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Tyler Ennis

Tyler Ennis Signs In Switzerland

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After lots of discussion about whether he would head to Europe, O2K Sports Management today confirmed that their client, free agent forward Tyler Ennis, has signed on with SC Bern in the NL for the remainder of the 2022-23 season.

Bern is already off to a strong 8-2-4 start, but only three of those eight wins have come in regulation. Ennis essentially replaces another former NHL forward on their roster, Dominik Kahun, who is expected back from a shoulder injury in early December. Kahun had eight points through his first seven games.

Ennis should headline what is already a red-hot offense for Bern to start the year, spearheaded by a trio of former NHLers: Christopher Didomenico (18 points in 12 games), Colton Sceviour (11 points in 14 games), and Oscar Lindberg (10 points in 14 games). In his last stint in the NL (then the NLA) during the brief 2012-13 lockout, Ennis had eight points in nine games with the SCL Tigers.

The veteran of exactly 700 NHL games had a rather productive season last year with the Ottawa Senators in a depth role, notching 24 points in 57 games, but there were no takers for Ennis on the free agent market last offseason. Now 33 years old, the speedy, diminutive forward likely closed the book on his NHL career by heading overseas. If so, he finished with 144 goals, 202 assists, and 346 points across 13 seasons with the Senators, Edmonton Oilers, Toronto Maple Leafs, Minnesota Wild, and Buffalo Sabres, who drafted him 26th overall in 2008.

Free Agent Profile: Tyler Ennis

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It’s not often that we see someone bring their career almost entirely back from the dead, but that’s exactly what happened just a handful of seasons ago with Tyler Ennis. Now entering his potential 14th NHL season at age 33, though, Ennis remains without a contract for next season.

Ennis failed to record more than 10 goals or 25 points in three straight seasons from 2016 to 2018, largely due in part to injuries but also declining play. It led the Minnesota Wild to buy out the final season of a five-year, $4.6MM AAV contract (originally signed with Buffalo) after just one season with the team. A 12-goal campaign with the Toronto Maple Leafs in 2018-19 despite virtually no ice time raised some eyebrows, and, in 2019-20, Ennis was back on the map with a 37-point campaign split between the Ottawa Senators and Edmonton Oilers.

2020-21 was a rough one for Ennis, though, as it looked like the resurgence had run out for the veteran forward. Opting to stay with Edmonton after the previous year’s trade, Ennis appeared in just 30 games and was limited to nine points, often being a healthy scratch. Returning to Ottawa for the 2021-22 campaign restored some of that production, though, looking much closer to being an everyday bottom-six player. For teams looking for a skill option on the wings, Ennis presents an inexpensive gamble with a 20-to-30 point upside.

Stats

2021-22: 57 GP, 8-16-24, -6 rating, 16 PIMs, 89 shots, 48.8% CF, 12:33 ATOI
Career: 700 GP, 144-202-346, -84 rating, 224 PIMs, 1446 shots, 46.3 CF%, 15:10 ATOI

Potential Suitors

If you ask Ennis, he’s almost surely looking for a chance to win after a 700-game NHL career has yielded no playoff success outside of the first round. But Ennis isn’t in the top tier of veteran free agents looking to land deals (think Paul Stastny, Phil Kessel, Evan Rodrigues). With so many teams uncomfortably close to or over the salary cap, Ennis might not have many offers from the best of the best.

Unless you’re talking about the defending Stanley Cup champions. If the Colorado Avalanche can’t manage to re-sign Nazem Kadri, they have ample cap space to add a couple of remaining free agents, especially at a league minimum cost. With a depleted bottom-six group, Ennis could be an improvement on expected fringe players like Mikhail Maltsev, Anton Blidh, and Jayson Megna.

And while they may not be the best of the best right now, a return to the State of Hockey could also be in the cards for Ennis. The Minnesota Wild are still looking for some extra roster depth, allowing youngsters like Adam Beckman to have a big role in the AHL rather than sitting around as a healthy scratch. Ennis likely provides more offensive upside than someone like Connor Dewar or Brandon Duhaime, and if things really don’t pan out, he’d be a valuable veteran addition to the AHL’s Iowa Wild.

