Week In Review

To call this past week a busy one would be a significant understatement.  On top of a frantic first day of free agency (the full recap of which is here while some moves will also be covered below), there were plenty of significant signings and trades.  The biggest ones are recapped here in the key stories of the week.

Avoiding The Market: While it may have taken a little longer than anyone really expected, two captains managed to avoid making it to free agency.  First, Alex Ovechkin re-signed with Washington, inking a five-year, $47.5MM contract, ensuring he remains with the team that he has spent the past 16 years with.  He’ll now take aim at Wayne Gretzky’s all-time goal record as he sits 165 away from setting the new standard.  Meanwhile, Gabriel Landeskog had to wait until mere minutes before the deadline for eight-year deals but in the end, he was able to secure a max-term eight-year, $56MM deal to stick around in Colorado.  He has been with the Avs for the past 10 years and while he won’t be able to set the franchise record for games played (Joe Sakic holds that title), Landeskog should have second place comfortably locked down by the time this deal ends.

Fleury To Chicago: The Marc-Andre Fleury era in Vegas came to a rather abrupt end as he was traded to Chicago in a cap dumping move with only minor leaguer Mikael Hakkarainen coming back in return.  Fleury was the first face of the franchise for the Golden Knights and he saved his best performance for last, posting a 1.98 GAA with a .928 SV% on his way to winning the Vezina Trophy for Goalie of the Year.  However, his $7MM cap hit was deemed too expensive for them to carry.  Fleury took some time to ponder his future but ultimately will report while Vegas GM Kelly McCrimmon didn’t waste much time spending the freed-up cap space.  First, he added winger Evgenii Dadonov from Ottawa for defenseman Nick Holden and a third-round pick to try to bolster their attack and then brought in goaltender Laurent Brossoit on a two-year, $4.65MM deal to serve as Robin Lehner’s new backup.

Hamilton Gets Paid: When Carolina gave Dougie Hamilton permission to speak with other teams and basically test the market early, they were hoping that Hamilton wouldn’t be able to command the money he was hoping to get which could have paved the way towards him re-signing.  That didn’t happen.  Instead, the top player to hit the open market was able to land a bigger contract than some expected, inking a seven-year, $63MM contract with New Jersey.  The 28-year-old is now tied with Cale Makar and teammate P.K. Subban for the fourth-highest cap hit among all NHL defensemen and gives the Devils the top-pairing defender they’ve been trying to acquire for several years.  New Jersey has had cap room to spend in the past but hadn’t been able to land a big fish on the open market.  They have now.

Seattle Splashes: Considering that the Kraken spent closer to the minimum amount than the cap ceiling in expansion, they had plenty of money at their disposal heading into free agency and opted to use a big chunk of it on a trio of players.  They added the top goalie on the market in Philipp Grubauer on a six-year, $35.4MM contract (that was originally rejected) plus one of the top wingers in Jaden Schwartz on a five-year, $27.5MM pact.  They also brought in center Alexander Wennberg on a three-year, $13.5MM contract, a nice reward for a strong season in Florida after being bought out by Columbus last fall.  Going back to Grubauer, his surprise signing sparked a pair of goalie trades.  Seattle flipped Vitek Vanecek back to Washington for a 2023 second-round pick while Colorado paid a steep price to acquire Darcy Kuemper (with $1MM of his $4.5MM price tag retained), sending defenseman Conor Timmins, a 2022 first-round pick, and a 2024 conditional third-rounder to the Coyotes to bring in the 31-year-old who is in the final year of his contract.

Jets Add Defensemen: The back end was a big issue for Winnipeg over the past two seasons and GM Kevin Cheveldayoff knew that needed to be addressed.  He didn’t wait for what wound up being a fairly light free agent market in terms of impact blueliners so he turned to the trade market instead.  First, he sent second-round picks in 2022 and 2023 to Washington for defenseman Brenden Dillon, then added Nate Schmidt from Vancouver for a third-round selection after Schmidt eventually agreed to waive his trade protection to facilitate the move.  With the moves, Winnipeg has added nearly $10MM to the cost of their back end but the two veterans are significant additions to a blueline core that also consists of Josh Morrissey and Neal Pionk.

Big Extension For Point: With too many things to cover in just five stories, we’ll add an extra one.  Tampa Bay was relatively quiet in terms of impact free agent signings due to salary cap reasons but they still had the biggest contract on the first day of free agency.  That went to Brayden Point who was eligible to sign as soon as the calendar flipped to the new league year and he did just that, inking an eight-year, $76MM extension that matches the recent ones handed out to Nikita Kucherov and Andrei Vasilevskiy when they were eligible to sign them.  More cap challenges lie ahead for Tampa Bay following this deal – they have over $80MM in commitments for 2022-23 already per CapFriendly – but their star center will now be in the fold for the long haul.

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Usually, by this point in July, activity around the NHL has cooled off considerably.  But this isn’t a normal offseason and the festivities kicked off over the past seven days including a pair of drafts.  Those are among the items covered in the key stories of the week.

Drafts: There were plenty of notable names available for Seattle in expansion.  Some were expected, others not so much.  However, GM Ron Francis avoided any possible temptation for taking on pricey deals, instead prioritizing salary cap flexibility.  They signed a trio of unrestricted free agents in goaltender Chris Driedger plus defensemen Jamie Oleksiak and Adam Larsson.  Up front, Jordan Eberle and Yanni Gourde were their richest acquisitions while blueliner Mark Giordano was their most expensive player taken; the full results can be found here.  Only one player selected was flipped in Tyler Pitlick.  Seattle will now enter free agency with enough room to make a splash or two if they so desire.

