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Nicolas Hague, Vegas Golden Knights Not Progressing Towards Contract

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After an offseason where navigating a tricky salary cap situation dominated the headlines for the Vegas Golden Knights, the team is down to their last remaining restricted free agent, and one who we documented earlier today: defenseman Nicolas Hague. Although the organization has done a good job thus far of working within their restraints, they’re left in a bit of a tough spot with their remaining cap and one of their bright young defensemen. At the moment, Vegas sits just around $10.24MM over the upper limit of the NHL’s $82.5MM. salary cap. Somewhat fortunately, they will be able to cancel out around $12.86MM in cap hit by placing defenseman Shea Weber and goaltender Robin Lehner on LTIR, leaving them with $2.64MM in available space. The issue there is whether it will be enough to get Hague signed.

Of concern, it sounds like it may not. As Fox 5 Vegas’s Vince Sapienza reports, things apparently are not progressing between team and player, who apparently have had “very little dialogue since early July.” Sapienza adds that though Hague is in Las Vegas and ready to join the team for the start of training camp on September 21st, he and his representatives are becoming concerned with the lack of communication. Sapienza also notes that if no deal is reached by the start of training camp, Hague is expected not to report and will instead train elsewhere in the interim.

Seeing that the two sides have apparently had very little communication since the early parts of the offseason is absolutely worrisome for those following the Golden Knights. The organization has made its moves to stay below the salary cap and get creative doing so, but those tough decisions, like the one to move Max Pacioretty to the Carolina Hurricanes for merely future considerations, were seemingly meant to allow the team to extend key players like Hague. Should Hague hold out by not attending Golden Knights training camp, that itself wouldn’t be a concern, the practice happening regularly for unsigned RFAs.

If Vegas were to be without Hague into the regular season, they could field a complete roster, having six defenseman signed and on the NHL roster right now (not counting Weber, who won’t play), with several depth options available to close the gaps, but none as good, and experienced, as Hague. Looking closer at the numbers, it wouldn’t be a shock to see Vegas be able to sign Hague for less than the $2.64MM they will have available after utilizing LTIR, but the 23-year-old Kitchener, ON native has shown an ability to play reliable minutes in his own zone with his offensive ability still progressing, so an affordable deal may not be easily found. But, with the possibility of forward Nolan Patrick also landing on LTIR, Vegas could increase its available space to $3.84MM, likely enough to bring back the hulking defenseman.

Last year, Hague had four goals and 10 assists in 52 games while averaging 18:40 per night, and sports a respectable 10 goals and 32 assists in 142 career NHL games. A 2017 second-round pick of the Golden Knights, Hague just finished the final year of his ELC.

Carey Price To Be Moved To Long-Term Injured Reserve

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If you were wondering how exactly the Montreal Canadiens were able to fit Kirby Dach’s contract under the salary cap today, you weren’t alone. The deal seemingly put them over the 10% offseason cushion, with a team cap hit of more than $92.7MM. Arpon Basu of The Athletic has the answer – Carey Price is going on long-term injured reserve early.

Contrary to widespread belief, LTIR can actually be used in the offseason. The Toronto Maple Leafs did so in the summer of 2017 when signing Patrick Marleau, and the Tampa Bay Lightning did it with Nikita Kucherov in late 2020 when signing Mikhail Sergachev to his bridge deal.

CapFriendly notes that to use LTIR, a team must “provide doctors proof that the player in question will continue to be injured at the beginning of the regular season for 10 NHL games and 24 calendar days.” Price may not play at all this season, with general manager Kent Hughes explaining that there did not appear to be a path for him without undergoing another surgery.

Essentially, giving Price the injury designation now will increase the Canadiens’ upper limit by more than $10MM, allowing them to officially file the Dach contract without breaching the 10% cushion. It should be noted that the release this morning indicated that the two sides had agreed to terms on a contract but Dach does not yet appear on the official roster, meaning the order of operations has not been completed.

