Western Notes: Bennett, Murphy, Girard, Perron, Bieksa, Fowler
The Calgary Flames have a lot of questions this offseason after a disappointing season that leaves them wondering what happened. However, the biggest question probably falls on what to do with Sam Bennett. The former fourth-overall pick in 2014 should be improving every season, but that hasn’t been the case for the 21-year-old who has seen his numbers drop every year.
After putting up 18 goals and 18 assists in a promising rookie season, he has put up only 26 points in each of the last two seasons and his goals have dropped from 13 in 2016-17 to 11 this year. The Calgary Sun’s Wes Gilbertson writes the team must decide whether he can take his game up several notches or whether to use him as trade bait. Of course, you don’t want to be the general manager that trades him away only to thrive with another team, but the team needs production out of the forward and is running out of time to figure out if he is the star they thought they drafted. He has one year left after this one at $1.95MM before hitting restricted free agency again.
- The Chicago Blackhawks think they have found something in defenseman Connor Murphy. The 25-year-old, who was acquired in the Niklas Hjalmarsson trade last season from Arizona, struggled early on in the season with Chicago, according to Chicago Sun Times’ Mark Potash, but was one of the team’s better defensemen in the second half and the team believes he can develop into a top-four defenseman. “If you look at the way he played over the last 30 to 40 games, I think there’s reason for excitement,” said Blackhawks general manager Stan Bowman.
- The Colorado Avalanche is without defenseman Samuel Girard today as the young defenseman is out with an upper-body injury sustained in a hit from Nashville’s Filip Forsberg during Thursday’s game. The rookie defenseman is day-to-day.
- Vegas Golden Knights winger David Perron, who has been out since Mar. 26 with an undisclosed injury, says he hopes to play before the series with the Los Angeles Kings is over, but did not give a timetable on a potential return, according to SinBinVegas.
- The Anaheim Ducks expect defenseman Kevin Bieksa to play in Game 2 tonight against the San Jose Sharks, according to Orange Country Register’s Eric Stephens. Bieksa has been out since Mar. 12 after having hand surgery. Stephens also notes that defenseman Cam Fowler is no longer wearing a sling on his shoulder and will resume skating shortly. The blueliner has missed 13 straight games, but no timetable is set for his return.
Calgary’s Challenge With Sam Bennett
To say things have not gone well for Flames forward Sam Bennett this season would be an understatement. He finally snapped a season-long pointless streak on Thursday night and is averaging the lowest ice time of his young career at 13:23 per night. That’s hardly what anyone was expecting from the fourth overall selection back in 2014.
Earlier this week, TSN’s Bob McKenzie reported (video link) that Flames GM Brad Treliving doesn’t necessarily want to move the struggling 21-year-old but at the same time, he isn’t hanging up when other teams inquire about his availability. Even though he’s off to a terrible start, he’s only a few years removed from being a high-end prospect and players with that type of draft pedigree typically get a few chances if they don’t perform with their original team.
Sportsnet’s Rory Boylen examined Bennett’s situation and usage this year and one prominent question comes to mind: When is it the right time to look at trading him? It’s safe to say his trade value is far from its highest so at first glance, a case can easily be made to hold on in the hopes that he returns to form and restores some value.
However, what if his struggles continue? Or, perhaps more likely, he rebounds a little bit but remains more of a supporting cast player? That won’t really help his trade value and perhaps may lower it further. They may want to avoid the situation that Edmonton had with Nail Yakupov last year where his trade value had all but bottomed out. Bennett isn’t at that spot yet but that could change by the end of the season if he doesn’t rebound.
At the moment, Calgary isn’t likely to get more than a similarly-struggling young player or a rental player in return for Bennett. While the latter option would probably be a nice boost to their roster, they’d also be giving up on someone that was believed to be part of their long-term core for a player who may not be there six months later. Is the short-term gain worth it? In terms of taking another scuffling forward back, it’s likely that Treliving would rather stick with the player they know.
