corner on their rebuild and Tkachuk is the player that needs to lead them there.
A week ago, Justin Bourne of Sportsnet wrote a column detailing his viewpoint on missing the start of training camp. He makes the case that the early part of the season is the most crucial, because of the trust it builds between the coaching staff and roster. While neither Vancouver nor Ottawa have rookie head coaches trying to get the respect of the room, they are both teams that are by no means guaranteed a playoff spot or even a competitive season. Any disruption to the start of the year could cascade throughout the entire schedule.
For now though, all the players can do is train on their own and wait for a resolution. Thomas Drance of The Athletic writes that it will have to be Pettersson that signs before Hughes, because of the latter’s status as a 10.2(c) RFA that cannot be signed to an offer sheet. If they signed them in the reverse, it would open a window for another team to swoop in and offer something to Pettersson that would be difficult to match under the Canucks’ current cap situation.
At this point, there are no more comparables to be signed, as these are the three pillars left standing. The only real pressure point coming now is the start of the regular season, certainly not something either side wants to wait for.
West Notes: Parayko, Ennis, Canucks
Blues defenseman Colton Parayko missed 21 games last season due to a lingering back issue which likely kept the price tag lower on the eight-year, $52MM extension he just signed. Speaking with reporters, including Tom Timmermann of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, the veteran indicated that his back has fully recovered but the treatment to get to that point has been minimal. Instead of surgery or extensive rehab, Parayko has largely just rested to heal the injury, something that simply wasn’t an option during the season when he tried to play through it. Expectations will be much higher for him heading into this coming season with that extension now in place and with the back injury behind him, he should be able to have a bigger impact offensively after recording just 12 points in 32 contests.
More from the Western Conference:
- Veteran forward Tyler Ennis is among those still sitting in the UFA pool but Postmedia’s Jim Matheson reports that there are some teams that have shown tentative interest along the lines of circling back to him as a fallback plan. He lists the Canucks as one of the teams that may have shown interest so far. The 31-year-old had a limited role with Edmonton last season, notching just nine points in 30 games while being a regular scratch. Accordingly, he’s someone that may have to settle for a PTO at this point whether that’s with Vancouver or someone else.
- With one successful offer sheet now being completed, Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman noted in the latest 31 Thoughts podcast (audio link) that the Canucks have been the team believed to be the most concerned about an offer sheet this summer. Of their two remaining RFAs, only center Elias Pettersson is eligible to receive one as defenseman Quinn Hughes falls under the 10.2c classification. Friedman adds that talks are expected to pick up with both unsigned players after there were basically no discussions for all of August.
West Notes: Canucks, Thomas, Skinner
There’s an expectation that one of Canucks RFAs Elias Pettersson and Quinn Hughes will have to take a short-term contract this summer in order for Vancouver to be cap-compliant for next season. Speaking with Vancouver Hockey Now’s Rob Simpson, Pat Brisson, the agent for both youngsters, indicated that there’s no indication yet as to which player could wind up with which type of contract. Simpson suggests that Pettersson, who has offer sheet eligibility, could be the likelier player to sign first since Hughes doesn’t have that right although the odds of the center receiving an offer sheet worth signing at this stage is highly unlikely. No discussions are expected over the coming days with GM Jim Benning taking a quick summer break before training camp, something many general managers around the league are likely doing.
More from the Western Conference:
- Blues RFA forward Robert Thomas is believed to be seeking a higher AAV than the $2.8MM that Jordan Kyrou received earlier this season, reports Jeremy Rutherford of The Athletic (subscription link). The 22-year-old is coming off a tough injury-riddled season that saw him post just a dozen points in 33 games but with 75 points in 136 contests over his first two seasons, he has enough of a track record to try to get that on a bridge deal. Louis doesn’t have that much cap space but with Oskar Sundqvist headed for LTIR to start the season, that would give them enough of a buffer to get Thomas under contract although they’d need to get cap-compliant by the time Sundqvist returns.