Snapshots: Dach, Sharks Rookie Tournament, Stadium Series

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After being originally reported by Sportsnet’s Eric Engels last week, his colleague Elliotte Friedman confirmed the original report today on the 32 Thoughts podcast. Echoing the fact that the Canadiens and Dach are close to signing Dach to a four-year contract, he added that the team is likely working on other moves before making the deal official.

Cap implications aside, the team will likely need to trade a forward (or two) just to have space for Dach in the lineup. With the addition of Sean Monahan into the fold for next season, Dach will likely shift to wing. He has the most experience there out of Montreal’s five natural centers in their top 12 forwards. With Cole Caufield, Mike Hoffman, Josh Anderson, Jonathan Drouin, Evgenii Dadonov, and Brendan Gallagher all in the fold, there’s just not enough room in Montreal’s NHL lineup to have Dach play an appropriate role to continue developing. Cap implications are certainly a part of that, though, as a $3.5MM cap hit as surmised by Friedman and Engels would still put Montreal dangerously close to the salary cap even with Carey Price’s $10MM cap hit on long-term injured reserve.

  • The San Jose Sharks are hosting this year’s 2022 Rookie Faceoff, a voluntary tournament for teams’ rookie camp rosters to get some game experience against each other. The Anaheim Ducks announced their participation today, noting that the Arizona Coyotes, Colorado Avalanche, Los Angeles Kings, and Vegas Golden Knights will also participate. The tournament will feature nine games in total across four days from September 16 through September 19. Anaheim has not lost a rookie tournament game in regulation since 2016, going 11-0-2 in the process.
  • The Athletic’s Sean Shapiro reports that American coverage of the 2023 Stadium Series game will be on ESPN after TNT/Turner Sports hosted coverage last season. ESPN will broadcast the Carolina Hurricanes’ first-ever outdoor game as they host the Washington Capitals at Carter-Finley Stadium in Raleigh on February 18, 2023. Shapiro also adds that the full slate of American national TV games is expected to come out later this week as the regular season approaches.

Examining The Buffalo Sabres’ Financial Future

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When Buffalo Sabres general manager Kevyn Adams signed center Tage Thompson to an admittedly massive seven-year contract extension earlier this week, it raised some eyebrows considering the lack of consistency from Thompson in his career. Speaking after the fact a few days ago, Adams told The Buffalo News’ Lance Lysowski that “we’re also being strategic a little bit, to be honest, about the timeline knowing that there’s other guys potentially next summer where we’re going to be in this situation. We want to make sure we’re being strategic on when and how we put these deals together.”

So, given that Adams is envisioning more breakout campaigns from his young stars in 2022-23, how does the Sabres’ financial picture line up with their rise out of their years-long rebuild and the expected salary cap increases?

There are two players next summer who, depending on their campaigns, could demand significant pay raises over their sub-$1MM deals. Both Dylan Cozens and Rasmus Asplund are restricted free agents in 2023, although Cozens does not have arbitration rights.

Cozens is projected to slot right behind Thompson on the team’s depth chart, battling with Casey Mittelstadt for a spot centering their second line. If he wins that battle and sees increased playing time, Cozens’ offensive production is bound to take a step forward from his 38 points last season.

In any event, Cozens’ ceiling likely isn’t the 35+ goal season Thompson is coming off of, either. His development has been more linear, something that tracks well for the Sabres, at least in terms of certainty in contract negotiations. The team still currently has nearly $40MM in cap space to play with next offseason with the projected salary cap increase to $83.5MM, so any major contract the Sabres hand out now really doesn’t force their hand in the slightest.

It’s later on when things would get tricky, when the team is contending and their breakout stars want to capitalize on what should be a rapidly increasing salary cap at that point. From that point of view, betting on their players is a smart move from Adams at the moment. With the team still so far away from the salary cap, it can’t hurt to take a risk on what could be a team-friendly deal in five seasons. Even if the players don’t quite pan out as projected, those are deals that won’t be taking up nearly as much of their salary cap as they are now when they do become an issue.