For the time being, it’s hard to envision Calgary parting ways with Bennett despite his rough start to the year. If he doesn’t pick it up in the weeks to come, however, he’s a player who is likely going to find himself in trade speculation where talks of him needing a change of scenery will begin to pop up. If and when that happens, it will be interesting to see if Treliving will hold on to him or cut bait before his situation has a chance to mirror Yakupov’s from a year ago.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
NHL Snapshots: MacDonald, Haula, Marchessault, Bennett
The Philadelphia Flyers announced today that defenseman Andrew MacDonald will miss four to six weeks with a lower body injury. According to NHL.com’s Bill Meltzer, MacDonald stepped into a path of a slap shot from Edmonton’s Milan Lucic during a penalty killing shift of Saturday’s 2-1 victory over the Edmonton Oilers. It hit his knee and MacDonald suffered a deep bone bruise, according to CSN’s Tim Panaccio.
Despite the injury, MacDonald stayed in the game. In fact, after taking the hit and going down, he still forced himself to get up and help clear the puck. The 31-year-old blueliner had a dominant performance against the Oilers, as he recorded three shots on goal, six blocked shots and played the second-most minutes on the team at 22:03.
No corresponding moves have been made, although its possible the Flyers will promote defenseman Samuel Morin, who made the team out of training camp, but was a healthy scratch for four games before he was sent down to Lehigh Valley. In five games with the AHL team, he has put up a goal, three assists, 10 penalty minutes and a plus/minus of +3.
- While the Vegas Golden Knights await the injury status of goaltender Malcolm Subban, Las Vegas Review-Journal’s Steve Carp tweets out that Erik Haula, who was put on injured reserve eight days ago, practiced with the team today and told Carp he is ready to return to the team, but wouldn’t say when. David Schoen of the Las Vegas Review-Journal tweets that Jon Marchessault, who was placed on injured reserve on Oct. 15, also says he is ready to return to the Golden Knights lineup and said he expects to be activated for Tuesday’s game against the Chicago Blackhawks after practicing today. The team may reverse their transactions from last week and send Vadim Shipachyov and Alex Tuch back to the AHL. Both Shipachyov and Tuch tallied no points and neither had any shots on goal in Saturday’s game against the St. Louis Blues. Shipachyov received only 10:22 of ice time, while Tuch had 8:49.
- Kent Wilson of The Athletic (subscription required) answers mailbag questions about Calgary Flames center Sam Bennett, who has zero points after eight games. Wilson writes the lack of offense would be acceptable if he was impacting the game in other ways, but that isn’t the case. Bennett, whose first full season showed a lot of promise two years ago when he finished with 18 goals and 18 assists, took a step down last year when he only had 13 goals and 13 assists. Now his numbers look even more bleak. Wilson suggests the team move the 2014 fourth-overall pick to the wing in hopes of helping the 21-year-old’s success and promoting Mark Jankowski, who is tearing up the AHL right now with five goals and four assists in six games.
2017-18 Primer: Calgary Flames
With the NHL season now underway, we continue our look at what each team has done this summer and what to watch for in the year to come. Today, we focus on the Calgary Flames.
Last Season: 45-33-4 record (94 points), fourth in Pacific Division (lost to Anaheim in first round)
Remaining Cap Space: $2.77MM per CapFriendly
Key Additions: F Jaromir Jagr (free agency, Florida), F Tanner Glass (free agency, New York), D Travis Hamonic (trade, New York), G Mike Smith (trade, Arizona), G Eddie Lack (trade, Carolina)
Key Departures: F Alex Chiasson (free agency, Washington), D Dennis Wideman (free agency, unsigned), D Deryk Engelland (expansion, Vegas), G Brian Elliott (free agency, Philadelphia), G Chad Johnson (free agency, Buffalo)
[Related: Flames Depth Chart From Roster Resource]
Player To Watch: F Sam Bennett – With all the exceptional young players in today’s game jumping straight from the entry draft to the All-Star game, it’s easy forget about those who take a bit longer to develop. That’s what has happened so far for the 2014 fourth-overall pick Sam Bennett, who has been a solid if disappointing NHL player thus far in his short career.
After being selected in 2014, Bennett would be returned to the Kingston Frontenac’s of the OHL for another year of junior, only to undergo shoulder surgery and miss most of the season. After doing his rehab in Calgary, and seeing a quick exit from the OHL playoffs, Bennett was dropped right into the NHL for the Flames’ playoff run. His first NHL game came in March of 2015, before jumping into the playoffs for eleven more contests.