Projected Contract

You’d be hard-pressed to find a team willing to give Ennis much more than the league-minimum $750K on a one-way deal. He is coming off a one-year contract that paid him $900K, but as his offensive upside continues to get less likely with age, a raise for Ennis likely isn’t in the cards.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Senators Notes: Free Agents, World Championships, Brown, Sanderson

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Ottawa Senators general manager Pierre Dorion spoke to reporters today during his end-of-season availability, stating that forwards Chris Tierney and Tyler Ennis won’t be extended and defenseman Victor Mete won’t be issued a qualifying offer. The news doesn’t come as much of a surprise as the team likely looks to be a little more aggressive in free agency, pursuing bigger talents to help push a budding young core into playoff contention.

Tierney had just 18 points in 70 games this season, a career-low. Ennis was much more productive in an even more limited role, notching 24 points in 57 games. He should continue to find a home next season to provide solid depth scoring. Mete only appeared in 37 games this season, oftentimes a healthy scratch.

  • Dorion also announced that forwards Austin Watson and Adam Gaudette will make the trip to Finland to represent the United States at the 2022 World Championships, joining teammate Tim Stutzle who will be with Germany. Gaudette had just 14 points in 58 games this year, a far cry from his 33-point year in 59 games a few seasons back. Watson, known for his grit rather than his scoring, ended up with more points, tallying 16 in 67 games.
  • Forward Connor Brown was dealing with not one but two wrist injuries by the time the season ended. That didn’t stop him much, though, as he still tallied a respectable 39 points in 64 games as he battled through injury at various points this season. He’s done nothing but score consistently since joining the Senators, tallying 117 points in 191 games over three seasons so far.
  • Promising defense prospect Jake Sanderson re-injured his hand this week, but Dorion says he’ll be ready for training camp. Dorion notes Sanderson will participate in development camp over the summer, while forward Shane Pinto, who was injured most of this season, will join him at rookie camp.

Tyler Ennis Out For Remainder Of Season

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Ottawa Senators winger Tyler Ennis is out for the rest of the season, per Bruce Garrioch of The Ottawa Sun. This comes after Ennis was forced out of today’s win over the Detroit Red Wings after taking a hard hit along the boards. The Senators are 27th in the NHL with a 25-37-6 record, and are playing for pride more than anything else this season, so losing Ennis is not a major issue for the team, but it is an unfortunate development for a squad that values everything Ennis brings on and off the ice.

Ennis, 32, was in the middle of playing his 700th career game before a hard hit forced him out of the game and has now ultimately ended his season. This season has been Ennis’ second tour of duty with the Senators, as he first played for them in the 2019-20 season. He scored 14 goals and 33 points in 61 games before being traded to the Edmonton Oilers for a 2021 fifth-round pick. Ennis signed a one-year $900k deal with the Senators this offseason and has been a solid veteran in a younger lineup while also providing secondary scoring. Ennis has eight goals and 24 points in 57 games this season, which is a 12-goal, 35-point pace, production that is solid given his cap hit.

Ennis may never have reached the potential he flashed as a 20 goal scorer earlier in his career when he was a Buffalo Sabre, but he has settled into his role nicely as he’s aged. The Senators are sure to miss him as one of the veterans in their lineup, although his absence could pave the way for the team to get a look at a younger player in his spot in the lineup down the stretch. This season-ending injury is unlikely to be welcomed by Ennis within the context of his pending unrestricted free agency, as it could impact the offseason market for his services. But that being said, regardless of the injury, there is always a market for the veteran, affordable secondary scoring Ennis provides.

Senators Place Tyler Ennis And Josh Norris In COVID Protocol

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The Senators are set to return to action tomorrow against Toronto but will be doing so without two of their forwards as the team announced (Twitter link) that center Josh Norris and winger Tyler Ennis have been placed in COVID protocol.  While not every Canadian province has adapted their quarantine protocol to the shorter period, Ontario has which means the two could be back after five days of isolation.

Norris, in particular, is a notable loss for Ottawa as he sits second on the team in scoring with 22 points in 28 games while logging nearly 19 minutes a game of ice time which puts him third among Senators forwards.  Ennis, meanwhile, had a successful training camp PTO and while he has only scored once this season, he has also picked up 11 assists in 26 games, providing a decent return on his $900K price tag.

