Week In Review

The final full week of August often marks the start of the final push to get contracts done with training camps now just a few weeks away.  That was indeed the case from the past seven days as the majority of the top stories were on the signing front although there was a notable one on the business side of things as well.

Bridge For Zadina: With Filip Zadina having another up and down season with Detroit last season, a bridge deal was expected.  In the end, that’s what he received as he inked a three-year deal that carries a $1.825MM AAV.  The sixth-overall pick in 2018, Zadina had 10 goals and 14 assists in 74 games with the Red Wings last season which isn’t where he was supposed to be after being a top scorer in junior.  This deal gives Detroit a chance to continue to bring him along slowly and evaluate him at a relatively low cost.  The 22-year-old will still have one year of RFA eligibility remaining at the end of this contract and will be owed a $2.19MM qualifying offer along with salary arbitration rights.

Texier Won’t Play With Columbus: After being granted a leave of absence for the final two months of 2021-22 following the deaths of two family members, it was expected that Blue Jackets forward Alexandre Texier would be back in the lineup with Columbus next season.  However, that won’t be the case as instead, the team announced that the 22-year-old won’t join the team at all next season.  Instead, an agreement has been worked out between Columbus, Texier, the NHL, and the NHLPA which will result in Texier being suspended for the season while allowing him to sign a one-year deal with Zurich of the Swiss NLA to play closer to home.  The Blue Jackets won’t incur any salary cap charges for Texier next season while the one year remaining on his contract is expected to roll over to 2023-24.

Stastny To Hurricanes: With Max Pacioretty heading for LTIR for most of the season, Carolina had the ability to use some of his cap hit to look for a replacement player.  They did just that as they signed veteran center Paul Stastny to a one-year, $1.5MM contract that also contains $500K in bonuses if the Hurricanes win the Stanley Cup.  The 36-year-old is coming off a quality season in Winnipeg that saw him record 21 goals and 24 assists in 71 games and certainly left money on the table to join Carolina.  He will give them a quality backup plan if Jesperi Kotkaniemi isn’t ready to move into the center spot on the second line following the departure of Vincent Trocheck and with 103 career playoff games under his belt, he’ll be one of their most experienced postseason performers.

Islanders Sign Three: The Islanders took care of their NHL restricted free agents as they announced new deals for winger Kieffer Bellows plus defensemen Alexander Romanov and Noah Dobson.  Bellows received a one-year, $1.2MM deal on the heels of a 19-point season, his first with regular NHL action.  Romanov, meanwhile, inked a three-year contract that carries a $2.5MM AAV.  He was New York’s big acquisition this summer after being acquired at the draft from Montreal along with a fourth-round selection in exchange for their first-round pick and will be tasked with locking down a spot in their top four.  As for Dobson, his contract was also for three years at a $4MM AAV.  He is coming off a breakout year that saw him put up 51 points in 80 games while logging over 21 minutes a night.  While the cap hit is certainly a bargain for that production, the term of the deal takes him a year away from UFA eligibility which does carry some risk.

Kessel To Vegas: Phil Kessel will take aim at the NHL ironman record in the opening month of the season as a member of the Golden Knights after Vegas signed him to a one-year, $1.5MM deal.  The 34-year-old had just eight goals with Arizona last season but still managed 44 assists.  The Golden Knights lost some offensive depth on the wing with the departures of Max Pacioretty, Evgenii Dadonov, and Mattias Janmark so Kessel will help to replace some of that lost offense.  In order to afford him, they are dipping into the cap space freed up following the loss of Robin Lehner and his $5MM AAV for all of next season following hip surgery.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

It took longer than many expected but the last big domino of the UFA market fell this past week, immediately resulting in a notable trade as well.  Those are among the top stories from the past seven days.

Veteran Signings: Jack Johnson will soon be participating in his 17th NHL season as the veteran signed a one-year, $950K contract with Chicago.  The 35-year-old had nine points in 74 games with Colorado in 2021-22 on their third pairing and should play a similar role with the Blackhawks, allowing them to keep a prospect in the minors for further development to start next season.  Meanwhile, a pair of NHL veterans opted to head overseas.  Winger Colton Sceviour opted to take a one-year deal with Bern in Switzerland after splitting last season between Edmonton and their AHL affiliate while Cedric Paquette is on his way to the KHL on a one-year pact with Dinamo Minsk.

Turris Retires: While those veterans found new homes on the ice, long-time NHL center Kyle Turris found a new home off the ice as he retired and was named a special advisor to the general manager and player development coach with Coquitlam of the BCHL.  He hangs up his skates at the age of 33 after a 14-year NHL career that saw him put up 425 points in 776 games with four different teams.  While he won’t be playing, Turris will still be collecting NHL money for a while yet as he will receive $2MM per season from Nashville through the 2027-28 season.