Though Adams should be careful not to play with too much fire. Recent reports suggest that the first large salary cap jump could come in the 2024 offseason instead of 2025. That would be a boon to the Sabres, who have four major expiring contracts that offseason: Mittelstadt, Peyton Krebs, Rasmus Dahlin, and Owen Power. If everything goes as expected in terms of their development, that could very well be upwards of $30MM handed out just between those four players. If the Sabres put themselves in a position to give those contracts and still have some breathing room, they could finally construct a roster with the required depth to remain at the top of the Eastern Conference.

Snapshots: Brewer, Salary Cap, PHF

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After promoting Sergei Brylin to an assistant role at the NHL level, the New Jersey Devils hired Andrew Brewer as an assistant coach for the AHL’s Utica Comets, per a team release. Brewer has spent the past eight seasons in an NHL video coaching role, and now the 36-year-old will get a crack at some more responsibility in the AHL.

Brewer most recently served as the video coach for the Florida Panthers for the past two seasons. Prior to that, he served in the same role for the Detroit Red Wings in the 2014-15 season and for the Toronto Maple Leafs from 2015 through 2020. He’s also gained experience as the video coach for Team Canada at various international tournaments. Brewer will join Ryan Parent (assistant coach) and Brian Eklund (goaltending coach) behind Utica head coach Kevin Dineen.

  • Speaking today during his media tour in Europe, NHL deputy commissioner Bill Daly said he believed the NHL salary cap could rise significantly after the 2023-24 season. That marks a change in course from previous league forecasts post-pandemic, which pegged a significant cap jump after the 2024-25 season. The cap will likely raise another $1MM after this year to $83.5MM for 2023-24, but could now increase by much more than that for 2024-25. Some big names, including Auston Matthews and William Nylander, Steven Stamkos, Jake Guentzel, and Sebastian Aho are slated to hit the free agent market then, potentially making it easier for their current teams to re-sign them.
  • The PHF will continue to stay more accessible to American fans. ESPN announced today that they’ve reached a two-year extension on their broadcast agreement, keeping the PHF on ESPN platforms through 2024. The league’s championship game, the Isobel Cup final, aired on ESPN2 last season, which was ESPN’s first cable broadcast of professional women’s hockey. PHF regular-season games will continue to air on the ESPN+ subscription service.

Snapshots: Hlinka Gretzky, Kolesar, Kadri

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The Hlinka Gretzky Cup concluded tonight with Team Canada defeating Team Sweden 4-1 to take first place and the gold medal. As impressive as a gold medal is, saying just that wouldn’t begin to tell the entire story for Canada’s 2022 Hlinka Gretzky run. For one, the team was undefeated throughout the tournament, and in the process they outscored opponents by a jaw-dropping 34-3 score. In addition to the dominant performance, the Canadians were able to show their dominance on home ice, as the tournament was hosted in Red Deer, Alberta.

Denver Barkey of the London Knights was named the most outstanding player of the gold medal game, while Oshawa Generals forward Calum Ritchie led the tournament in scoring. In net, Canada’s Scott Ratzlaff had the best performance ever by a Canadian goalie in the tournament with three or more games played, as far as goals-against average and save-percentage are concerned, says Brock Otten of McKeens Hockey (link). Otten adds that while most of the top Canadian prospects in the 2005 class held their standard, Ethan Gauthier, Colby Barlow, and Caden Price were able to elevate their game, and thus their standing as prospects (link).