- Oilers goaltender Stuart Skinner has been Edmonton’s top goalie prospect basically since they drafted him back in the third round in 2017. However, as Postmedia’s David Staples notes, they’ve never really shown much confidence in him, evidenced by the acquisition of veterans in recent years including Alex Stalock who presently sits ahead of him for the third spot on the depth chart. With some of their other prospects now in the minor pros (Ilya Konovalov and Olivier Rodrigue), time is running out for Skinner to establish himself as a viable option for Edmonton. If that doesn’t happen soon, it’s possible that he’ll become a trade candidate if one of those other prospects is ready for a bigger role in Bakersfield.
Pacific Notes: Canucks, Koekkoek, Edler
While many teams have dealt with most of their restricted free agents already, that can’t be said for Vancouver who still has center Elias Pettersson and defenseman Quinn Hughes among their unsigned youngsters. Speaking with Postmedia’s Patrick Johnston, Pat Brisson – who represents both players – noted that there’s no holdup in talks between him and the Canucks. Part of the delay is that both short-term and long-term deals are being pondered for both players although it’s unlikely they will be able to afford to give each of them a contract that would buy out some UFA eligibility. It wouldn’t be surprising if talks pick up once they get a deal done with RFA center Jason Dickinson whose arbitration hearing is set for Friday. Once that’s in place, they’ll have a better idea of how much they’ll be able to spend on their two young stars.
More from the Pacific:
- David Staples of the Edmonton Journal examined the recent two-year deal that the Oilers handed to defenseman Slater Koekkoek. While his numbers were underwhelming last season – one goal in 18 games while averaging just 13:10 per contest – he was better than several Edmonton blueliners in terms of frequency of allowing scoring chances. Koekkoek’s numbers usually wouldn’t be good enough to yield a multi-year contract so there’s a good chance that the team was intrigued by that particular stat as well.
- Defenseman Alex Edler told Zach Dooley of LA Kings Insider that part of the reason that he signed with the Kings was how much interest they showed in him early along with the fit he’d have with the team. He added that he did field interest from other teams which likely helped push his price tag up to $3.5MM for next season, a somewhat high price tag for a player who had just eight assists in 52 games while logging his lowest ice time since 2007-08. The 35-year-old should have a prominent role with Los Angeles next season and could be used in a shutdown capacity similar to the role he had at times in Vancouver.
North Notes: Canucks, Muzzin, Shore, Canadiens
The Canucks are a team that’s going to be looking to free up some cap room this summer and their situation for next season just got a bit more challenging. PuckPedia reports (Twitter link) that as a result of Quinn Hughes maxing out on his bonuses and Nils Hoglander hitting a games played-related bonus, Vancouver will be facing a $649K bonus overage penalty heading into next season. With the team being in LTIR for the entire year, they were unable to bank any cap room throughout the season which means that full amount is added to their 2021-22 payroll.
More from the North Division:
- The Maple Leafs have not yet ruled out defenseman Jake Muzzin for Monday’s seventh game against Montreal, head coach Sheldon Keefe told reporters including Postmedia’s Terry Koshan. The blueliner left Saturday’s game midway through the second period with a lower-body injury and the team is awaiting results on testing to determine his availability moving forward. If Muzzin is unable to play, Rasmus Sandin would likely return to the lineup to replace him.
- The usage of Devin Shore in their final two postseason games suggests that the Oilers will try to retain him this summer, suggests Kurt Leavins of the Edmonton Journal. While Shore has arbitration eligibility, he also cleared waivers twice in the year and managed just nine points in 39 games so it’s unlikely he’d command much more than the $735K qualifying offer that he’s owed to stick around. Edmonton will need some cheap depth for next season and he could fit in that role for another year.
- Canadiens winger Artturi Lehkonen took part in an optional skate today but was in a non-contact jersey, relays TVA Sports’ Renaud Lavoie (Twitter link). As a result, his availability for Monday’s game against Toronto appears to be in jeopardy. He has been out since suffering an upper-body injury in the third game of the series. Montreal’s AHL affiliate in Laval also announced (Twitter link) that they’ve re-signed Tobie Paquette-Bisson to a one-year, one-way AHL contract. The blueliner played in 28 games with the Rocket this season.