Kadri To Calgary: While there had been plenty of speculation (and seemingly even expectation) that Nazem Kadri would wind up with the Islanders, that wasn’t the case.  Instead, the 31-year-old center inked a seven-year, $49MM contract with the Flames, one that contains a no-move clause in the first four years and a 13-team no-trade clause in the final three seasons.  Kadri is coming off a career year with the Avalanche where he posted 87 points in 71 games while averaging over 19 minutes per game for the first time.  He also played a big role in Colorado’s run to the Stanley Cup as he collected 15 points in 16 games in the playoffs.  While it took a while for his deal to come around, Kadri has the long-term security he was seeking, and interestingly enough, it comes with the team that he actually invoked his no-trade clause to avoid joining just a few years ago.

Monahan To Montreal: For the Flames to be able to afford Kadri’s $7MM AAV, they needed to create some salary cap space.  They did just that, sending center Sean Monahan along with a first-round pick to Montreal for future considerations.  The 27-year-old has one year left on his deal with a $6.375MM AAV and is coming off hip surgery for the second straight season while he had just 23 points in 65 games.  The draft pick features plenty of various conditions that could make the pick convey anywhere between 2024 and 2026 and is certainly one of the more complex arrangements ever seen on a future draft choice.  Meanwhile, the news isn’t good for Canadiens goaltender Carey Price as he won’t be ready to start the season with GM Kent Hughes suggesting it’s unlikely he’ll be able to play in 2022-23 if he is ever able to return.  Montreal will place him on LTIR which creates the cap room for them to take on Monahan’s deal.

Talks Going Nowhere: At this point, most remaining restricted free agents are ones coming off their entry-level contracts that didn’t have any negotiation rights.  One of those is Maple Leafs defenseman Rasmus Sandin and his agent, Lewis Gross, voiced his frustration with the lack of progress made in negotiations, stating that “negotiations are going nowhere”.  The 22-year-old has long been viewed as a future long-term piece of Toronto’s back end and he had 16 points in 51 games last season but was scratched in the playoffs.  With the depth that the Maple Leafs have on the left side of their defense corps, playing time will be difficult to come by which could also be playing a role.  Toronto is in a spot where they’ll be hard-pressed to re-sign Sandin and stay cap-compliant so a resolution that comes sooner than later would be ideal to give them more time to make the money work.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

While there were some big signings over the past seven days, there were also some notable injuries that are also featured in our key stories.

Signing Middlemen: In the span of a few hours, the Bruins shored up their center situation for next season.  They first signed Patrice Bergeron for what will be his 19th season with the team, giving him a one-year, $2.5MM deal with an additional $2.5MM in bonuses that will be earned once he plays in ten games.  Next up was a reunion with David Krejci after a season overseas as he received a one-year pact worth $1MM in base salary and $2MM in bonuses, three-quarters of which will be earned once he gets to 20 games.  Lastly, they inked Pavel Zacha to a one-year, $3.5MM deal to avoid salary arbitration.  Boston now has strong depth down the middle but while all three are on one-year pacts, they’ll likely be paying a good chunk of that money in 2023-24 through a bonus overage penalty.  That deferral will allow them to take one more run at contention with their veteran core.

Big Money For Crouse: The Coyotes have talked about winger Lawson Crouse being a big part of their future plans.  They demonstrated their faith in the 25-year-old as they signed him to a five-year deal that carries a $4.3MM AAV.  Crouse is coming off of his first 20-goal season while he has led the Coyotes in hits for four straight years.  Power forwards are hard to come by and often command pricey deals and that was the case here as Arizona bought out the final two years of Crouse’s RFA eligibility plus his first three UFA-eligible campaigns, ensuring they’ll have him for the prime of his career.

Lehner Out For The Year: The Golden Knights will be without their starting goalie for the entirety of the 2022-23 season after it was announced that Robin Lehner will need hip surgery.  This comes on the heels of the shoulder surgery he had back in May on an injury that ended his season prematurely.  Vegas will now add his $5MM to their LTIR pool which will also feature Shea Weber ($7.857MM) and perhaps Nolan Patrick ($1.2MM).  That gives Vegas some flexibility to try to add a replacement netminder and re-sign defenseman Nicolas Hague.  With the availability of backup Laurent Brossoit for the start of the season also in question after his hip surgery, youngster Logan Thompson is currently set to be their opening night starter.

