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Riley Sheahan

Pacific Notes: Sheahan, Tuch, Carter, Middleton

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In advance of another trip through unrestricted free agency, it appears Oilers center Riley Sheahan is changing things up.  Kurt Leavins of the Edmonton Journal reports that the 28-year-old has switched agents and is now represented by Ritch Winter; previously, Pat Brisson was representing him.  Sheahan’s offensive pace is basically identical to that of a year ago as he sits with eight goals and seven assists through 64 games this season.  He’s currently making $900K but with Edmonton’s salary cap situation, it seems unlikely that they’ll be able to give him much more than that on a new deal.

More from the Pacific Division:

  • Golden Knights winger Alex Tuch has had a setback in his recovery from his lower-body injury, notes David Schoen of the Las Vegas Review-Journal (Twitter link). Instead of being available to play as anticipated, he has been sent back for further evaluation.  It has been a tough season for Tuch who has battled injuries on multiple occasions and has struggled when he is in the lineup.  After collecting 52 points in 2018-19, he has just eight goals and nine assists in 42 contests so far this season.
  • Although Kings center Jeff Carter has yet to skate since March 1st when he had a setback in his recovery, head coach Todd McLellan told Jon Rosen of LA Kings Insider that they haven’t ruled out him returning at some point over the final few weeks. The veteran has been out with a lower-body injury for nearly three weeks now but even though Los Angeles is well out of playoff contention, McLellan indicated that Carter wants to get back before the season ends.
  • Sharks defenseman Jacob Middleton was just starting to secure a regular role in the lineup after being recalled late last month but that momentum has been derailed. Curtis Pashelka of The Mercury News mentions that Middleton is listed as week-to-week with his lower-body injury and may not be back this season.  The 24-year-old has played in ten NHL games this season and will be a restricted free agent with arbitration eligibility in July.

Edmonton Oilers Extend Joakim Nygard

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If Edmonton Oilers GM Ken Holland is anything, he’s loyal to his players and a man of his word. The veteran executive has shown that yet again today by extending forward Joakim Nygard. The move comes just weeks after a report emerged that Holland and company were happy with the play of their depth forwards and hoping to sign the impending UFA’s in that group. Zack Kassian was re-signed days after that announcement and now Nygard, one of the other players specifically named, can also be checked off the re-signing list. Nygard’s new deal is for the 2020-21 season and carries an $875K cap hit, per PuckPedia.

Nygard, 27, is in his first NHL season after signing with the Oilers this past spring out of Sweden. The left winger had previously been a standout performer for many years for Farjestad BK of the SHL but decided to make the jump to the top level. So far, he has recorded nine points in 33 games, but has battled injuries along the way and is currently sidelined with a broken hand. At his best, Nygard has shown flashes of offensive pop and has even spent some time on Edmonton’s little-used second power play unit. None of Nygard’s numbers this season really jump off the page, but clearly there was mutual interest in an extended relationship between player and team and at worst he is an affordable depth option, especially after taking a slight salary hit off of his $925K number this year.

With Nygard’s new deal complete, Holland can continue down the list. The other forwards named in the prior report include Josh Archibald and Riley Sheahan, who have both been valuable role players for the Oilers this season. At this rate, don’t be surprised to see both ink extensions by the end of the regular season.

Snapshots: Sobotka, Archibald, Hall

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Buffalo Sabres forward Vladimir Sobotka was removed from today’s game against the Tampa Bay Lightning after being hit low by Nikita Kucherov, and did not return. John Vogl of The Athletic saw Sobotka after the game in an air cast, but Sabres’ head coach Ralph Krueger wouldn’t speculate on how long he will be out.

Though he has been the whipping boy for many Sabres fans frustrated with the team’s lack of secondary scoring, Sobotka still seems to be a favorite of the coaching staff that continues to give him regular ice time. In his first season with Buffalo last year he failed to make much of an impact scoring just 13 points in 69 games, and has just three so far this season. The Sabres will likely insert Evan Rodrigues into the lineup for the other Global Series game tomorrow afternoon.

  • The Edmonton Oilers have activated Josh Archibald from injured reserve, and will also have Riley Sheahan back in the lineup when they take on the New Jersey Devils tonight. The team is looking to get back in the win column after two straight losses to Western Conference opponents, but still sit atop the Pacific Division with a 10-5-2 record.
  • Taylor Hall will be front and center in that matchup as he returns to Edmonton in the midst of plenty of contract speculation, including some suggesting that the Oilers would have some interest in bringing him back. Mark Spector of Sportsnet examines the Hall situation, explaining how the player has expressed clearly his desire to return to the playoffs before his time as a star in the league runs out. The Devils sit at 4-6-4 on the season, in last place in the Metropolitan Division.

