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Morning Notes: Del Zotto, Johansen, Doan

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With the free agent period set to open tomorrow morning, there are several interesting options available. One of those is Michael Del Zotto, who has shown flashes of brilliance in an otherwise underwhelming career so far. Rick Dhaliwal of News 1130 in Vancouver is reporting that the Canucks are the leading candidate on Del Zotto, after some productive talks during the free agent window.

Though Del Zotto isn’t a game-changing name, he does bring some upside and relative youth from a fairly stagnant market. At just 27 he’s one of the younger defensemen available and has shown the ability to be a 40-point player in the past. Vancouver, looking for assets to perhaps flip at the deadline would do well in taking a chance on the former Flyer. We ranked Del Zotto #24 among our Top 50 Free Agents, expecting him to get a two-year contract.

  • The checkbook might have to come out for Ryan Johansen, as the Nashville Predators center is looking for $8.5MM per season on a long-term contract according to Ryan Kennedy of The Hockey News. While the final number may come down substantially, Johansen does have a strong case as a restricted free agent. Though he’s only 24, Johansen already has six seasons under his belt in the NHL and thus would be giving away almost entirely UFA years in any long-term deal. After his fourth-straight 60-point season and checking basically every other box you want from a #1 center (size, defense and faceoffs) he has a lot of leverage in any negotiation. For what it’s worth, only five centers in the entire league have a cap hit of $8.5MM or above: Jonathan Toews, Anze Kopitar, Evgeni Malkin, Steven Stamkos and Sidney Crosby.
  • Craig Morgan of AZ Sports tweets that four teams have reached out to agent Terry Bross in regards to Shane Doan, but the long-time Coyotes forward won’t make a decision for a while yet. It’s not even clear if Doan will actually play next season, but all signs point to him wanting to suit up once again. It probably need to be a legitimate role on a contender to coax Doan to come aboard, and it’s unclear where that will be. Doan ranked #35 on our free agent list, but wasn’t even included in the top 50 on two ballots. It’s clear that opinions are mixed on whether he has anything left to contribute around the league.
  • Michael Russo of the Star Tribune has a couple of notes to pass along today, the first being that Thomas Vanek has had a few teams reach out including the Florida Panthers. Vanek has strong ties to the Minnesota community, but Russo doesn’t mention the Wild as a possibility for the 33-year old forward. The other note is concerning Marco Scandella and a continuing interest from the Buffalo Sabres. Buffalo has been trying to improve their defense for a while, and Minnesota is still expected to move at least one defender before the start of the season.
  • Dinamo Riga has signed former NHL goaltender Justin Peters, ending for now his struggle in the minor leagues. Peters got into three games for the Coyotes this season, but has spent the majority of his time in the AHL the last few seasons. A second-round pick by Carolina in 2004, he’s played in 83 games in his NHL career, registering a .901 save percentage.

Early Expansion Protection News: Capitals, Kings, Flames, Predators, And More

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The 2017 NHL Expansion Draft is an exciting process. If you’re too riled up to wait until the lists are officially submitted in the morning, you’re in luck. As could be expected, information leaks are flooding in on who was and wasn’t protected by their teams ahead of the deadline this afternoon. This list will be updated all night long as more news comes in:

  • One not so obvious choice has been made in Nashville. Adam Vingan of The Tennessean answered a question on the minds of many, reporting that the Predators did in fact protect forward Calle Jarnkrok. With the rest of the eight-skater list all but set in stone with goalie Pekka Rinne, defensemen Roman Josi, P.K. Subban, Ryan Ellis, and Mattias Ekholm, and star forwards Filip Forsberg, Ryan Johansen, and Viktor Arvidsson, the final forward spot came down to Jarnkrok, signed long-term, or James Neal, an elite scorer with just one year remaining on his contract. It seems that Neal will be open for selection, alongside names like Colton Sissons, Colin Wilson, and Craig Smith. Vignan adds that no deal has been struck between Vegas and the Predators to protect any of those players, with Nashville especially liking to retain Neal and Sissons.
  • Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reported that, interestingly enough, young Detroit Red Wings defenseman Xavier Ouellet was not protected by his team. This is the first real surprise of the expansion process and the first protection news that doesn’t match up with PHR’s Expansion Primer projections. The 23-year-old skated in 66 games this season for Detroit, third most among defenseman, and his 12 points tied that of top-pair man Danny DeKeyser. Yet, Ouellett will not join DeKeyser and Mike Green in protection, instead beaten out by another teammate. GM Ken Holland, who has gotten the reputation of perhaps being too loyal, possibly chose aging veteran Niklas Kronwall over Ouellet. Hopefully that doesn’t come back to bite the rebuilding Red Wings.
  • Another name confirmed to be unprotected is young Vancouver Canucks center Brendan Gaunce. Vancouver sports anchor Rick Dhaliwal was told that that Gaunce, a 2012 first-round pick, did not make the protection list for the Canucks, expected to be a 7/3 format, meaning that the team saw him as outside the top seven forwards on the team. The 23-year-old two-way specialist has upside, but after registering just five points in 57 games last season, no one will blame Vancouver for that choice.

Finals Appearance Will Pay For Nashville Players

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Every year, there are players entering the final year of a contract will cash in on a solid playoff run. This year, Nashville has 11 players who are at the end of their deals – 6 to become unrestricted free-agents, and 5 restricted. Almost all will see a major jump in pay heading into next season.

Pontus Aberg has had a remarkable run for a relative unknown. The impending RFA has 5 points through 13 games, including two beautiful goals. He’s displayed top-six skill at times and is now on the national stage. Viktor Arvidsson was already looking for a major payday after scoring 31 goals and 61 points during the regular season. But his dominant speed and creativity, to accompany  12 playoff points, only solidifies the probability of an expensive deal. RFA Ryan Johansen is considered by most to be a number one center in this league, and it’s a solid bet Nashville will be looking to lock him into the distant future. After trading Seth Jones for his services a couple seasons back, it’s clear that GM David Poile has complete confidence in the player’s potential, honorary mayorship aside. Frederick Gaudreau emerged out of absolutely nowhere to become a shifty top-nine element, and although he’s far from a sure thing with 14 games under his belt, it’s likely the team will want to retain his services. Thankfully, the RFA negotiation process often benefits the team’s position, keeping prices from getting astronomical.

If the team wants to bring back captain Mike Fisher for another year, or add a big free agent, it is made all the more difficult by these outbursts of productivity. National exposure does go a long way to bring prices up, and depending on the team’s vision for the future, these new contracts could cause headaches down the line. Thankfully, most of Nashville’s core is locked up to reasonable deals in the longer term. Only sniper James Neal has his contract set to expire the following year, 2018-19. Without re-signing anyone, the team has 18 players under contract with somewhere around $17 MM in space.

Snapshots: Price, Johansen, Cincinnati

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Beginning on July 1, several notable players will be eligible to sign contract extensions ahead of the final year of their contracts. Connor McDavid is the biggest name, but Carey Price is in a similar stratosphere.

The superstar goaltender is entering the final year of his six-year, $39MM contract ($6.5MM AAV), signed back in 2012. Price has a no-move clause (NMC) which allows him to submit a list of 15-team trade list.

According to TSN’s Pierre LeBrun, Canadiens GM Marc Bergevin and Price’s agent Gerry Johansson will meet next week to begin discussions. The two have had some preliminary discussions at the World Championships earlier this month, but have not had any “real negotiations” yet. The two sides are reportedly aiming to have something ready for Price to sign on July 1.

The Price contract will have a big impact on the Canadiens’ plans going forward. While he could command in the neighborhood of $10MM, that would negatively impact Bergevin’s ability to bring in offensive help, something the Canadiens desperately need.