Five For Roy: This past week wasn’t just bad news for Vegas as they agreed to a five-year, $15MM deal with center Nicolas Roy.  The 25-year-old established himself as a capable third-line center last season, notching 15 goals and 24 assists in 78 games while logging over 16 minutes a night.  For context, he had just 25 points in 85 games heading into the season.  It’s a bit of a risky agreement given Roy’s lack of a proven track record but there is also plenty of upside with this deal as if he’s able to play even at a similar level over the next few years, this should become a bargain contract for the Golden Knights.  On a veteran-laden team that doesn’t have many below-market value deals, Roy’s should be one of the exceptions before too long.

Achilles Injuries: A pair of players suffered torn Achilles tendons during offseason training and have undergone surgery.  The first was Hurricanes winger Max Pacioretty, one of their key summer acquisitions.  Instead of him helping to offset the losses of Vincent Trocheck and Nino Niederreiter, they’ll now have to wait until closer to the trade deadline for him to make his Carolina debut.  They won’t have any short-term cap issues with his $7MM AAV becoming eligible for LTIR but that’s not much consolation.  Meanwhile, after missing all of last season with a core muscle injury, Sharks blueliner Nikolai Knyzhov also sustained the injury and will be out for six months.  The 24-year-old was a regular for San Jose back in 2020-21 but it will be quite a while again before he’ll have a shot at reclaiming his spot on their back end.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

With the UFA market slowing to basically a halt, most of the news around the league from the past seven days has come from restricted free agency although there was a significant contract extension as well.

Four For Ferraro: It’s not very often that a player coming off an entry-level deal signs a medium-term contract but that’s exactly what the Sharks and defenseman Mario Ferraro did with the two sides agreeing to a four-year deal that carries a $3.25MM AAV.  The 23-year-old has become a key cog on their back end and averaged 23 minutes a game last season.  The most notable part about this contract might be that it walks Ferraro right to UFA eligibility while not buying any extra years of team control.  Cap space is limited in San Jose which likely took a long-term agreement off the table but it’s still a little surprising that new GM Mike Grier preferred this route.  At any rate, the Sharks have a key defender locked up for four years at an affordable rate.

Devils Settle: New Jersey had a pair of wingers that were set to make it to an arbitration hearing and while both cases got to the point of making their filings, both were settled soon after.  First, the Devils worked out a one-year, $5.45MM contract with winger Jesper Bratt.  It was a well-earned significant raise for the 24-year-old who nearly doubled the AAV of his bridge deal after leading the team in scoring with 73 points in 76 games.  He’ll once again be arbitration-eligible next summer.  Meanwhile, after opting for club-elected arbitration with winger Miles Wood, the two sides settled on a one-year, $3.2MM agreement.  The 26-year-old was limited to just three games last season after undergoing hip surgery but was valued enough by New Jersey to still be qualified last month.  Wood actually took a $300K pay cut compared to his salary from last season and will be an unrestricted free agent next summer.

Huberdeau Extension: While Brady Tkachuk wasn’t willing to sign a long-term extension with Calgary, one of the players he was traded for was open to doing so.  Jonathan Huberdeau opted to not test free agency next summer, instead signing an eight-year, $84MM extension that will begin in 2023-24.  The 29-year-old is coming off a career season that saw him put up 115 points, 85 of which were assists to set an NHL record for assists by a left winger.  More than 73% of the money is paid out in the form of signing bonuses while Huberdeau receives a full no-move clause for all eight years with a 19-team no-trade clause in the final two seasons.  The contract could very well be an overpayment in the final few seasons but it ensures Calgary will have a premier playmaker in the fold for the long haul.

Flames Sign Two More: Huberdeau’s contract wasn’t the only contract the Flames finalized as they managed to avoid arbitration with a pair of players as well.  Defenseman Oliver Kylington received a two-year deal with a $2.5MM AAV.  He became a regular part of Calgary’s back end for the first time last season and he made the most of it, recording 31 points in 73 games.  Notably, this contract only buys out his final years of RFA eligibility.  Meanwhile, Andrew Mangiapane’s career year earned him quite a raise as well as he was given a three-year deal that carries a $5.8MM cap charge.  After previously having a career-high of 32 points, the 26-year-old notched 35 goals last season, becoming a core producer for the Flames in the process.  His deal covers this last RFA-eligible year plus two seasons of UFA eligibility.

Yamamoto Re-Signs: The Oilers were hoping to sign Kailer Yamamoto to a longer-term deal than the one-year contract they gave Jesse Puljujarvi.  They were able to do that although not by much as the team signed the winger to a two-year deal that carries a $3.1MM AAV.  The 23-year-old is coming off a nice 2021-22 campaign that saw him pick up 20 goals and 21 assists, both career highs which helped him more than double the $1.175MM price of his last deal and he’ll be owed a $3.2MM qualifying offer in 2024, his last summer of RFA eligibility.  With this signing, GM Ken Holland now has Edmonton’s last ten first-round picks under contract (including prospects).