  • SinBin Vegas’s Ken Boehlke discusses Keegan Kolesar’s new three-year, $1.5MM AAV contract he signed recently to avoid arbitration with the Vegas Golden Knights (link). In sum, Boehlke classifies the contract as a win-win for both sides, Vegas getting a cost-controlled fourth-liner and Kolesar getting $4.5MM guaranteed despite not scoring much at the NHL level. What is notable Boehlke says, is that Kolesar’s lack of scoring (just seven goals in 77 games last season) could correlate to his below-average 7.4% shooting percentage and if he can at the least improve his shooting percentage to league average, he could increase his goal total, making him worth a good bit more than the $1.5MM cap hit he currently holds. Even if not, Kolesar has proven himself to be a reliable grinder for the Golden Knights’ bottom-six and at $1.5MM still represents a good value deal for the normally cap-strapped organization.
  • According to Larry Brooks of the New York Post, it appears free agent forward Nazem Kadri’s asking price has not come down and the requested AAV still begins with at least a “9” (link). If that is indeed the case, it may provide a hint as to why Kadri remains unsigned, with many teams having spent up to or relatively close to the salary cap. Several teams have the room to sign Kadri, but if he is also looking to go to a team that has a real chance at a Stanley Cup, his options may be slim. Soon-to-be 32, if Kadri is able to regularly repeat his breakout 87 point performance from this season, a $9MM AAV contract would be worth it for the two-way star, but otherwise it could wind up a salary cap issue, even if he’s still a solid performer.

Latest On Patrick Kane

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With the Chicago Blackhawks deciding to rebuild halfway through their previous rebuild, speculation has run rampant about all-time great Patrick Kane’s future with the team. If dealt, he’d be one of the best players and biggest names traded in the past few seasons, joining blockbuster deals like the Jack Eichel and Erik Karlsson trades. However, TSN’s Darren Dreger today pumped the brakes on trade rumors, saying that Kane’s camp “remains undecided” and that any rumors at this point are purely speculative.

At 33 years old, Kane still has 100-point potential while logging heavy minutes. He hasn’t hit that mark since posting 110 points in 2018-19, but he’s stayed well above a point-per-game pace since then on a continually struggling Blackhawks squad. One of the most decorated American-born players of all time, his playing ability still remains very close to his prime.

It’s because of that fact that a potential trade seems so realistic to fans around the league. It would’ve seemed a guarantee just a few seasons ago that Kane would remain a Blackhawk for life, but as the team failed to rebuild quickly (or properly in the slightest) and management changed hands drastically, no one would blame him for not wanting to waste the last few seasons of his peak on a sinking ship.

With or without Kane, Chicago figures to be a bottom-five team next year with little doubt. Trading him could, however, end up being the difference between a top-five selection and the 2023 first overall selection, which would land them a potentially generational center in Connor Bedard.

Just one season away from unrestricted free agency, it could make a lot of sense for Chicago to deal him ahead of the season too. While they might not get as high of a return without an extension in place for Kane with his new team, it could open the door for him to return to the team in 2023-24 to potentially usher Bedard into the league if they do land the top pick.

Regardless, Kane’s choice will be an important one to watch as the offseason progresses. He’ll still command a fair bit of salary cap space even if Chicago does retain salary, unless the acquiring team wishes to pay a third team extra assets in order to retain additional salary.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images

Free Agency Notes: Hague, Marchment, Kulak

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We haven’t heard a whole lot of offer sheet talk yet this offseason, but there is one young defenseman who could come into play. The Athletic’s Jesse Granger notes that he believes Vegas Golden Knights defenseman Nicolas Hague is “a real possibility” as an offer sheet candidate from general managers league-wide. Hague is an important defenseman on the rise in the Golden Knights organization, and while he doesn’t have a lot of leverage on his next contract as he’s not arbitration-eligible, another team could indeed force Vegas’ hand. A second-round pick from their first 2017 draft class, Hague’s notched a solid 42 points in 142 NHL games over the past three years. While he’s been limited to third-pairing minutes on a deep Vegas team, he’s shown really solid play-driving ability as an up-and-coming two-way defenseman. With the Golden Knights’ tight salary cap situation, it’s a reasonable bet that they couldn’t match a healthy offer for Hague.