Snapshots: Canucks, Rutta, Lehner, Gardiner
One of the intriguing pending storylines for the Canucks is what will happen with pending RFAs Elias Pettersson and Quinn Hughes. As part of his press conference on Friday, GM Jim Benning told reporters, including Postmedia’s Patrick Johnston, that although the pair are eligible to be extended now, they’ve decided to delay those discussions until after next month’s trade deadline. Both youngsters are now represented by CAA’s Pat Brisson and the types of deals they sign will greatly affect Vancouver’s spending plans this offseason. If both were to sign long-term contracts, they’d be extremely limited in trying to make any other moves but if one or both have to settle for bridge deals, they’d have some short-term wiggle room. While they’re delaying those talks for now, Benning would undoubtedly like to have an idea of the cost to re-sign those two before getting too deep into their summer plans.
Elsewhere around the league:
- Lightning defenseman Jan Rutta is day-to-day with a lower-body injury, the team announced (Twitter link). The veteran had played in every game for Tampa Bay until last night, notching six assists in 21 contests. The team doesn’t have enough room in LTIR to make another recall although they do still have six healthy blueliners on the roster for the time being.
- While the Golden Knights have been without Robin Lehner for the last ten games, head coach Peter DeBoer told David Schoen of the Las Vegas Review-Journal that while the netminder isn’t currently on the road trip, he’s “very close to reintegrating in with the group”. That suggests that the 29-year-old is nearing a return which would be a welcome addition for a Vegas team that has had to use Marc-Andre Fleury a bit more than they’d have liked in recent weeks although the veteran has played quite well.
- Carolina defenseman Jake Gardiner has declared himself ready to return from the upper-body injury that has caused him to miss five straight games, notes Michael Smith of the Hurricanes’ team site (Twitter link). Officially, he is listed as a game-time decision for tomorrow’s game against Florida. Gardiner has seven assists in 16 contests this season but is averaging a career-low 15:55 per game.
Cale Makar Named 2020 Calder Trophy Winner
The NHL Awards kicked off with the presentation of the Calder Memorial Trophy, awarded each year to the first-year player judged to be the best of the rookie class. This year, the award went to Colorado Avalanche defenseman Cale Makar, as voted on by the Professional Hockey Writers’ Association. Makar beat out fellow defenseman Quinn Hughes of the Vancouver Canucks and Chicago Blackhawks forward Dominik Kubalik.
While Kubalik was indeed a finalist for the Calder, this was a two-horse race between Makar and Hughes as expected. The PHWA voting revealed that only the New York Rangers’ Adam Fox received a first-place vote besides Makar and Hughes (and he received only one) while just five second-place votes were cast outside of the duo. At the end of the day, Makar did not receive any votes that were not first- or second-place and earned more than double the number of first-place votes as his Canucks counterpart. That was more than enough for the Colorado wunderkind to take home the Calder.
Makar, 21, has received a major hockey award for the second year in a row after he was named the Hobey Baker Award winner last year as the best player in NCAA college hockey. Just as Makar took the University of Massachusetts to the NCAA Championship game last year, he helped the Avalanche to a top-five record in the regular season and to the semifinals in the Western Conference. A dynamic puck-moving defenseman who recorded 50 points in 57 games as a first-year pro, all while logging big minutes for a rookie, Makar has the makings of a superstar in the NHL and could be back in awards contention sooner rather than later as a Norris Trophy candidate.
Poll: Who Should Win The 2020 Calder Trophy?
The finalists have been announced for all the major awards, but like every year there is much debate over who should take home each piece of hardware. In fact, with a shortened season and unorthodox playoff scenario, the views and reasoning behind each vote will perhaps vary even more wildly.