He was impressive in those playoffs, and would secure a full-time NHL job the following training camp. It seemed he was on the fast track to NHL stardom just like his 2014 draft mates. Unfortunately, his second season didn’t go as well. Last year saw just 26 points from Bennett and not much improvement from his defense and faceoffs. He was questioned as a true center, and doubted as an elite prospect.
This year, Bennett will have a secret weapon up his right sleeve. Though the Flames have already started their season with a disappointing loss to their rival Edmonton Oilers, sooner than later they’ll insert the ageless Jaromir Jagr into the lineup. He’ll likely skate alongside Bennett to start, giving the still just 21-year old center all the experience and hockey knowledge he could ever want sitting right beside him on the bench. Though Jagr isn’t exactly a coach, he has experience playing with young forwards before.
In Florida, he and Aleksander Barkov turned into a dynamic duo and the latter into a star in the league and Calgary will hope some of that magic will rub off on Bennett. Though the young forward hasn’t ever been criticized for his work ethic, he’ll get to see one of the hardest workers in NHL history—one who has already been spotted bag skating himself at Flames practice—on a daily basis. It will be interesting to see how their games mesh, and how Kris Versteeg fits into the plans on the other side. If Bennett can turn into the star that he was drafted as, Calgary will have a huge advantage they were missing last year.
Key Storyline: The Flames are going for it. This summer they’ve made move after move to bring in players to help them compete right now, and they believe they’re ready to take that next step. Jagr, Smith, Hamonic and others are all answers to questions that were asked last year when they fell at the hands of the Anaheim Ducks once again. Calgary hasn’t had an answer for the Ducks for a while now, and it’s only getting tighter in the Pacific Division.
The Edmonton Oilers, once the punching bag in the Battle of Alberta, are now one of the premiere clubs in the Western Conference, led by a captain who can’t seem to be slowed down by anyone. If the Flames are to position themselves as equals, they’ll need more from their own dynamic young forwards.
Johnny Gaudreau and Sean Monahan are some of the most exciting players to watch in the NHL, but they’ve lacked consistency at times and need to be a nightly source of offense. While the team’s second line impressed last season, buoyed by the debut of Matthew Tkachuk, it’s Gaudreau and Monahan that really drive this train. If they remain in the 50-60 point range, the team will do well enough to make the playoffs and even compete for a few rounds. But they need to be difference makers and return to the 60-goal, 140-point duo they once were. They have the talent. Now is the time to break through.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images
Flames Re-Sign Sam Bennett To Two-Year Deal
The Flames announced that they have agreed to terms on a two-year deal with center Sam Bennett. The deal carries a cap hit of $1.95MM.
The fourth overall pick back in 2014 is coming off of his second career professional season and his sophomore campaign didn’t go as well as his first. Last season, Bennett posted 13 goals and 13 assists in 81 games which checked in below his 2015-16 output (18 goals and 18 helpers in 78 contests). He did, however, pick up a pair of goals in Calgary’s first round sweep at the hands of the Ducks back in April.
The fact that he was coming off of a down year and has yet to realize his potential made a bridge deal like this a much more likely outcome than some of the larger contracts that have been handed out to young players this summer. The breakdown of salary by year has not yet been announced but it will be interesting to see if the contract is back loaded as whatever his 2018-19 salary is will represent his qualifying offer that summer.
Bennett will likely begin the season as Calgary’s third line center behind Sean Monahan and Mikael Backlund. That will give him time to continue to work on his game without too much extra pressure being put on him right away. With Backlund eligible for unrestricted free agency in July, the 21-year-old could be in line to slide up into his spot one year from now if the Flames can’t get Backlund re-signed.
After re-signing defenseman Tyler Wotherspoon yesterday, Calgary has all of their players left under contract for the upcoming season. They have a little over $5MM in cap space remaining, per CapFriendly. League-wide, there are now just eight remaining restricted free agents left to re-sign.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Signing Sam Bennett Before Camp Still A Priority
Calgary Flames’ GM Brad Treliving was on Sportsnet radio this morning, and spoke at length about the continued negotiations with restricted free agent Sam Bennett. While there was a report yesterday that Bennett and the Flames still had a “sizable gap,” Treliving was very positive that a deal would be done before the start of the season. Bennett isn’t skating in Calgary yet, but Treliving does speak to the importance of getting it done before training camp starts.
