Philadelphia Flyers Trade Ryan Hartman
The Philadelphia Flyers have decided to move on from Ryan Hartman just a few months after acquiring him. The young forward is on his way to the Dallas Stars in exchange for Tyler Pitlick. Hartman is a restricted free agent this offseason, and was part of the deal that saw Wayne Simmonds head to the Nashville Predators at the trade deadline.
Hartman, 24, has now been part of four NHL organizations since being selected 30th overall in 2013. Reaching a career-high 19 goals and 31 points with the Chicago Blackhawks in 2016-17, he hasn’t been able to replicate that kind of production in Nashville or Philadelphia. In fact, Hartman recorded just 26 points total in his most recent season and didn’t find a great fit offensively with the Flyers. Still, his physical style still brings some potential to slide into the Stars’ top-nine and provide something that the team covets.
The fact that he is a restricted free agent shouldn’t be too much of an obstacle, but does likely mean that the Stars are taking on some salary in the deal. Pitlick was in the final season of a three-year deal that carries a $1MM cap hit, making him an affordable depth forward for the Flyers. Pitlick played 47 games for the Stars last season, recording 12 points but still providing a physical edge. The 27-year old has never been much of an offensive threat, recording a career-high 27 points in 2017-18.
While Hartman hasn’t lived up to his potential so far, this is quite a drop in value over the last few years. The Predators originally acquired him from the Blackhawks in 2018 in exchange for a package including Victor Ejdsell and a first-round pick, while he then landed them coveted deadline acquisition Simmonds a year later. While Pitlick will surely play for the Flyers, he doesn’t represent the kind of upside many believed Hartman to have just a few seasons ago.
Western Notes: Fedun, Oilers’ Front Office, Holden, Kubalik
With lots of questions surrounding the last spot on the Dallas Stars’ defense, SportsDay’s Matthew DeFranks reports that Taylor Fedun is expected to play after participating in warm-ups before Game 6 of their second round series against the St. Louis Blues. The veteran defenseman was questionable to play, but he successfully warmed up with no issues.
The team has been hampered by injuries at the third pairing spot alongside Ben Lovejoy, as both Jamie Oleksiak and Joel Hanley are out with injuries, while Fedun has also struggled to get on the ice. The team had a number of options if Fedun could not go, including Dillon Heatherington and Gavin Bayreuther.
- While nothing has been signed, the Edmonton Journal’s Kurt Leavins suggests that if/when Detroit Red Wings Senior Vice President Ken Holland takes over as General Manager in Edmonton, he’s likely to bring front office personnel with him. He writes that Detroit’s Director of Amateur Scouting Tyler Wright is a likely candidate to follow Holland, as well as Ryan Martin, the Red Wings Assistant General Manager, who is the team’s salary cap guru. He adds that rumors that Dave Tippett could end up as the team’s head coach would be a good move considering the relative success he had in Arizona when the team had little to work with.
- After being relegated to the press box for all but one game in the playoffs, Vegas Golden Knights defenseman Nick Holden is motivated to come back and reclaim a spot on Vegas’ blue line, according to Las Vegas Review-Journal’s Ben Gotz. The 31-year-old played in his least amount of regular season games since the 2013-14 season after he was passed on the depth chart by Jonathon Merrill. With one more year on his contract at $2.2MM, Holden must prove he is capable of being a regular. “Whenever you’re sitting out, it’s added motivation to try to bring your level up,” Holden said. “It’s good for a team to have that healthy competition, because that pushes all of us to be better.”
- The Athletic’s Scott Powers (subscription required) writes that while the Chicago Blackhawks are finalists in the sweepstakes to sign Swedish forward Anton Wedin, the team is also expected to sign NLA forward Dominik Kubalik after the World Championships. Kubalik, whose rights were acquired from the Los Angeles Kings on January 24th of this year, is coming off a 25-goal, 57-point season in the Swiss League. The 23-year-old is expected to challenge for a bottom-six spot in the Blackhawks’ lineup immediately.
Injury Updates: Byfuglien, Gardiner, Malkin, Pitlick
The Jets are getting a key part of their defense corps back for tonight’s game against Montreal as they announced that Dustin Byfuglien has been activated off injured reserve. The 34-year-old has missed the last six weeks with an ankle injury and has played in just 37 games this season although he has been quite productive when healthy with 30 points on the year. He’s expected to take Sami Niku’s in the lineup and get eased back into game action. Meanwhile, while Niku is waiver-exempt, he’s ineligible to return to AHL Manitoba as Winnipeg opted to not paper him back down just before the trade deadline.