  • Nashville center Ryan Johansen appeared on TSN 1040 in Vancouver, and opened up about his season-ending injury and comments about Ducks shut-down center Ryan Kesler. Johansen took a hit from Josh Manson, and was going to pull himself out of the game when the game ended in overtime. By the time Johansen hit the showers, he was unable to walk and had emergency surgery just hours later. He’s expected to make a full recovery, which is good news considering the serious risks related to acute compartment syndrome. Regarding Kesler, Johansen said his only regret was not being able to shake the Ducks’ hands at the end of the series.
  • The Buffalo Sabres have found a new AA affiliate, signing an agreement with the Cincinnati Cyclones. The Sabres’ previous ECHL affiliate, the Elmira Jackals, folded earlier this year. The Cyclones were previously affiliated with the Nashville Predators organization. This isn’t the first time there has been an agreement between Buffalo and Cincinnati; back in the 1970s, the Sabres had the Cincinnati Swords as their AHL affiliate. With the AHL above them, the ECHL is generally low on NHL prospects; just four Sabres prospects played in Elmira last season.

Snapshots: Olympics, Johansen, Rakell

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The Pyeongchang Olympics organizing committee president Lee Hee-beom stated that he is still willing to negotiate with the NHL to get them involved with the Olympics. He stated that he didn’t believe the NHL was being “greedy,” and was still open to working out a deal to allow NHL players to play during the Olympics for the 2018 Olympic Games.

The Sporting News writes that Lee stated that he is willing to be flexible and while he doesn’t know what the NHL wants in order to make a deal, “but whatever they ask – if it is acceptable for us – we will do our best.”

The International Ice Hockey Federation has also been willing to discuss options, but it is believed that a “game-changer offer” is needed in order to get the NHL owners to agree to stop the season for three weeks for the Olympics. The IIHF has already agreed to pay players’ travel and insurance costs, but balked at the NHL’s demand for a share of marketing rights to a commercial league.

  • Nashville Predators’ Ryan Johansen was reportedly diagnosed with acute compartment syndrome, according to NHL Network’s Jon Morosi. The team has not confirmed this. He is expected to fully recover. As reported yesterday, Johansen was knocked out of Game 4 against the Ducks and had immediate surgery and was ruled out for the remainder of the playoffs. He was their No. 1 option on offense after putting up 61 points this season. Ian McLaren of theScore writes that captain Mike Fisher will also be out for Game 5 tonight with an undisclosed injury.
  • The Predators may have mounting injuries, but the Ducks are suffering as well. Already without veteran Patrick Eaves, now The Tennessean’s Adam Vingan tweets that the Ducks will be without Rickard Rakell for Game 5 tonight with a lower body injury. The 24-year-old center broke out with 33 goals during the regular season and had seven goals and 13 points during the playoffs.

 

 

 

Ryan Johansen Out 2-3 Months With Left Thigh Injury

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The Nashville Predators not only lost their Western Conference game last night in crushing fashion, but have lost one of their key forwards in the process. Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet reports that Ryan Johansen required surgery to repair a left thigh injury, the result of which will be a 2-3 month recovery period. The emergency surgery was completed at Vanderbilt University Medical Center. Johansen played more than 27 minutes in the overtime game, leading all forwards of either team.

The 24-year old center has developed into the #1 option the Predators were after when they traded Seth Jones for him last year, scoring 61 points during the regular season. His play in the postseason for Nashville has been close to Conn Smythe-worthy, with 13 points in 14 games an an excellent defensive effort every night. Matched against some of the toughest defensive centers in the league, Johansen has found success and helped the Predators become a real potential Cup-winning team. Now, they’ll have to find a way to fill the huge hole in the middle of the ice with someone else.

Mike Fisher is the obvious candidate to take on an even bigger role, but he left game 4 in the third period with an apparent head injury after Josh Manson’s knee collided with it. He didn’t play any of the overtime, registering less than 13 minutes on the night. Calle Jarnkrok has played well this season but has little experience going up against the top checking units of other teams, while Colton Sissons and Vernon Fiddler don’t have the offensive chops to play on the top line. Mike Ribeiro, an option because of his history of offensive production, was the center of a Yahoo! Sports report yesterday speaking about his latest relapse with alcoholism and his current status of rest and rehabilitation. Ribeiro was waived earlier this year after a trade request and finished the season with the Milwaukee Admirals of the AHL.