Our goal stays the same as it was when the season end. That’s to get Sam signed, and to get him signed prior to us starting [training camp]. History has shown that missing time—or people that don’t get there on time—usually is not a good thing. To get ready for an NHL season is difficult; you’ve got to get the reps, you’ve got to get playing at NHL pace, you’ve gotta get doing it every day prior to the start of the season.
Treliving reiterated that they still have time for the contract to to be signed before training camp starts in just over a week, and that this isn’t that unusual for restricted free agents. There are nine such free agents still unsigned around the league, including Bo Horvat in Vancouver and David Pastrnak in Boston.
It’s clear that there is still a divide between the two camps, but there doesn’t seem to be any animosity brewing. Both sides “want to get something done” and in time for the season. Coming off a disappointing second season in Calgary, Bennett is a tough subject to negotiate on. His potential is still very high and the Flames sunk quite a bit of draft stock into him by picking him fourth-overall in 2014. He’s only scored 63 points at this point in his career, and hasn’t found that offensive breakout just yet.
The Calgary front office should be used to these late negotiations, as Johnny Gaudreau waited until October 10th to sign his contract extension last year. Gaudreau was already going to miss training camp because of his appearance at the World Cup of Hockey, meaning signing just before the season didn’t change much in his preparation. Still, the Flames would like to get this done long before October and get Bennett back on the ice with a team that is poised to compete for the Stanley Cup this season.
Evening Snapshots: Flames, Wisniewski, Red Wings
News and notes from around the NHL this evening:
- In an update to the ongoing Sam Bennett contract negotiations, Calgary Flames beatwriter Kristen Odland of Postmedia reports that the Calgary Flames hope to have something done before training camp. Flames GM Brad Treliving told Odland that he is not focusing on threats of Bennett playing overseas until he receives a contract. Bennett is currently a restricted free agent without a contract as training camp approaches.
- James Wisniewski took to Twitter this evening to find a new hockey team. The former NHL defenseman last played in the NHL for the Carolina Hurricanes in 2015-16 season where he played only one game. Last season he split time between the AHL Chicago Wolves and the KHL Admiral Vladivostok. While Wisniewski may not find another NHL job this season, he is only four seasons removed from a 51 point campaign with the Columbus Blue Jackets. Predictably, however, the majority of Twitter responders asked him to play for their beer league team, and it is unclear whether Wisniewski will settle for the pay cut.
- The Detroit Red Wings have agreed to a two-year deal with defenseman Robbie Russo. Contract specifics are unknown at this time, but expect the dollar amount to be near league minimum as Russo had little leverage as a 24 year-old RFA. [update: The Athletic’s Craig Custance reports that the deal is a two-year, two-way deal worth $650k/$125k and $650k/$250k] Russo split time between Detroit and its AHL affiliate Grand Rapids Griffins. He went scoreless in 16 NHL games but put up 7G and 25A in 58 AHL games. Russo will have a hard time cracking the Red Wings lineup initially—the team has six defenseman making over $1MM annually each—but could battle for the 7th spot with other defensive prospects.
“Sizable Gap” In Sam Bennett Contract Negotiations
Minutes after informing us that Andreas Athanasiou is still considering a move to the KHL, Darren Dreger of TSN reports that Calgary Flames’ forward Sam Bennett could consider a similar move until he can reach a contract with the team. Bennett and the Flames still have a “sizable gap” in terms of his next contract, after an up-and-down first few years in the NHL. Again, this could be an agent—notably Darren Ferris, who also represents Athanasiou—creating leverage for his client, but those reports usually come out earlier in the summer. Now there is just over a week until training camps begin, and the two should be relatively close on contract terms.
Bennett is coming off a season in which he registered only 26 points, and has still yet to breakthrough in the NHL. Though he’s clearly good enough to stay in the checking center role that Calgary has deployed him in, his fourth-overall draft position means the team should expect much more. Many fans were hoping for a breakout this season if given the opportunity, but it could be delayed if he’s not able to reach an agreement.
While starting the year in Europe would technically make him available for the Olympics, it would mean giving up his entire season. Restricted free agents must sign by December 1st in order to be eligible to play for the rest of the season, which is obviously too early for the Olympic team. It seems doubtful that Bennett would miss much time, as Calgary is poised to be a Stanley Cup contender this season and need the center depth that Bennett provides. While there may be a sizable gap now, it’s unlikely negotiations would last deep into the season.