More injury notes from around the league:
- The Maple Leafs are hoping to have defenseman Jake Gardiner back for their final two games of the season, head coach Mike Babcock told reporters, including Dave Feschuk of the Toronto Star. He has been out of the lineup for more than a month with a back injury. While having a back issue in the final year of his deal before being eligible for unrestricted free agency isn’t ideal, the fact that Toronto has struggled somewhat in his absence could mitigate that somewhat. Gardiner ranked 12th in our midseason UFA power rankings.
- Penguins center Evgeni Malkin participated in practice for the first time since sustaining an upper-body injury two weeks ago, notes Matt Vensel of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. He’s still unable to take contact so he’s still at least a few days away from returning but it’s at least a sign that he should be ready for the postseason at the very least.
- The Stars announced (Twitter link) that they’ve activated winger Tyler Pitlick from injured reserve. He has been out of the lineup since mid-January after undergoing wrist surgery. It’s unlikely that he’ll play a big role down the stretch but the 27-year-old should return to a bottom-six role for the stretch run in Dallas.
Tyler Pitlick Out At Least Eight Weeks Following Surgery
The Dallas Stars will be without forward Tyler Pitlick for quite some time after he underwent surgery on his left wrist. Team reporter Mark Stepneski tweets that Pitlick’s status will be re-evaluated in eight weeks.
Pitlick, 27, is no stranger to major injuries having had several seasons in his short career end prematurely due to surgery. Last year saw him play 80 games for the Stars, a virtual miracle that resulted in a solid 14-goal, 27-point season. This year was supposed to be much of the same, but Pitlick could very well finish with just 43 games played and ten points. Eight weeks puts Pitlick out until almost the end of the season, at which point he would only be able to return if the Stars make the playoffs.
The fragile forward has one year remaining on his contract with a $1MM cap hit, but could find himself fighting for a job again next fall. The Stars need to find some more scoring from their bottom-six, and even with Pitlick’s physical contributions he just wasn’t putting the puck in the net often enough.
Central Notes: Zucker, Methot, Berglund, Bouwmeester, Yzerman
Minnesota Wild’s Jason Zucker has scored six consecutive goals for the team over the past three games, giving the team all their offense. The 25-year-old wing put up team’s only two goals in their 4-2 loss to the Toronto Maple Leafs on Wednesday. He followed that up with a hat trick in the Wild’s 3-0 shutout of the Montreal Canadiens on Thursday.
He added the team’s lone goal in last night’s matchup with the Philadelphia Flyers to continue his streak. That goal held up as Minnesota walked away with a 1-0 shutout. While skill has propelled the forward on his hot streak, his goal Saturday just happened to be a lucky bounce that deflected off his stick and got past Philadelphia’s Brian Elliott, according to Rachel Blount of the Star Tribune.
“I have no idea,” the Wild winger said, when he was asked how the puck got past Elliott. “It was an empty net, and it had a lot of spin off the boards. So I think when it hit my stick, it just kind of shot off, and I honestly couldn’t tell you what it hit. That’s just a lucky bounce.”
- NHL.com’s Sean Shapiro writes that Dallas Stars defenseman Marc Methot will miss the next two games with a lower body injury. The 32-year-old defensive defenseman will not travel with the team on their upcoming three-game road trip, but Shapiro also notes the team will not have to add another defender. The team will move defenseman Jamie Oleksiak back into their defensive rotation instead. The team also said that forward Tyler Pitlick, who has been out for the last week, is ready to go and Shapiro suggests that Pitlick will likely move into the lineup for Monday’s game against the Carolina Hurricanes.
- The St. Louis Blues got some good news as Tom Timmermann of The St. Louis Post-Dispatch writes that center Patrik Berglund and defenseman Jay Bouwmeester practiced with the team today and are expected to travel with the team on their upcoming three-game road trip. While coach Mike Yeo said that neither is expected to play on the road trip, both are close to returning to the lineup. Berglund was not projected to return until December after undergoing shoulder surgery and could be ahead of his timetable. Bouwmeester only practiced today for the first time since fracturing his ankle earlier this season.
- Ken Wiebe of the Winnipeg Sun tweets that while it may be meaningless, Tampa Bay general manager Steve Yzerman was in attendance at the last two Winnipeg Jets games, having been at the Jets’ 4-1 victory over Arizona last night and the Jets’ 5-2 loss to the Vegas Golden Knights on Friday.