Earlier this morning, the team announced (Twitter link) that forwards Clark Bishop and Logan Shaw were added to the taxi squad, likely as the corresponding moves for the COVID news. Bishop played in 13 games with Ottawa last season but injuries have limited him to just five games this year, all with AHL Belleville.  As for Shaw, he has a goal and two assists in 16 games with Ottawa this season and just one helper in six AHL contests.

Tyler Ennis Signs With Ottawa Senators

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As expected, the Ottawa Senators have signed Tyler Ennis to a one-year contract. The deal will carry an NHL salary of $900K and ends the professional tryout that Ennis had been in camp on. Senators GM Pierre Dorion released a short statement:

Tyler has had a strong training camp. He’s a highly-skilled veteran whose leadership qualities should prove as valuable as they were here two seasons ago. He’s capable of generating offence both at five-on-five and on the power-play, and, with an ability to play both wing postions, he’ll be a good addition for us at forward.

Ennis, 32, spent the 2020-21 season with the Edmonton Oilers, scoring three goals and nine points in 30 games. Though those numbers won’t jump off the page, the undersized forward is versatile enough to move around the lineup and add a little offense wherever he is deployed. In 2019-20 with the Senators, he recorded 14 goals and 33 points in 61 games before being flipped at the deadline.

As with any other short-term deal for a team like the Senators, the trade deadline should be considered. Ennis once again becomes a chip for the team to cash in should they receive an offer, though his value around the league has certainly decreased over the last year. Depending on where he fits into the lineup, that value could bounce back, though it seems unlikely he’ll steal much ice time from the team’s younger forwards.

The key for Ottawa was also to add more salary to get closer to the cap floor. The team is technically still under it, but should be able to fix that with a late-camp waiver claim or a minor trade. Signing Brady Tkachuk, the last remaining major RFA, would also obviously fix that issue, though it isn’t clear how close the two sides are.

Atlantic Notes: Eichel, Ennis, Barkov

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For the majority of the prolonged Jack Eichel trade negotiations, the Sabres hadn’t been sharing medical information with other teams.  However, as TSN’s Darren Dreger noted in the latest TSN Insider Trading segment, that has now changed and interested teams are now receiving Eichel’s medical information as it’s collected.  It’s a small step as the stalemate continues with Eichel’s camp wanting artificial disc replacement surgery with Buffalo insisting on fusion surgery and the Sabres have the final say on the matter.  It’s unknown if the exchanging of medical info will make other teams suddenly increase their offers for the disgruntled center but at least they’ll have updated information to work off of.

More from the Atlantic:

  • While things can change, the current expectation is that veteran Tyler Ennis will be able to land a contract and a roster spot off of his PTO with the Senators, reports Postmedia’s Bruce Garrioch. The 31-year-old had a tough year last season with Edmonton where he had just nine points in 30 games but in 2019-20, Ennis spent most of the year with Ottawa and head coach D.J. Smith where he collected 33 points in 61 contests.  At this point, a contract would be at or close to the league minimum and Ennis would give the Sens another capable veteran after just adding Zach Sanford over the weekend.
  • The Panthers are engaged in extension talks with captain Aleksander Barkov, report David Dwork of WPLG and David Pagnotta of The Fourth Period (Twitter link). The 26-year-old is entering the final year of what has been a very team-friendly deal that carries an AAV of $5.9MM and he will be eyeing a substantial raise – potentially past the $10MM mark.  Both Dwork and Pagnotta peg the discussions as progressing very slowly so it appears there’s still a lot of work to be done before Florida can get their franchise forward to put pen to paper on a new contract.

Ottawa Senators Sign Tyler Ennis To PTO

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Sep 21: Thomas Drance and Rick Dhaliwal of The Athletic report that the Vancouver Canucks also offered Ennis a PTO and will “continue to monitor” his situation with the Senators. It is important to note that a tryout with one team does not stop a player from signing an NHL contract with another, meaning at any point Ennis could decide to join the Canucks if an offer is put on the table.

Sep 19: The Ottawa Senators are bringing back a familiar face. The Ottawa Sun’s Bruce Garrioch reports that the team will bring veteran forward Tyler Ennis to training camp on a PTO after he spent time with the team in 2019-20.