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

With arbitration hearings on the horizon, most of the top news from the NHL over the past week came on the RFA side although one prominent unrestricted free agent made some headlines to get into the key stories from the past seven days.

Puljujarvi Settles: The Oilers were able to avoid salary arbitration with winger Jesse Puljujarvi as they agreed to a one-year, $3MM contract.  The 24-year-old had a career year, notching 36 points in 65 games which allowed him to more than double the AAV of his previous contract.  Puljujarvi has been in trade speculation for a while now and this deal isn’t going to change that.  Instead, it might actually help move discussions along as now other teams will have certainty over how much he’s going to cost for 2022-23 and how much cap space (if any) will need to be created to make a move work.  Edmonton still has some work to do with their restricted free agents with Kailer Yamamoto, Ryan McLeod, and Tyler Benson all needing new deals.

Four For Joseph: After having a limited role in his first three seasons in Tampa Bay, Mathieu Joseph made the most of his extra ice time with the Lightning.  So much so, in fact, that he was the key element of the trade that brought Nick Paul from Ottawa to Tampa at the trade deadline, leading to a strong playoff run and a long-term extension.  To his credit, Joseph was even better with the Senators, picking up 12 points in 11 games to finish his season on a high note.  Ottawa GM Pierre Dorion had seen enough, opting to work out a four-year deal worth an AAV of $2.95MM.  For context, $2.95MM is more than he has made the rest of his career combined.  It’s a nice reward for the 25-year-old while the Sens pick up two extra years of team control in the process.

Klingberg To Anaheim: Clearly, John Klingberg didn’t get the contract he was looking for at the start of free agency.  That resulted in him leaving his long-time agent Peter Wallen to join Newport’s Craig Oster.  Oster clearly took a different approach to Klingberg’s free agency as not long after taking over, the veteran defenseman signed a one-year, $7MM contract with Anaheim.  It’s a soft landing for the 29-year-old who will have an opportunity to play a big role with the Ducks and then will be able to try his hand again in free agency next summer.  Worth noting is that his full no-trade clause is only in place until January so if Anaheim is out of playoff contention, it’s quite possible that he’s flipped at the trade deadline which could also help bolster his value on the open market next summer.

Bridge For Kakko: After another quiet season, one that was also mired by injuries, there was an expectation that the Rangers would be working out a bridge contract with RFA winger Kaapo Kakko.  They did exactly that as he inked a two-year deal that carries a $2.1MM AAV.  The second-overall pick in 2019 has 26 goals in 157 career regular season contests while he was a healthy scratch in their final playoff game.  The contract gives him more time to try to secure a full-time spot in the top six while also guaranteeing him a higher cap hit on his next deal as Kakko will be owed a $2.4MM qualifying offer in 2024 when he’ll also have salary arbitration eligibility.

Five Years For Siegenthaler: After playing a very limited role in his first few NHL seasons with Washington, Jonas Siegenthaler has become a legitimate top-four blueliner since joining New Jersey in 2021.  The Devils have seen enough to hand him a five-year contract that carries a $3.4MM AAV in a move that also buys out his first three seasons of UFA eligibility.  The 25-year-old had 14 points in 70 games last season while averaging over 20 minutes a game and will clearly now be a part of their long-term plans on the back end.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

While the free agent frenzy has slowed down, there was still plenty of notable news around the NHL over the past seven days which is recapped in our key stories.

Sharks Zeroing In On Quinn: The Sharks appear to have found their next head coach with multiple reports suggesting that David Quinn will be their new bench boss with an official announcement expected sometime this week.  This will be Quinn’s second stint running an NHL bench after he was in charge with the Rangers for three seasons from 2018-19 through 2020-21 with the team posting a 96-87-25 record during that stretch.  Last season, Quinn coached Team USA internationally at the Olympics and World Championship with the team not medalling in either event.  He’ll now be tasked with helping to turn around a San Jose franchise that has fallen off in recent years and traded away their top defenseman in Brent Burns to Carolina earlier this month.  Toronto’s Spencer Carbury and Pittsburgh’s Mike Vellucci were believed to be the other finalists for the position.