This is a disappointing end to a playoff run for a burgeoning young forward, especially after the war of words he’s maintained with Ryan Kesler throughout the series. The Predators will need to find a way to fill his minutes with productive play, and perhaps this is a chance for another young player to step up and make a difference in the playoffs. Especially after also losing Kevin Fiala earlier in these playoffs, the spotlight will brighten on Filip Forsberg and Viktor Arvidsson even more now to carry the offensive load, while hoping that Colin Wilson and James Neal can step up even further.

Allen’s Latest: Playoff Surprises, Second Round Predictions

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The USA Today’s Kevin Allen listed his playoff surprises as teams advanced into the second round. His biggest surprise is a take shared by many: the four game sweep of the Chicago Blackhawks. He wonders if they’ve “run out of magic” and comments that the team looked worn out. He also believes that Stan Bowman will be a man of his word and certainly look to tweak the roster. The house cleanings in Buffalo, and Los Angeles certainly caught Allen (and others) by surprise. He believes that the recently fired Dean Lombardi may be just what Buffalo needs to get over the hump. Allen underscores the importance of Jake Allen in the Blues’ first round triumph, and notes that Alexander Radulov should get a hefty payday after playing well with Montreal. Allen also sees Ryan Johansen as the #1 center the Predators envisioned him to be when they dealt for him last season.

  • Allen mentions Johansen again when he points out the five reasons Nashville shocked Chicago in four games. Besides getting the best of Chicago defensively, he notes that Pekka Rinne rose to the occasion and was next to impossible to beat between the pipes. Rinne posted a staggering .976 save percentage and gave up just three goals in four games. Allen adds that the Predators were also a much deeper team than the one who faced Chicago back in 2015. Finally, strategic moves by head coach Peter Laviolette played a key role in Chicago’s inability to contain the Preds. Focusing on speed, by placing Harry Zolnierczyk and Pontus Aberg into the lineup made the Blackhawks lives miserable trying to keep up.
  • In terms of who will advance to the conference finals, Allen is the only one of his staff who sees the Penguins getting past the Capitals. He believes the Penguins speed will cause matchup problems for Washington, and result in yet another Washington-Pittsburgh tilt that sees the Penguins triumph. Allen has the Rangers meeting the Penguins in the Eastern Conference Final, dispatching the Senators in six games. Over in the West, Allen forecasts an Anaheim-Nashville Western Conference Final, though he thinks both matchups will see seven games, writing that the Nashville-St. Louis series is most likely a toss up.

RFAs Looking For Playoff Payouts

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Every post-season, players look to make their mark. Relative unknowns break onto the scene, rookies steal the show, and goaltenders go from backup to fan-embraced starter. Contracts are always in the back of management’s thinking, however, and a strong post-season showing for a player can cost a team in dollars. Here are some restricted free agents who could stand to earn a more lucrative deal depending on how far their teams go and how bright they shine individually.

 

Ryan Johansen – NSH

Johansen will look to get a slight raise from his current $4.0 MM cap hit. A large determinant for whether he will see a take-home pay ($6.0 MM) decrease or not will be his performance in these playoffs. Johansen’s past two seasons have been fruitful in terms of points, 60 in 15-16 and 61 in 16-17, but not quite the numbers of the marquee offensive star Nashville fans were hoping for. This is a player who scored 33 goals in the 13-14 season, and was projected to consistently flirt with 80 points. Johansen’s imposing frame and play-style is a challenge for opposing centers, and he has undeniably improved his defensive prowess. Johansen only potted 14 goals this year, but it is fair to say his game has become more well-rounded. His Corsi For % took a massive hop from last season, taking a solid 52.3% to a remarkable 55.9% this past outing. Considering his quality of competition and his ability to provide solid two-way play, Johansen will be looking to prove his worth this post-season with a deep post-season run with the Predators.