Edmonton Oilers Activate Riley Sheahan

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The Edmonton Oilers have activated center Riley Sheahan from injured reserve, giving the team another option down the middle as they try to continue their recent success. To make room, Josh Archibald has been moved to IR retroactive to his last game on October 2nd.

Sheahan has not yet played this season after signing a one-year $900K contract with the Oilers at the beginning of September, but is expected to play on the third line tonight against the New York Islanders. Interestingly, Archibald actually practiced this morning with the team and is only out with the flu, meaning there is likely another roster move coming later this week.

For now though the Oilers will attempt to extend their winning streak to three games and continue their chase of that elusive playoff spot in the Pacific Division. Sheahan doesn’t come with much offensive guarantee after recording just nine goals and 19 points in 82 games last season, but does have a history of providing at least passable numbers in the bottom-six. He also brings an excellent faceoff percentage to the table, something head coach Dave Tippett will likely rely on in the defensive zone.

Snapshots: Haley, Liljegren, Sheahan

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The New York Rangers made their final cuts today but one name was conspicuously absent: Micheal Haley. The veteran tough guy was in training camp on a professional tryout, but appears to have made the club. Rick Carpiniello of The Athletic has heard just that, though no confirmation has yet come from the club as to what the contract would be. Haley needs an NHL deal to be eligible for the roster, but wouldn’t likely be making more than the $700K minimum salary.

With Haley sticking around, the team decided to send down young forwards like Filip Chytil and Vitali Kravtsov, expecting them to get more out of playing big minutes in the AHL. The duo are integral to the Rangers’ future and will get a chance to really dominate lesser competition in the minor leagues for the first part of the season.

  • Speaking of top prospects going back to the AHL, Timothy Liljegren’s time on the NHL roster might not be very long according to Chris Johnston of Sportsnet, who points out that the young defenseman likely made it past the final cuts for the Toronto Maple Leafs more because of cap mechanisms than performance. Liljegren is still currently on the Toronto roster but looks to need some more seasoning in the minor leagues before making an impact at the NHL level. The 20-year old was selected 17th in 2017 and had 15 points in 43 games for the Marlies last season.
  • The Edmonton Oilers have split up Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl for the time being, putting both at center on different lines with Ryan Nugent-Hopkins taking up the pivot role on the third group. Spreading out that center depth may be in part due to the fact that Riley Sheahan, who was a contender for that third-line center role, is in the concussion protocol and will be out for at least seven to ten days. Sheahan signed a one-year, $900K contract with the Oilers earlier this month after scoring nine goals and 19 points in 82 games last season split between the Pittsburgh Penguins and Florida Panthers.

Pacific Notes: Miller, Gaudette, McLeod

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The Vancouver Canucks paid a heavy price this summer when it went out and traded their 2020 first-round pick to Tampa Bay to acquire forward J.T. Miller. Despite a disappointing season with the Lightning last year in which he scored just 13 goals and 47 points, Vancouver believes they are getting a 20-goal, 50-point player, who can immediately step into the Canucks’ top-six.

One thing that many people like about Miller is the fact that he is a versatile forward, who can play any position on the forward line. And at reasonable cost at $5.25MM over the next four years, he should provide solid value for a team that needs to score goals. However, while most people have Miller penciled in as a winger on one of those top two lines, The Athletic’s Harman Dayal (subscription required) writes that the team should instead consider moving him back to center and placing him on the third line in hopes of stabilizing a line that has been a nightmare for several years now.

Of course trading a first-round pick for what could be a third-line center might not look good for general manager Jim Benning. However, Dayal cites that Miller has solid defensive skills that would make him a solid full-time center and the entire goal is to make the team better and the team might be better off with Miller at center and a lesser winger moving up in the lineup. It also might leave the team better off with a deeper and more talented balance on all three lines, as opposed to putting all their talent in the top two lines.

  • Sticking with the Canucks, the Province’s Ben Kuzma writes that no matter how you look at it, Vancouver center Adam Gaudette just doesn’t have much of a chance to make the team out of training camp. The 22-year-old Gaudette played 56 games for Vancouver last year, but with a loaded roster and the fact that he is waiver-exempt, the math just doesn’t work out for Gaudette staying in the NHL when the season starts. It’s far more likely that the team will send the former Hobey Baker award winner to Utica in the AHL to start the season. He only played 14 games there last year as he spent most of his first professional season learning on the fly as the team’s No. 3 center. However, with more depth in hand, Kuzma writes that the team might be able to develop his skills even better in Utica. He scored five goals and 11 points in the 14 games he played with the Comets last year.
  • Despite continued impressive play by 2018 second-round pick Ryan McLeod in rookie camp so far and considering that McLeod came close to breaking camp with Edmonton last year, the team is very high on his development and potentially making the team this year. However, the Edmonton Journal’s Kurt Leavins writes that despite McLeod’s impressive play, the recent signing of Riley Sheahan almost guarantees that McLeod will return to juniors this year. Regardless, Leavins believes have their future No. 3 center, starting next season.