Nino To Nashville: The free agent market for winger Nino Niederreiter didn’t exactly develop quickly but the 29-year-old has found a new home after signing a two-year, $8MM contract with Nashville.  The deal actually represents a pay cut after playing on a $5.25MM AAV the past five seasons, a sign of how stingy the market has become very quickly.  Niederreiter is coming off a solid showing that saw him put up 24 goals and 20 assists in 75 games despite averaging less than 15 minutes a night of ice time.  He has reached the 20-goal mark in six of the last eight seasons, consistent production that Nashville will certainly enjoy as they look to augment an offense that finished 12th in the league last season.

Tkachuk To Florida: After informing Calgary that he wouldn’t sign a long-term contract with them, Matthew Tkachuk has a new home as the Flames traded the winger along with a conditional 2025 fourth-round pick to Florida for winger Jonathan Huberdeau, center Cole Schwindt, defenseman MacKenzie Weegar, and a top-ten protected 2025 first-round pick.  Right before the swap, Calgary inked Tkachuk to an eight-year, $76MM agreement, making it the first-ever true sign-and-trade in NHL history.  Tkachuk is one of the premier power forwards in the league and will be Aleksander Barkov’s new running mate for the foreseeable future but the Panthers gave up one of the top point-getters last season in Huberdeau and a quality defenseman in Barkov (plus the prospect and draft pick).  Calgary did well to recover plenty of talent for Tkachuk but it’s worth noting that both Huberdeau and Weegar are a year away from unrestricted free agency.  GM Brad Treliving will certainly be hoping to get both of his newcomers locked up on long-term deals by next summer.

Blue Jackets Make Moves: From the moment he was acquired, there have been questions about whether or not Patrik Laine would be willing to stay with Columbus past his RFA years.  The answer to that question was yes as the winger signed a four-year, $34.8MM contract, a deal that bought out three years of UFA eligibility.  That will ensure that the Blue Jackets have two high-end wingers for the foreseeable future after they added Johnny Gaudreau in free agency.  However, those two contracts put them well over the salary cap which resulted in them moving winger Oliver Bjorkstrand to Seattle for a 2023 third-round pick and a 2023 fourth-rounder.  Bjorkstrand finished second on the Blue Jackets in scoring last season with 28 goals and 29 assists and he’ll immediately step into a key role for the Kraken at a low acquisition cost.  The 27-year-old has four more years on his contract with a $5.4MM AAV which means that Columbus dealt with their cap issues with this one move and is now set to be cap-compliant for next season.

Three Years For Vanecek: After acquiring Vitek Vanecek to give them another option between the pipes, the Devils worked quickly to give the netminder a three-year contract worth $10.2MM.  The deal, which allowed the two sides to avoid salary arbitration, buys out two years of UFA eligibility.  Vanecek has just 79 career NHL appearances under his belt but had two quality seasons with Washington (playing for the league minimum) before the Capitals decided they wanted a more proven option between the pipes which led to the addition of Darcy Kuemper this summer.  New Jersey, meanwhile, will bring back Mackenzie Blackwood while Jonathan Bernier hopes he’ll be ready for training camp after missing the bulk of last season after undergoing hip surgery.  It’s rarely ideal for an NHL team to carry three goaltenders but after the injury trouble the Devils had between the pipes in 2021-22, it’s certainly understandable that they’re taking no chances this time around.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

While the big roster shuffle will come next week as free agency opens up, it was still a very busy week around the NHL with the draft and some big trades among the key stories.

Draft Day Splashes: The Canadiens were hosting the draft, the first held in-person since 2019.  GM Kent Hughes make a pair of notable decisions on the opening day of the festivities.  First, he opted to take winger Juraj Slafkovsky with the first-overall pick, staying away from Shane Wright, long viewed as the consensus top pick who instead went fourth to Seattle.

Before Wright’s pick was announced, however, Montreal swung a pair of trades to find a new center.  First, they traded defenseman Alexander Romanov along with a fourth-round pick to the Islanders for the 13th selection and then flipped that with a third-rounder to acquire Kirby Dach.  Dach, the number three pick in 2019, has struggled so far in his career which led to Chicago dealing him away and taking Frank Nazar with the first-rounder but Montreal believes the 21-year-old still has top-six upside.  Romanov, meanwhile, is a nice addition to New York’s back end and will certainly give them a boost in terms of physicality.  Both Dach and Romanov are restricted free agents this summer.