So as we get closer to the return of NHL hockey in Edmonton and Toronto, where 24 teams will try to chase the Stanley Cup, we’re going to ask you, the PHR faithful, to explain who you would vote for if given the chance.
We’ll start with the Calder Memorial Trophy, annually awarded to “the player selected as the most proficient in his first year of competition in the NHL.” The rookie scoring race was incredible this season and likely would have gone down to the wire, while some others that were left out of the finalist group had good cases of their own.
The ones that did make that top-3, were Cale Makar of the Colorado Avalanche, Quinn Hughes of the Vancouver Canucks and Dominik Kubalik of the Chicago Blackhawks.
Makar, 21, came into the 2019 playoffs like a freight train, immediately becoming one of the most dynamic players on the Avalanche roster. That impressive debut didn’t take away his rookie eligibility, but it did give him an experience base to rely on as his first full season began. When things kicked off on the 2019-20 season, Makar was already in high gear, recording points in each of his first five and nine of his first 11 regular season games. By the end of November it was apparent that Makar wasn’t going to slow down his scoring pace, as he had put up eight goals and 26 points in his first 26 games.
Unfortunately, he suffered an injury in early December that kept him out for a handful of games and he would finish the season with only 57 games played. His 50 points weren’t quite enough to topple Hughes for the rookie lead, though he did score at a higher pace.
No, the Vancouver defenseman would end up taking home the scoring title among first-year players with an amazing 53 points on the season. The sweet-skating Hughes was a revelation for the Canucks, who started to rely on him more and more as the season went on. By the end of it, Hughes seemed to be starting every Vancouver possession by escaping pressure with his edges and carrying the puck up the ice. In his first 20 games of the season, Hughes averaged just over 20 minutes of ice time a night. In his final 20, that number grew to more than 22 and a half, including several nights when he pushed close to 30.
The University of Michigan product is a catalyst for offense in Vancouver and will be for years to come, but he did only actually score eight goals. That was four fewer than Makar, and 22 fewer than the third finalist who comes with much less fanfare.
Kubalik arrived in Chicago as something of an unknown, after being drafted by the Los Angeles Kings seven years ago and then playing in Europe until the age of 24. It wasn’t clear if he would even be able to hang in the NHL (though frequent readers of our PHR chats will remember his name being thrown around as one to watch), but he did more than just keep his head above water. After a few early healthy scratches, Kubalik put his stamp on the Blackhawks roster with 30 goals in 68 games, with only four of those tallies coming on the powerplay. That production comes despite averaging just over 14 minutes a night, though that number was substantially higher by the end of the year when he found himself playing alongside Chicago’s top players.
The soon-to-be-25-year-old Kubalik is a deserving candidate to be sure, but there were other names that many believed should end up in the conversation as well. Adam Fox of the New York Rangers put up 42 points and was arguably the team’s best defenseman by the end of the year, while Columbus Blue Jackets netminder Elvis Merzlikins was among the league leaders with a .923 save percentage in his first season.
There’s an argument to be made for many of these names, but who will you cast your vote for? Take part in the poll below and then jump into the comments to defend your decision!
Who should win the 2020 Calder?
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Quinn Hughes 64% (1,823)
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Cale Makar 26% (751)
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Dominik Kubalik 7% (205)
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Other (leave in comments) 2% (64)
Total votes: 2,843
[Mobile users click here to vote!]
NHL Announces Finalists For 2019-20 Calder Trophy
The NHL has continued to release the finalists for their major regular season awards, this time giving us the top Calder Trophy candidates. This award is given to the top first-year player in the league and is voted on by the Professional Hockey Writers Association.
The finalists are: Cale Makar (COL), Quinn Hughes (VAN), Dominik Kubalik (CHI).
Makar, 21, didn’t need much of an introduction this season after making his explosive debut in the playoffs for the Colorado Avalanche last year. After putting up six points in ten postseason matches, Makar picked up right where he left off and showed he can be a dominant offensive presence right from the start. With 50 points in 57 games, he actually finished in second place among Avalanche players behind only Nathan Mackinnon. That’s an impressive feat in any year, let alone your first full season in the NHL. Makar has all the talent to be one of the elite defenders in the league, including an improving defensive game and physical edge. In many other years, he may have been a lock to take home the Calder trophy, but this season is a little bit different.