Flames GM Treliving On Free Agency, Bennett’s Contract Discussions
Although the Flames have been speculatively linked to some veteran free agents over the past few weeks (including Jaromir Jagr recently and former Flame Jarome Iginla), GM Brad Treliving told Postmedia’s Eric Francis that he’s not sure where that talk has come from and wouldn’t acknowledge if any talks have occurred:
“You can’t help but respect them. But, this notion we’ve been in contract talks with them is rumour and I’m not going to comment on them. Are we going to go to camp with the group we have? Good chance. Are we poking around at a few things and could there be additions before camp? Yes. Is that a guarantee? No. I wouldn’t say there’s anything significant on the horizon, but we look at everything every day.”
Calgary is thin on the right side with Micheal Ferland, Michael Frolik, and Troy Brouwer currently comprising their top options. That’s likely part of the reason why Jagr has been suggested as a potential fit for them as he’d represent an upgrade on that group and would slide into a top-six role for the Flames.
[Related: Calgary’s Depth Chart]
As for Iginla, the talk of him rejoining the team seems more nostalgic than anything else. He struggled considerably last season with Colorado and while he played better after his trade to the Kings, he’s not a top-six forward anymore and isn’t a great fit for a bottom-six role either.
Calgary currently has some room to make another addition or two as they currently sit with a little more than $7MM in cap space, per CapFriendly. However, they still have center Sam Bennett to re-sign who will cut into that amount. While talks don’t appear to have progressed too much, Treliving is confident they’ll get a deal done with the former fourth overall selection:
“We’re going to get Sam signed. Every contract is unique and takes its own course. We’re working away at it and we think Sam is going to be a good player in this organization for a long time. He’s growing and I know he’s had a good summer. We’ll keep banging away at it.”
Earlier this summer, Treliving acknowledged that contracts for players like Bennett tend to take longer than some others. This case is particularly interesting with the 21-year-old’s production taking a dip last year down from 36 points to 26. That all but certifies that he will receive a bridge deal so now, it’s all about finding the right structure, particularly when it comes to how much to backload the contract as his ending salary would represent his qualifying offer at the completion of the deal.
Latest On Calgary’s Contract Talks
The Flames have had preliminary talks with agent J.P. Barry regarding a contract extension with center Mikael Backlund, GM Brad Treliving told Sportsnet 960 in Calgary. He noted that hopes that talks will pick up once the arbitration hearings finish off over the next couple of weeks. Considering that his contract doesn’t expire until next July, Treliving added that there’s no immediate rush to get something done:
“There’s no time pressure at this point right now. But we think Mikael is a really good player, an important player here, and we’d like to see if there’s a way to get something done and we’ll explore that.”
Backlund is entering the final season of a three-year deal that carries a cap hit of $3.575MM and is coming off a strong season for Calgary, one where he posted a career high in goals (22), assists (31), and points (53) which ranked him third in team scoring. Between that and the fact that centers are in high demand and short supply, he has positioned himself nicely for a sizable raise on this next contract whether it’s finalized this summer or later on.
Another center that is in need of a new contract is restricted free agent Sam Bennett. The 21-year-old is coming off his entry-level contract and struggled in his second full NHL season; his offensive numbers actually declined from his rookie campaign down to just 13 goals and 13 assists in 81 regular season games. He was ineligible for arbitration this time around and Treliving cautioned that it may take some time before they come to terms on a new contract:
“We continue to work at it. We’ll see. Those are interesting. If you look back here in the history – not just with our team, but really throughout the league of some of those players coming out of their entry-level contracts – history has shown that they tend to take a little bit of time.”
While a lot of teams have eschewed bridge deals in recent years, Bennett’s case is one where it still would make a lot of sense. Clearly, the Flames believe the former fourth overall pick from 2014 still has a lot of upside to offer but given the step back he took in 2016-17, the prudent move here may be to go for a short-term contract to get a longer look at what they have before committing the bigger money and term.
After inking goalies Jon Gillies and David Rittich to new deals on Saturday, Bennett is one of three remaining restricted free agents that the Flames need to re-sign. The other two are defensemen Brett Kulak and Tyler Wotherspoon.