Last season with the Edmonton Oilers, Ennis struggled to stay in the lineup consistently and was limited to just nine points in 30 games. But while Ennis isn’t the 20-goal scorer of yore, he’s still shown the ability to be a valuable depth contributor at the NHL level. He maybe demonstrated that most during his time in Ottawa, scoring 14 goals and 33 points in 61 games. He was dealt to the Oilers at that year’s trade deadline, but now the Edmonton native will have another chance to show he can make an impact in Ottawa.

It’s hard to imagine Ennis receives anything more than league minimum based on his production last season. Still, Ennis remains a reliable play-driving forward who’s good at helping chance generation in the bottom six. Ottawa’s forward depth may have gotten a slight boost with the signing of Logan Brown yesterday, but the team still needs more bodies to fill out depth roles. Ennis could very well help alleviate this weakness for Ottawa at a bargain-bin price. It’s hard to argue with most any professional tryout contract, but Ottawa could see some serious dividends here if Ennis performs similarly to his 2019-20 numbers.

West Notes: Parayko, Ennis, Canucks

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Blues defenseman Colton Parayko missed 21 games last season due to a lingering back issue which likely kept the price tag lower on the eight-year, $52MM extension he just signed.  Speaking with reporters, including Tom Timmermann of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, the veteran indicated that his back has fully recovered but the treatment to get to that point has been minimal.  Instead of surgery or extensive rehab, Parayko has largely just rested to heal the injury, something that simply wasn’t an option during the season when he tried to play through it.  Expectations will be much higher for him heading into this coming season with that extension now in place and with the back injury behind him, he should be able to have a bigger impact offensively after recording just 12 points in 32 contests.

More from the Western Conference:

  • Veteran forward Tyler Ennis is among those still sitting in the UFA pool but Postmedia’s Jim Matheson reports that there are some teams that have shown tentative interest along the lines of circling back to him as a fallback plan. He lists the Canucks as one of the teams that may have shown interest so far.  The 31-year-old had a limited role with Edmonton last season, notching just nine points in 30 games while being a regular scratch.  Accordingly, he’s someone that may have to settle for a PTO at this point whether that’s with Vancouver or someone else.
  • With one successful offer sheet now being completed, Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman noted in the latest 31 Thoughts podcast (audio link) that the Canucks have been the team believed to be the most concerned about an offer sheet this summer. Of their two remaining RFAs, only center Elias Pettersson is eligible to receive one as defenseman Quinn Hughes falls under the 10.2c classification.  Friedman adds that talks are expected to pick up with both unsigned players after there were basically no discussions for all of August.

Tyler Ennis, Greg Pateryn Clear Waivers

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Jan 26: Ennis has cleared waivers according to Chris Johnston of Sportsnet. Pierre LeBrun of The Athletic adds that Pateryn also cleared.

Jan 25: The Edmonton Oilers have placed Tyler Ennis on waivers, following another scoreless outing last night in which he played just over six minutes. Ennis has yet to register a point on the season. Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet also reports that Greg Pateryn of the Colorado Avalanche has been placed on waivers.

Ennis, 31, signed a one-year deal in the offseason to remain with the Oilers after fitting in quite nicely down the stretch last season. In nine regular season games following a trade from the Ottawa Senators, the undersized forward scored four points. In the postseason he was also effective, scoring two points in three qualification games. This season, however, he’s been pushed further and further down the lineup, playing in just four of the team’s seven games and registering just two shots on goal.

Pateryn meanwhile was only acquired by the Avalanche a few days ago, in a cap-clearing move with the Minnesota Wild. He’s played three games since then, but it’s easy to see why the team has decided to put him on waivers. Not only will his $2.25MM salary likely keep him free from claim, but the team has already gained full confidence in youngster Bowen Byram and because of it have too many defensemen. Moving Pateryn to the taxi squad would save cap space while still allowing him to move into the lineup whenever needed.

While Pateryn may be a tough claim, Ennis could draw some interest from around the league. Already speculation has erupted out of Toronto, where the Maple Leafs are looking for a forward addition. Toronto has an obvious connection to Ennis, having spent the 2018-19 season together, one that rejuvenated his career after multiple injuries. Still, given his salary of $1MM he would be a tougher fit for the cap-strapped Maple Leafs than some of their other $700K forwards.

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