Evgeny Kuznetsov – WAS

Washington’s Kuznetsov should definitely be considered part of the team’s core. At 24 years old, the center has already tallied a 77 point season and had a 5-goal playoff run. His inconsistency in terms of production could hinder his payday, however, as he struggled to regain his footing in what was essentially his third full season. He returned to form on the backend of the season, totaling a respectable if unremarkable 59 points. The flashy forward already has 3 points through 5 games against Toronto,  and a strong playoff showing can only help his position. With Nicklas Backstrom taking first-line duties and the red-hot Justin Williams on his wing, Kuznetsov could easily find himself in the spotlight again. Whether his next contract is a bridge deal at a lower cost or a long-term lock-down, Kuznetsov is certain to see a raise from his measly $3 MM.

Leon Draisaitl – EDM

Anyone who has watched Edmonton this season in hopes of catching a glimpse of Connor McDavid has undoubtedly been shocked and/or awed by the dominance of his 21 year-old linemate Draisaitl. Draisaitl’s vision with the puck and dogged determination make him a beautiful sight to behold. He accumulated an absurd 77 points this season, 29 goals and 48 assists, in what was only his second full season. The forward is already flirting with a point per game, and has shown remarkable chemistry with the generational talent McDavid. His flexibility in being able to shift from center to wing only makes him that much more valuable to the franchise. The Oilers will obviously pay whatever price is needed to lock up Draisaitl long-term, but the deeper the team goes, the better his bargaining position. He’s obviously going to get a fair deal more than his current $3.4 MM, likely upwards of $6 MM.

Conor Sheary – PIT

Conor Sheary had an incredible breakout season that practically no one, even Penguins fans, expected. On Sidney Crosby’s wing, the short-statured winger made himself absolutely invaluable. The chemistry the two showed together hadn’t really been seen since the likes of Hossa in Pittsburgh’s Finals run of 2007-08. Sheary is in a bit of a bind, however, as Jake Guentzel has shown equal or even greater chemistry with the league’s marquee center since being placed on the top line. Sheary struggled to find his groove in the first round series, even being demoted to the third line in favor of Patric Hornqvist. Sheary is a good bet to string together solid showings in the next round, but if he does not, perhaps it impacts his case for a long-term contract. Regardless, Sheary will look to eat up a large portion of the money allocated this offseason in Pittsburgh, as his current $0.925 MM cap hit is one of the best bargains in the league. His 53 points in 61 games placed him at 23rd in the league in points per game, ahead of the likes of Phil Kessel and John Tavares.

Mika Zibanejad – NYR

The Rangers organization loves this player, and it is easy to see why. His point totals had steadily increased the past three seasons, and he was looking to do so again if he did not miss so many games to injury. Zibanejad is a strong center who takes pride in his two-way ability. He has a solid shot, although he might be criticized for under-utlizing it, and is often deployed against opposing team’s top players. Considering that New York gave up the solid veteran Derick Brassard to acquire his skillset, they are nearly certain to double down on Zibanejad’s continued improvement. His role will only expand as the leadership of the team ages and he will be expected to fill some of the leadership void left behind. Zibanejad is up for a new contract, and will look for a sizable raise over his current $2.625 MM. There is perhaps still untapped offensive potential left in Zibanejad’s game, but will he display it in these playoffs? He has already potted 4 points in 6 games in the team’s successful series against Montreal, including an overtime winner.

Central Division Snapshots: Preds, Wild, Fabbri

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Nashville Predators GM David Poile is no stranger to making major trades. In the last 13 months alone, the veteran executive has completed two blockbuster one-for-one swaps, first acquiring center Ryan Johansen for defenseman Seth Jones then dealing longtime team captain Shea Weber to Montreal for fellow blue liner P.K. Subban. This propensity for making big moves leads Adam Vingan of The Tennessean to wonder whether Nashville will make another headline deal before the trade deadline.