Day Two Also Busy: Sometimes, the second day of the draft can come and go without much fanfare.  This wasn’t one of them as Detroit swung a move to get a head start on their free agent shopping, acquiring the rights to Ville Husso from St. Louis for a third-round pick and then quickly signed him to a three-year, $14.25MM extension.  It’s a nice raise for the 27-year-old who was on a league minimum contract the last two seasons but a well-earned one as he impressed in 40 games this past season.  The Flyers then added to their back end, picking up Anthony DeAngelo from Carolina for a trio of draft picks, quickly agreeing to a two-year, $10MM contract after.  The 26-year-old impressed in his only season with the Hurricanes, notching 51 points in 64 games, effectively pricing himself too high for what they can afford with several other notable free agents.  Meanwhile, the Oilers could soon be adding some cap space as reports surfaced that veteran defenseman Duncan Keith is expected to retire this week after a 17-year career that featured two Norris Trophies and three Stanley Cups.  The move will give Edmonton more than $5.5MM in cap space for next season while removing that amount from Chicago’s cap due to salary cap recapture penalties.

DeBrincat To Ottawa: Prior to the start of the draft, the Senators made a big splash on the trade front, acquiring winger Alex DeBrincat from Chicago in exchange for the seventh and 39th picks.  The 24-year-old is coming off his second career 41-goal season and has one year left on his deal with a $6.4MM AAV.  However, it’s worth noting that he’ll be owed a $9MM qualifying offer in 2023; GM Pierre Dorion indicated an intention to try to work on a long-term extension with DeBrincat in the coming weeks and it wouldn’t be surprising to see them try to push for a number that comes in a little below that amount.  Meanwhile, Chicago used the picks on defenseman Kevin Korchinski and center Paul Ludwinski as they continue to sell off pieces as they embark on a full-scale rebuild.

Sharks Hire Grier: It took until just before the draft but the Sharks found their next general manager, appointing long-time NHL winger Mike Grier to the position.  That makes him the first Black general manager in NHL history but not the first GM in his family as his brother Chris is currently the GM of the NFL’s Miami Dolphins.  Grier spent three of his 14 NHL seasons in San Jose and will now be tasked with trying to shed some onerous contracts and bring in some extra young depth to the organization.  His first move was to trade down from the 11th selection, swapping with Arizona for picks 27, 34, and 45.

Forsberg Sticks Around: While it took a lot longer than many expected, the Predators and winger Filip Forsberg were eventually able to work out a new eight-year, $68MM contract that carries a full no-move clause for the first six seasons.  The 27-year-old has spent his entire ten-year NHL career with Nashville and has been a fixture on their front line for many of those.  Forsberg is coming off a season that saw him hit new benchmarks in goals (42) and assists (42) despite missing 13 games which gave him plenty of leverage heading into discussions.  He used it well as he gets a $2.5MM increase compared to the AAV of his previous deal and the maximum term of an agreement, ensuring he’ll remain the Predators for a long time to come.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

With Colorado beating Tampa Bay to win the Stanley Cup, the offseason is officially underway.  Unsurprisingly, there was plenty of news over the past seven days which is recapped in our top stories.

Boston Gets Their Guy: While it took a lot longer than anyone really expected, the Bruins agreed on a multi-year contract extension with GM Don Sweeney.  Soon after, Sweeney found his next head coach as Boston hired Jim Montgomery as their new bench boss.  It will be Montgomery’s second time running an NHL bench as he was in charge for parts of two years in Dallas before being let go due to “unprofessional conduct” which Montgomery himself revealed was a battle with alcohol abuse.  The Bruins will be dealing with several key injuries to start next season including Charlie McAvoy and Brad Marchand so Montgomery will have his work cut out for him early on until those players return.  Dallas did well with Montgomery at the helm with a .579 points percentage but expectations will be high after they let Bruce Cassidy (who had a .672 points percentage with the Bruins) go earlier this offseason.

Tampa Makes Early Moves: Just days after falling to the Avalanche, the Lightning were back in the news.  First, they found a way to keep Nick Paul around, handing the forward a seven-year contract that carries an AAV of $3.15MM with some trade protection.  The 27-year-old fit in quite well after being acquired at the trade deadline from Ottawa, spending time on the second and third lines both down the stretch and in the playoffs.  Knowing they needed to fit in that contract and their desire to keep winger Ondrej Palat, GM Julien BriseBois then convinced defenseman Ryan McDonagh to waive his no-trade clause and moved him to Nashville for blueliner Philippe Myers and AHL forward Grant Mismash.  The move frees up $4.2MM in cap space as it stands but if Tampa Bay was to have a change of heart and buy out Myers, that could jump to $7.3MM as buying out the 25-year-old would actually give the Lightning a cap credit for next season.  Nashville gets a solid veteran blueliner in McDonagh to bolster their top four and take on the remaining four years of his deal at a $6.75MM cap hit.