 

 

Riley Sheahan Signs With Edmonton Oilers

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5:15pm: The deal is official now, as the Oilers have announced a one-year contract with Sheahan per the initially reported terms. Sheahan stated that Holland was “definitely a big reason” why he signed in Edmonton, adding that he’s always “had trust in Ken.”

1:00pm: The Edmonton Oilers have been looking for some more depth down the middle, and it appears GM Ken Holland has found it in an old friend. According to Mark Spector of Sportsnet the team is close to a one-year deal with free agent Riley Sheahan who played for years under Holland with the Detroit Red Wings. The contract will be for $900K, giving the team quite the bargain if Sheahan can actually take over as the third-line center.

That third-line pivot role is something that Sheahan has held in the past, but it’s not clear if he can really be a difference maker there anymore. The 27-year old recorded just 19 points last season in 82 games split between the Pittsburgh Penguins and Florida Panthers, which simply isn’t enough for the Oilers if they plan on getting back to the playoffs this season. While Connor McDavid and either Leon Draisaitl or Ryan Nugent-Hopkins can create an elite pair of centers on the top two lines, the team desperately needs some more consistent secondary scoring from the third line.

Perhaps the hope is that Holland can bring the best out of Sheahan once again. He experienced his best offensive campaign in 2014-15 when he recorded 36 points for the Red Wings, but was a frustratingly inefficient shooter near the end of his career in Detroit. In fact, Sheahan famously went 79 games without scoring a single goal during the 2016-17 season before lighting the lamp in his last game of the year, giving him an eye-popping 1.8% shooting percentage. While something like that isn’t expected to happen again, he’ll need to do more than just play good defense to really make an impact for the Oilers next season.

After moving out Milan Lucic and buying out Andrej Sekera, the Oilers have a little wiggle room to operate this summer but still haven’t made any drastic overhauls to the roster. The team will have to hope a new coach and management team can make enough of these fringe moves to get them back to the postseason, or more substantial transactions may have to be made.

Free Agent Profile: Riley Sheahan

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It wasn’t all that long ago that Riley Sheahan was considered to be part of the next wave of young forwards in Detroit.  However, since the Red Wings salary cap concerns forced them to trade the center two seasons ago, his value around the league has dipped considerably.  Nonetheless, he could still be an intriguing option for teams looking for depth down the middle this summer.

The 27-year-old was only briefly a UFA last summer as although Pittsburgh opted to non-tender him to avoid the risk of salary arbitration but quickly re-signed him to a one-year, $2.1MM deal.  Unfortunately for Sheahan and the Penguins, he didn’t exactly live up to it.

After a rough start that saw him record just nine points in 49 games, the Pens dealt him to Florida as part of a four-player swap designed to shake up their roster.  The change of scenery did Sheahan some good as his ice time jumped by two minutes per game and his offense also ticked up as he picked up 10 points in 33 games down the stretch.  That’s still not a great return on that contract but it was at least a small step in the right direction.

However, it hasn’t been enough to get him a contract so far this summer.  While he’s slightly above average at the faceoff dot, Sheahan isn’t the best penalty killer around which limits his effectiveness in a bottom-six role.  That likely has played a big factor in his limited market through the first five weeks of free agency.

Potential Suitors

There are two types of teams that should have some interest in Sheahan.  Teams that need more depth down the middle could view him as an affordable option.  Also, rebuilding teams that believe their prospects need more development time in the minors could look at him as a capable stopgap option with an eye on trying to move him to a team looking for depth at the trade deadline.

In terms of teams looking for depth down the middle, the Oilers could have a spot for him depending on what the plans are for Ryan Nugent-Hopkins and Leon Draisaitl.  If one of them plays on Connor McDavid’s wing, they’d be looking at depth pieces to fill the last two spots.  Sheahan would provide them with an offensive complement to the more defensive-minded players that currently project to fill those roles.  Winnipeg could have an opening if they opt to keep Jack Roslovic on the wing and they will need to add some players on the cheap to round out their roster once they re-sign their restricted free agents.