That’s because of Hughes, who actually outproduced Makar (though he played in an additional 11 games) with 53 points on the season. That total trailed only John Carlson, Roman Josi and Victor Hedman (potential Norris finalists) in league scoring among defensemen, meaning he has already reached the upper-echelon in offensive production from the back end. Given that the former Michigan Wolverine won’t turn 21 until the middle of October, you can bet that you’ll be hearing his name at the top of point charts for a long time to come. Hughes is one of the most beautiful skaters in the league, able to carry the puck effortlessly up the ice and around defenders before dishing it off to his goal-scoring teammates.
Speaking of goal-scoring forwards, Kubalik jumps onto the ballot after exploding into the NHL with a 30-goal campaign. The Czech forward was a seventh-round pick of the Los Angeles Kings in 2013 but chose instead to play overseas for six seasons. After lighting up the Czech and Swiss leagues and seeing his rights traded in the NHL, he decided to sign with the Blackhawks and immediately showed why he was so successful in Europe. A lightning-quick release and the ability to get lost in traffic, Kubalik came second among all Chicago forwards in goals and third in points. The argument against him for the Calder may be his age, but make no mistake that the 24-year old will be a force for years to come.
West Notes: Hughes, Stone, Johns, Neal
The Calder Trophy race continues to get tighter. The NHL announced its Rookie of the Month for February with Vancouver Canucks defenseman Quinn Hughes picking up the hardware. He joins Victor Olofsson (October/December), Cale Makar (November) and Dominik Kubalik (January), all legitimate candidates for the Calder Trophy, as recipients of the award.
The defenseman led all rookies in points with 15 points in 13 games and was tied for the most assists in the NHL with 13. He also had a multi-goal game against the New York Islanders on Feb. 1. Hughes beat out several key rookies for the award, including New Jersey’s MacKenzie Blackwood, New York Rangers’ Igor Shesterkin, Chicago’s Kubalik, Dallas’ Denis Gurianov, Montreal’s Nick Suzuki and Colorado’s Makar. Hughes currently has the points lead among rookies with eight goals and 51 points.
- The Vegas Golden Knights got some disappointing news as forward Mark Stone is considered week-to-week with a lower-body injury, according to David Schoen of the Las Vegas Review-Journal. Head coach Peter DeBoer said that surgery isn’t necessary for the 27-year-old and the team does expect him to return before the end of the regular season. Stone, who recently has been centering Jonathan Marchessault and Reilly Smith on the first line will now be replaced by veteran Paul Stastny. Stone isn’t having as good a season last year when he had 33 goals and 73 points, but is still having a strong season with 21 goals and has tied his career-high 42 assists.
- Dallas Morning News’ Matthew DeFranks writes that Dallas Stars defenseman Stephen Johns was forced to sit out his third straight game Saturday due to an upper-body injury. While the nature of the injury is unknown, Stars interim head coach Rick Bowness said that it is not related to the post-traumatic headaches that Johns had been suffering from for more than 22 months. Bowness added that he believes that Johns will return to the lineup Tuesday as he has been skating and practicing with the team. “If this was a do or die game, he probably would play,” Bowness said. “But with the travel that we’ve had this month and the schedule that’s coming up, we figured just give him an extra couple days. It’s not going to hurt him.” Johns has re-established himself as a top player since returning in January. The 27-year-old has two goals, five points, 35 hits and 17 blocks in just 13 games.
- The Edmonton Journal’s Jim Matheson reports that the Edmonton Oilers are expecting forward James Neal to join the team on their upcoming three-game road trip and could return to the lineup at some point during that trip. Neal has been out since Jan. 29 with a sprained ankle. He has 19 goals and 29 points in 50 games this season for the Oilers.