Fiala To Los Angeles: Minnesota’s salary cap situation is well-known.  The increased dead cap charge stemming from the buyouts on Ryan Suter and Zach Parise was going to force their hand with Kevin Fiala.  While they wanted to keep him, everyone knew they couldn’t afford to.  That situation worked out well for the Kings as they acquired the 25-year-old in exchange for their first-round pick in next week’s draft (19th overall) along with the rights to prospect defenseman Brock Faber.  Los Angeles wasted little time signing Fiala to a seven-year, $55.125MM extension that carries some form of trade protection in each year that he’s eligible for it.  Fiala is coming off a career year that saw him pick up 85 points in 82 games and he immediately bolsters a Kings attack that was 20th in goals scored this past season.  Minnesota, meanwhile, gets some quality future assets and the cap flexibility that should allow them to fill out the rest of their roster this summer.

Boeser Signs: Saturday was a quiet deadline for Vancouver to reach a new contract with pending RFA forward Brock Boeser as it was the first deadline for club-elected arbitration, one that would have allowed the Canucks to offer 85% of his $7.5MM qualifying offer.  But that would have been a contentious process, one that both sides wanted to avoid.  They were able to do just that as they agreed on a three-year, $19.95MM contract.  The deal provides a small increase on his previous $5.85MM AAV, gives Vancouver a lower price tag than what his qualifier would have been, plus an extra two years of team control as Boeser had just one RFA year remaining.  It’s a tidy piece of business for both sides with the Canucks needing all the cap space they can get to keep as much of their core intact as they can.

Coaching Carousel: For a while, it looked like the NHL’s annual coaching carousel was set to come to an end.  Chicago officially hired Luke Richardson on a four-year contract while Detroit wasted little time following the conclusion of the Stanley Cup Final to make Derek Lalonde their new bench boss in another first-time hire.  At that point, there was just one opening left but before it could be filled, another one opened up as the Sharks surprisingly parted ways with Bob Boughner to allow their eventual new GM to pick their next head coach.  Not long after that, the other vacancy was filled as Winnipeg named former Dallas head coach Rick Bowness as their new head coach, giving him a two-year deal.  San Jose’s vacancy is now the only one around the league.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

With the offseason frenzy nearly upon us, activity around the league is starting to pick up.  Here’s a rundown of the biggest news from the past seven days.

DeBoer To Dallas: The Stars have found their new head coach as they hired Peter DeBoer, signing him to a four-year deal worth roughly $4.25MM per season.  It took a little while for him to enter the coaching market with Vegas taking their time to make a decision on his future before ultimately letting him go.  DeBoer has bounced around as this will be his fifth NHL team behind the bench but his best years came with the Golden Knights as he helped lead the team to a 98-50-12 record in 160 regular season games plus a 22-17 record in the playoffs.  He’ll take over for Rick Bowness who agreed to step away after the Stars were eliminated in the opening round of the postseason.

Smith To Return: While the deal isn’t expected to be announced for a little while due to salary cap and tagging reasons, the Golden Knights have reportedly agreed to a three-year deal with winger Reilly Smith to keep him around.  The agreement is believed to carry an AAV of around $5MM which also happens to be the AAV he has had for the last five years.  The 31-year-old has been a key piece for Vegas through their first five years of existence and actually sits third in scoring in their brief franchise history.  Smith is coming off a bit of a bounce-back season after a tough showing in 2020-21 as he collected 38 points in 56 games.  If he can stay healthy and put up close to 50 points (he played at a 56-point pace this year), he’ll provide the Golden Knights with a decent return on this deal but GM Kelly McCrimmon still has a lot of work to do this summer to get this team cap-compliant.

Maurice To Florida: Andrew Brunette did well taking over from Joel Quenneville early in the season, helping to lead the Panthers to a 51-18-6 record while Florida took home the Presidents’ Trophy.  That helped earn him a Jack Adams Award nomination but it didn’t help him keep his job as the team announced that they’ve hired Paul Maurice as their new head coach, signing him to a three-year deal worth just under $4MM per year.  Maurice stepped away from the Jets midseason but his time away from the game was rather short.  He has 24 years of NHL head coaching experience under his belt and will now be tasked with trying to get the team over the playoff hump after they were swept in the second round by Tampa Bay.  As for Brunette, it remains to be seen if he’ll go back to being an assistant as he was at the beginning of the season or if he’ll look to join another organization.