As for the second group, the Kings have largely been quiet this summer.  Adding Sheahan would allow them to give someone like Blake Lizotte some extra development time while he should be able to beat out Mario Kempe for a spot.  Minnesota likes what they have in Nico Sturm but he could certainly benefit from some time in the minors to start which would open up at least a short-term role for Sheahan.

Projected Contract

At this point, it’s hard to imagine Sheahan getting more than half of his previous deal and a one-year, $1MM pact wouldn’t be too surprising.  Considering he’s still fairly young, there’s some potential for a deal like this to be a bit of a bargain as well.  If he can’t get that, he’s a safe bet to land somewhere on a training camp PTO but that would be quite the fall from grace for someone that looked to be part of Detroit’s young core just a few years ago.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Snapshots: Sheahan, Stone, Pearson, Desjardins

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While some expected the Panthers to flip recently-acquired center Riley Sheahan by the trade deadline, they opted to keep him around instead.  GM Dale Tallon told Walter Villa of the Miami Herald that he’s quite pleased with how the 27-year-old has performed so far and that they hope to bring him back for next season.  Sheahan is set to become an unrestricted free agent in July and is making $2.1MM this season.  With just 14 points in 62 games between Pittsburgh and Florida, it’s hard to imagine that it will cost considerably more to keep him around although his positional versatility certainly adds to his value.

Other news and notes around the league:

  • Mark Stone’s expected new deal with Vegas (which can be made official as early as Friday) is expected to carry a full no-movement clause. Don Brennan of the Ottawa Sun notes that this was something that the Senators were unwilling to put as part of their offer to keep the 26-year-old in the fold.
  • Canucks winger Tanner Pearson has had a rough season as he has struggled offensively and has been dealt twice now. He told reporters, including Postmedia’s Patrick Johnston, that he had been playing through an undisclosed injury since early December which had prevented him from producing like he did in the past although it wasn’t significant enough to take him out of the lineup.  After averaging 18 goals over each of the past three seasons, Pearson has scored just nine through 61 games so far in 2018-19.
  • With the deadline having passed, one of the questions in Los Angeles is once again the future of interim head coach Willie Desjardins. GM Rob Blake told Robert Morales of the Los Angeles Daily News that a decision on whether or not Desjardins will remain behind the bench for the Kings beyond this year will be made at the end of the season.  The team is 19-25-6 under Desjardins since he took over for John Stevens back in early November.

Metropolitan Notes: Holtby, Bjugstad, Niederreiter

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The Washington Capitals finally broke their seven-game losing streak, but there still is plenty of concern on whether the Stanley Cup champions can re-establish themselves as top candidates to re-capture the title this season. While many point to fatigue as the team played a lot of extra games in the playoffs last season, there are even bigger concerns, including the goaltending.

Perhaps one of the biggest area of concern, according to The Athletic’s Scott Burnside (subscription required) is the play of their goaltending, most particularly the play of Braden Holtby, who is posting another disappointing regular season. Despite an impressive Stanley Cup championship run during the playoffs, Holtby struggled during the regular season with a 2.99 GAA and a .907 save percentage. This year has been even more disappointing as the veteran has a 3.10 GAA and a .905 save percentage. He ranks 19th, among goalies with 20 or more appearances, at even-strength save percentage with a .918.

“The goalies have just lost it here,” Capitals general manager Brian MacLellan said. “They’re flailing away at it, letting in bad goals at bad times, stuff like that.”

  • Seth Rorabaugh of The Athletic (subscription required) writes that the impressive play of Pittsburgh Penguins’ newly acquired center Nick Bjugstad could eventually bring about head coach Mike Sullivan’s dream of spreading out Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin and Phil Kessel over three lines. The belief is that the additions of Bjugstad as well as Jared McCann should open up multiple possibilities on offense which neither Derick Brassard or Riley Sheahan did. “Nick Bjugstad is a guy that’s shown an ability to score in this league,” Sullivan said of a player whose career season of 2014-15 saw him score 24 goals and 43 points in 72 games. “He’s a 45- to 50-point guy. He has more upside, he’s still young. He brings more size to our team and a whole lot of skill.”
  • News & Observer’s Chip Alexander asks the question ’What was Paul Fenton thinking?’ when referring to what so far looks to be a steal of a trade when the Carolina Hurricanes acquired Nino Niederreiter from Fenton and the Minnesota Wild for Victor Rask. Niederreiter has sparked the team with five goals in five games as the team has gone 3-1-1 in that span, including a big victory over Vegas Friday, while Rask has just one assist in Minnesota over four games. Niederreiter seems to have found a home on the team’s first line next to Sebastian Aho and veteran Justin Williams.

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