Dallas Notes: Ritchie, Faksa, Pitlick, Oleksiak, Smith
The Dallas Stars announced they have placed winger Brett Ritchie on injured reserve today retroactive to Oct. 30. He suffered an upper-body injury and while he was listed as day-to-day, the newest update suggests he could miss up to another week with the injury.
The 24-year-old wing has struggled so far this year with just one goal and one assist in 12 games this year. Ritchie ranked fourth on the team last year, potting 16 goals in 78 games. The 2011 second-round pick has just 15 shots on goal in those 12 games and has seen his average ice time drop to 12:03, down from a career average of 13:00.
The move was made as the team suddenly has been hit with a flurry of injuries, with center Radek Faksa and Tyler Pitlick both being listed as doubtful for Monday’s home game against the Winnipeg Jets, while veteran center Martin Hanzal is listed as questionable, according to NHL.com’s Sean Shapiro. Putting Ritchie on IR will allow the team to make a roster move and call up a player from the Texas Stars either later today or tomorrow.
Faksa, who suffered an apparent leg injury in Saturday’s game, also has been showing improvement in his game, picking up a goal and an assist in their win over the Buffalo Sabres. Pitlick is also listed as doubtful with an upper-body injury, but no other clarification, according to Shapiro.
- Shapiro also tweets the team may turn to defenseman Jamie Oleksiak in an emergency and ask him to play the forward position on Monday. Oleksiak has only appeared in eight games so far this season and has been a healthy scratch for the last two.
- Scott Burnside of NHL.com writes that head coach Ken Hitchcock praised the play of Gemel Smith as the team’s most improved player after Saturday’s game. Despite struggling to get on the scoreboard in the first few games that he’s been in, the 23-year-old was instrumental in aiding the team’s four-goal first period Saturday as he picked up his first two assists of the season. His rushes on net helped open up goal scoring opportunities on both Faksa’s and Stephen Johns goals in that period. “He’s a hockey player,” Hitchcock said of Smith. “He acts like a hockey player and plays like a hockey player. You don’t have to tell him twice. He has a feel for the game and does a lot of things that just help you win hockey games. He’s underrated offensively and he’s competitive and really good on the boards. He builds you good minutes every night.”
Salary Cap Deep Dive: Dallas Stars
Navigating the Salary Cap is probably one of the more important tasks for any general manager to have. Teams that can avert total cap chaos by walking the tightrope of inking players to deals that match their value (or compensate for future value without breaking the bank) remain successful. Those that don’t see struggles and front office changes.
PHR will look at every NHL team and give a thorough look at their cap situation heading into the 2017-18 season. This will focus more on those players who are integral parts of the roster versus those who may find themselves shuttling between the AHL and NHL. All cap figures are courtesy of CapFriendly.
Dallas Stars
Current Cap Hit: $75,196,355 (over the $75MM Upper Limit)
Entry-Level Contracts
F Devin Shore (One year remaining, $870K)
D Julius Honka (Two years remaining, $863K)
Potential Bonuses
Honka: $500K
Total: $500K
Despite a disappointing season a year ago, the Dallas Stars did have some young players who showed some promise. Shore was one of those players. A second-round pick in 2010, the 23-year-old had a decent first year with the Stars, scoring 13 goals and adding 20 assists and playing in all 82 contests. What Shore did not get much of was ice time, as he averaged just 14:08 on the ice. That may change this year as there are many who believe he could be a top-six forward right now. Honka is another player who got a little bit of time with the Stars last year. The 21-year-old defender, their first-round pick from 2014, has already fared well with the AHL’s Texas Stars. He scored seven goals and added 24 assists in 50 games with them and got 16 games with Dallas at the end of the year and picked up five points. He is a likely candidate to make the team this year.
One Year Remaining, Non-Entry-Level
G Kari Lehtonen ($5.9MM, UFA)
D Dan Hamhuis ($3.75MM, UFA)
F Antoine Roussel ($2MM, UFA)
D Jamie Oleksiak ($965K, RFA)
D Patrik Nemeth ($945K, RFA)
D Greg Pateryn ($800K, UFA)
D Stephen Johns ($725K, RFA)
F Curtis McKenzie ($700K, UFA)
F Brian Flynn ($700K, UFA)
F Mattias Janmark ($700K, RFA)
F Adam Cracknell ($675K, UFA)
That’s a long list, but the team really has few major worries about re-signing free agents next season. Lehtonen was a buyout candidate this offseason after the team had too many goaltenders. Instead, they held onto him to be their backup, but at $5.9MM, that’s an expensive backup who played 59 games and had a save percentage of .902. The team will rejoice at their salary cap savings next season. As for Hamhuis, the 34-year-old blueliner will need to have a big year if he wants another contract.