News From Winnipeg: Early on in their coaching search, it was clear that Winnipeg’s preference for their next head coach was Barry Trotz, a Manitoba native.  Trotz gave the job offer serious consideration but decided to decline it and will not be behind the bench to start next season.  Meanwhile, there could be changes coming to their forward group as well.  The team is believed to be exploring the trade market for captain Blake Wheeler.  The 35-year-old overcame a slow start to pick up 60 points in 65 games but with two years left on his deal with a cap hit of $8.25MM.  Between that and a trade-to list of just five teams, however, the market for him might not be too strong.  Then there’s center Pierre-Luc Dubois.  The pending restricted free agent has informed the team that his intention is to test unrestricted free agency when he’s eligible in 2024.  Dubois, who was acquired for another player whose willingness to sign long-term was in question (Patrik Laine), had 60 points of his own this season with a new career-high in goals with 28.  His hesitancy to sign a long-term agreement could ultimately dictate their plans for Mark Schiefele as it’s unlikely they’d part with both of their top centers in the same summer.

Richardson To Chicago: While an agreement hasn’t been made official yet, the Blackhawks have found their next head coach as they will be hiring Luke Richardson away from Montreal, where he had served as an assistant coach for the last four years.  The 53-year-old played more than 1,400 games in the NHL as a defenseman and has been a coach basically ever since then; he kicked off his coaching NHL career in the same season that he played his final two games.  Chicago is about to embark on a sizable rebuild so it’s not surprising they went with a first-time head coach with a reputation for being player-friendly.  The contract is expected to be finalized sometime this coming week.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Things are starting to pick up across the NHL with most of the league now firmly in offseason mode with the league providing a key cap figure for their summer planning.  Here’s a rundown of the biggest news from the past seven days.

Tortorella To Flyers: Philadelphia has their new head coach in place as they hired long-time bench boss John Tortorella, giving him a four-year deal that’s believed to be worth $4MM per season.  The Flyers have made it clear that even though they missed the playoffs this season, they are in win-now mode and Tortorella’s hiring certainly cements that line of thinking.  Philadelphia is Tortorella’s fifth NHL team as a head coach and ranks 13th all-time in games coached with 1,383 and sits 14th for most wins with 673.  Even with this move, many believe GM Chuck Fletcher will try to shake up his core so the Flyers will continue to be a team to keep an eye on in the weeks ahead.

Cassidy To Vegas: Tortorella wasn’t the only head coach to be hired as Bruce Cassidy’s time on the unemployment line didn’t last very long with the Golden Knights naming him as their new bench boss.  Boston decided to part ways with Cassidy earlier this month despite a very strong regular season showing that saw the team go 245-108-46 under his watch although they had a losing record (36-37) in the playoffs.  The Golden Knights are now on their third coach in franchise history and while they have some work to do to fill out their roster and be cap-compliant next season, Cassidy will have high expectations immediately as Vegas looks to get back into the playoff picture.

Montreal-Vegas Trade: The first notable trade of the summer was made as the Golden Knights dealt winger Evgenii Dadonov to the Canadiens in exchange for defenseman Shea Weber.  Or, to be more specific, Weber’s contract.  The blueliner has four years left on his deal with a $7.857MM AAV but isn’t expected to play again due to injuries.  The move will lock Vegas into LTIR for the foreseeable future but they’re certainly quite comfortable operating in there with how things went this season.  Meanwhile, Vegas is able to shed Dadonov’s $5MM cap charge for next season after unsuccessfully moving him to Anaheim at the trade deadline.  While his contract was unwanted around the league (Vegas attached a second-rounder to move Dadonov in the failed move with the Ducks), he’ll give the Canadiens some extra depth on the wing and as an expiring contract, it’s possible Montreal could look to flip him with retention closer to the 2023 deadline.

Calling It A Career: Veteran goaltender Carter Hutton isn’t waiting to see if a contract offer materializes in free agency next month as instead, he has decided to retire.  This past season was a tough one for the 36-year-old as after signing with Arizona last summer, he suffered a lower-body injury early in the season and as soon as he was ready to return, he went through waivers unclaimed and was traded to Toronto as injury insurance but never suited up with the team.  Overall, Hutton had a fairly strong career for an undrafted goaltender, getting into 235 games over parts of 10 NHL seasons with his best year coming with St. Louis in 2017-18 when he led the league in both GAA (2.09) and SV% (.931).

Surgery For Backstrom: Following their playoff exit, Capitals GM Brian MacLellan indicated that Nicklas Backstrom continuing to play through his hip injury would be unsustainable.  On Saturday, it was announced that the veteran has undergone hip resurfacing surgery.  While no timetable was provided for a return, based on the limited track record of other NHL players who have had the procedure, there’s a very good chance that the 34-year-old could miss the entire season.  That’s certainly a big blow for Washington as Backstrom has been a focal point of their attack for 15 years but they will have to approach the 2022-23 season as if he won’t be available.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.