Poile already picked up veteran fourth-line center Vernon Fiddler in a deal from New Jersey and the team has been linked to Colorado center Matt Duchene. But while the Predators could use more offensive flair at the pivot position, Poile is hesitant to sacrifice the one asset just about everyone else wants from him at this point: young defensemen. Poile already sacrificed Jones, who is enjoying a breakout campaign with Columbus, doesn’t seem interested in depleting his defense corps further: “We can’t be doing that all the time, or you won’t have one of the best defenses.” As Vingan notes, Poile will be listening but major trades are tough to pull off in-season so any moves the Preds do make are likely to be similar to the recent acquisitions of Fiddler and Cody McLeod.

Elsewhere in the Central Division:

  • As it stands, the Minnesota Wild are in a comfortable spot in the division, holding a four-point lead over second place Chicago and 15 points ahead of third-place Nashville. Barring an epic collapse, the team is virtually assured of hosting at least a first-round playoff series. As Michael Russo of the Star Tribune writes, this cushion will allow Wild bench boss Bruce Boudreau to experiment with his forward lines and defense pairs in order to help GM Chuck Fletcher better identify what the team’s needs are ahead of the deadline. For instance, Boudreau will slot Charlie Coyle, who has spent much of the season riding shotgun on Eric Staal’s line, at center for tonight’s game against Winnipeg with Alex Tuch moving into the lineup at wing. He’ll also have room to give Mike Reilly and Gustav Olofsson more playing time and if they perform well, it may give Fletcher the confidence needed to move one of the team’s top blue liners in a deal to both save cap space and to acquire help at other positions.
  • According to Jeremy Rutherford of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, the St. Louis Blues will for the time being look to internal options to replace Robby Fabbri, who the team just learned will miss the rest of the season with an ACL injury. In the wake of the injury, the team recalled forwards Kenny Agostino, who tallied just the second goal of his NHL career and the first in almost three years yesterday, and Magnus Paajarvi from Chicago of the AHL. The team will have three-plus weeks to figure out whether those two can adequately fill in before investigating the options available on the trade market. Regardless of how the ultimately choose to do so, replacing Fabbri won’t be easy. While he’s had an up-and-down season in 2016-17, the 21-year-old winger is an extremely skilled player and a key part of the team’s top-nine forward group.

Nashville Predators Acquire Vernon Fiddler

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With the New Jersey Devils falling further out of a playoff spot, they’ve started selling off their veteran assets. The team has dealt Vernon Fiddler to the Nashville Predators for a fourth-round pick in 2017. Fiddler was signed this summer for just $1.25MM, but has provided only three points through his first 39 games.

Fiddler will return to the place he began his career, debuting for the Predators back in 2002-03. The Edmonton, Alberta native has played in 857 games total over his long career. Even though he’s never been an offensive dynamo (his career high is 13 goals) Fiddler is a testament to work ethic and defensive prowess. He’s been able to stay relevant in the NHL through strong faceoff play and responsible positioning.

The Devils have now acquired three additional picks for this summer’s draft, adding this to the Bruins’ second-round pick and Avalanche’s third-rounder. They’ll have six picks in the first four rounds this year and next, letting a team that finds itself at the bottom of the Eastern Conference start their rebuild (or perhaps reload).

Remember just last year the Devils had two 30-goal scorers in Adam Henrique and Kyle Palmieri and added Taylor Hall in the offseason. One would think that they wouldn’t have trouble putting the puck in the net, but currently find themselves last in the East in goal scoring (going into tonight’s action). P.A. Parenteau, another upcoming free agent should also be dealt by the deadline, along with Kyle Quincey if they can find a taker.

Nashville will add Fiddler to their depth down the middle that has been questioned at times this year. Likely slotting in on the fourth line, he’ll see time on the penalty kill and in defensive zone starts. Never under 50% in the faceoff dot in a single season, Fiddler is currently winning 52.6% of his draws. Combined with Mike Fisher and Ryan Johansen, who are both excellent faceoff men, the Predators will start with the puck more than not.

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