The 27-year-old Roussel is a different story. Everything depends on how he plays, but Dallas would like to see more offense than 12 goals from him to go with his 115 penalty minutes he picked up last year. The same holds true for Oleksiak, although he will be a restricted free agent, but the 24-year-old defenseman must show he can win a full-time job. He only managed 41 games last year. Johns, however, will likely be retained next year. He managed to get into 61 games last year and currently expected to make the team.
Dallas Stars Re-Sign Gemel Smith
After locking up Radek Faksa to a new contract yesterday, GM Jim Nill and the Dallas Stars were back at it again today, announcing an extension for forward Gemel Smith. Smith signed a one-year, two-way deal with financial terms not yet disclosed.
Smith made his NHL debut in 2016-17, skating in 17 games and recording three goals and three assists. He also added 33 points in 53 games with the AHL’s Texas Stars. The 2012 fourth-round pick hadn’t found that kind of scoring success since he was a star forward with the OHL’s Owen Sound Attack.
While Smith seemed poised to take on a bigger role with Dallas this season, the additions of Alexander Radulov, Martin Hanzal and maybe even Tyler Pitlick and Brian Flynn could mean even less opportunity for Smith. At just 5’10”, Smith plays a surprisingly hard-nosed, physical game. He may need to focus more on that side of his game than his offensive ability to earn his initial role with Dallas.
Stars Sign Tyler Pitlick To Three-Year Deal
The Dallas Stars added some more forward depth, inking Tyler Pitlick to a three-year, $3MM deal. Pitlick spent last season with the Edmonton Oilers, notching 11 points (8-3).
Pitlick comes at a relatively low cost and is still only 25 years of age. It’s a depth move for the Stars, who are looking to rebound from an injury-ravaged 2016-17 season. The Stars released their own announcement on the signing, with general manager Jim Nill saying:
“Tyler is a young player who will add speed and size to our lineup,. He offers versatility to our forward group and we look forward to him being a Dallas Star for many years.”
Free Agent Focus: Edmonton Oilers
The free agent period is now less than one week away from opening up and there are several prominent players set to hit the open market while many teams have key restricted free agents to re-sign. Here is a breakdown of the Edmonton Oilers’ free agent situation.
Key Restricted Free Agents: F Leon Draisaitl. At 21 years old and coming off a 29-goal season (along with 77 total points), Draisaitl would likely be the most important restricted free agent in the entire NHL. The Oilers have already come out and stated they will match any offer, no matter how high to retain one of the franchise’s cornerstone pieces on their team and it will prove costly. The third overall pick in the 2014 draft has been unstoppable in just three short years and he’s nowhere close to his prime. Extending the young German forward is critical for the team and a big reason the team just traded Jordan Eberle to the Islanders to free as much cap space as it can to lock up Draisaitl and Connor McDavid, who they hope to extend this year as well.
Other RFA’s: F Zack Kassian, D Joey Laleggia, D David Musil, F Zachary Pochiro, F Henrik Samuelsson, D Dillon Simpson.
Key Unrestricted Free Agents: F Tyler Pitlick. A few days ago, veteran defender Kris Russell would have been in this spot, but the defender signed a four-year, $4MM per year deal to stay with the Oilers. That leaves very little to worry about on the unrestricted free agent front. However, if you really look, Pitlick still has a lot of potential. The only problem is the 25-year-old center is quite injury prone. In the last three years, he has not played in more than 37 games a season due to various injuries with the most recent being a torn ACL back in December. Although, he was having a strong season before that, scoring eight goals in those first 31 games. However, considering the Oilers may be looking for cheap players with potential, they might consider giving Pitlick one more chance.
Other UFA’s: F David Desharnais, F Justin Fontaine, D Mark Fraser, F Matt Hendricks, D Eric Gryba, D Jordan Oesterle.
Projected Cap Space: With the Eberle contract now off the books and Russell signed long-term, that allows Edmonton almost $20MM in cap space to work with and they will likely need a lot of that to give extensions to Draisaitl and McDavid. While McDavid is not a restricted free agent until next year, the team can lock him up starting this summer and would be smart to do so. With what’s left, the team may look to add a few veterans to fill out the lineup and help guide this young team even further next year.