  • TSN’s Pierre LeBrun expects the Montreal Canadiens to make an offer to bring back defenseman Brett Kulak when free agency opens tomorrow. They won’t be alone, though, as LeBrun notes that six other teams could be interested as well. Dealt to the Edmonton Oilers in exchange for a package that included William Lagesson and a second-round pick at the trade deadline, Kulak is an underrated defensive commodity who’s extremely valuable in a bottom-four role. He’d spent the last three seasons prior to this year in a Habs uniform, and he was a steadying presence in 2021-22 on a struggling team.
  • If the Tampa Bay Lightning can’t come to terms with pending UFA Ondrej Palat, The Athletic’s Joe Smith lists Mason Marchment as someone the team could make an offer to in free agency. He’d certainly add a strong checking element to the team’s middle six, and while he likely wouldn’t replace Palat’s value entirely, he’d be a strong value option with a breakout year last season and great underlying metrics. Marchment finished 2021-22 with 47 points in just 54 games.

New Jersey Devils To Buy Out Janne Kuokkanen

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Though the buyout period is listed as ending today, it is a little misleading. Today is the deadline to place players on waivers for the purpose of a buyout, meaning there could be another flood of names hitting the open market in a few hours. One of those is expected to be Janne Kuokkanen, according to PuckPedia, who will be bought out by the New Jersey Devils.

Because he is still just 24, the Devils would be on the hook for just one-third of Kuokkanen’s remaining contract, and would incur the following cap penalties:

  • 2022-23: $200K
  • 2023-24: $325K

Since he is currently carrying a cap hit of $1.825MM and is owed $2.05MM in salary the buyout represents considerable savings in both dollars and salary cap space this season. With the team hoping to contend for the playoffs, that money can be better used after the disappointing 2021-22 campaign that Kuokkanen endured.

With just six goals and 17 points in 57 games, the young forward didn’t take the expected step forward and now finds himself without a home for next season. Originally selected in the second round by the Carolina Hurricanes, there is enough talent to play at the NHL level, just not enough (so far) to make much of an impact.

Bottom-of-the-lineup forwards are getting squeezed all over the league this year as the hard cap continues to make it difficult to pay more than the minimum for fringe roster players, and Kuokkanen will join the rest of those unqualified yesterday as late entrants to the free agent market.

Latest on Johnny Gaudreau, Matthew Tkachuk

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There’s a significant sense around the league that teams are rushing to get their salary cap situations cleared up before the start of free agency next week. Moves like the Tampa Bay Lightning trading Ryan McDonagh to the Nashville Predators for spare change and the Minnesota Wild moving early on a Kevin Fiala deal are evidence of that.

Now, another team is joining that list of really trying to make headlines in the near future. ESPN’s Kevin Weekes reports that the Calgary Flames are making “every effort” now not only to re-sign top pending unrestricted free agent forward Johnny Gaudreau but also restricted free agent Matthew Tkachuk.

While most of the public talk has centered around Gaudreau’s status, it makes sense that general manager Brad Treliving would want to get these deals done in a short window. Playing on the same line, Gaudreau and Tkachuk helped propel each other to career seasons. The Flames are likely hoping that keeping the two together will keep their level of play from declining after this season.

Finances are also a huge part of this equation too, though. Gaudreau and Tkachuk are surely bound to take up a gigantic chunk of Calgary’s offseason spending limit, likely at least $16MM of it. With a long list of other players to re-sign and/or spots to fill via free agency, Calgary needs a clear picture of how much cash they’ll be able to devote to players like Andrew Mangiapane and Oliver Kylington while still fielding a cap-compliant squad.

With Tkachuk’s value through the roof after his 40-goal, 100-point season and Gaudreau likely able to net eight figures on the open market, Treliving faces his toughest challenge yet as GM in Calgary in order to keep this year’s Pacific Division champions at the top of the Western Conference.

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