Meanwhile, the Entry Draft was also held on Friday and Saturday.  As expected, Owen Power went first overall to Buffalo while Matthew Beniers went second to Seattle.  In fact, four of the top five selections either played at Michigan or have a college commitment there for next season.  A total of 223 players were selected with Carolina making the most picks with 13.  The full draft results are here.

Vancouver Makes A Splash: The Canucks finished last in the North Division in 2020-21 but they believe they can win with that core and doubled down on that belief with the acquisition of defenseman Oliver Ekman-Larsson and winger Conor Garland from Arizona.  Heading the other way were forwards Loui Eriksson, Jay Beagle, and Antoine Roussel as cap-clearing pieces plus a trio of draft picks including the ninth-overall pick (Dylan Guenther).  Ekman-Larsson has six years remaining on his contract and even with the Coyotes paying down $990K per year, he’ll still be on their books for $7.26MM while Garland, who should help their top six, is a restricted free agent with arbitration rights.  It’s a big win-now move for a team that struggled this past season but there’s enough talent on Vancouver to turn things around quickly.

Jones To Chicago: When Seth Jones informed the Blue Jackets that he wasn’t interested in signing a contract extension with them, it forced their hand into trying to find a suitable trade fairly quickly.  Columbus was able to do that, moving Jones along with the 32nd pick (Nolan Allan) and a 2022 sixth-rounder to Chicago for defenseman Adam Boqvist, the 12th pick (Cole Sillinger), the 44th pick (Aleksi Heimosalmi), and a 2022 first-round pick (top-two protected).  As part of the move, the Blackhawks have agreed to an eight-year, $76MM contract extension although that can’t be officially announced until Wednesday when the calendar flips to the 2021-22 season.  Jones gives Chicago a prominent blueliner to build around while with these young pieces going the other way, Blue Jackets GM Jarmo Kekalainen has added to the foundation of their ongoing rebuild.

Flyers Dealings: The Flyers were busy on the defensive front.  In a cap-clearing move, they sent Shayne Gostisbehere along with second and seventh-round picks in 2022 to Arizona for no return.  Those savings were then applied to Rasmus Ristolainen who was acquired from Buffalo before the draft in exchange for the 14th pick in the draft (Isac Rosen), a 2023 second-rounder, and blueliner Robert Hagg.  Factoring in their big splash a week ago with the acquisition of Ryan Ellis, their back end will look a lot different next season.  GM Chuck Fletcher wasn’t done there, however, as he flipped Jakub Voracek to the Blue Jackets on the second day of the draft in exchange for Cam Atkinson in a swap that freed up nearly $2.4MM in cap room.

Re-Signings: On top of the big trades, there were also some notable re-signings.  Taylor Hall didn’t hide his desire to make his stay in Boston a longer one and that wish came to fruition as he agreed to a four-year, $24MM contract.  After scoring just twice with Buffalo, he scored eight times for the Bruins who brought him in at the trade deadline and he should help bolster their scoring beyond the top line.  Meanwhile, Miro Heiskanen’s record of having the highest AAV for a defenseman coming off his entry-level contract lasted all of a week.  The new mark has been set by Cale Makar of the Avalanche as the rearguard inked a six-year, $54MM contract.  The 22-year-old has 94 points in 101 career games and was the runner-up for the Norris Trophy this past season.  Even at that $9MM price tag, if his production continues to improve, this could wind up being a team-friendly deal by its conclusion.

Reinhart To Florida: A week like this deserves an extra move to recap as the Panthers made a big move of their own, acquiring Sam Reinhart from Buffalo in exchange for their 2022 first-round pick plus goaltending prospect Devon Levi.  Reinhart had expressed a hesitance in committing to Buffalo long term so they secure an extra first-rounder already plus an intriguing young netminder in Levi.  Meanwhile, Florida adds an impact forward as they look to take another step forward after an impressive 2020-21 campaign.  Worth noting, captain Aleksander Barkov is set to be an unrestricted free agent next summer so assuming they can get a long-term deal done with Reinhart (a pending RFA), he’ll represent some insurance if they can’t get Barkov extended.  In the meantime, a long playoff run should help their chances of extending Barkov and the addition of Reinhart will certainly give them a better chance to get beyond the first round.

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After a quiet first full week of July, it was anything but over the past seven days with a flurry of expansion-related moves being made and plenty of other notable offseason notes which are highlighted in our key stories of the week.

Rinne Retires: Veteran goaltender Pekka Rinne decided that it was time to call it a career as he announced his retirement at the age of 38.  He spent his entire NHL career spanning parts of 15 seasons with the Predators who drafted him in the eighth round back in 2004.  In his prime, Rinne was a Vezina-caliber netminder, being a finalist for the award four times and winning it once while holding franchise records in games played (683), wins (369), goals against average (2.43), and shutouts (60).  Nashville will now likely look to free agency to find a new backup for Juuse Saros (who narrowly holds the franchise record for save percentage).

Big Money For Heiskanen: Miro Heiskanen has wasted little time becoming a star defenseman for Dallas and he was rewarded for his efforts with a record-setting contract.  The 22-year-old signed an eight-year, $67.6MM deal, the highest ever for a defenseman coming off of his entry-level pact.  Quinn Hughes and Cale Makar are two other high-end blueliners whose first contracts are set to expire and they will undoubtedly be using this deal as a comparable.  In the meantime, the Stars have their franchise blueliner in place for basically the rest of the decade.

Minnesota Buyouts: Zach Parise and Ryan Suter came to Minnesota as a package deal back in the summer of 2012 as they signed identical 13-year, $98MM contracts that are now illegal in the NHL.  They’ll now leave the Wild as a package deal after the Wild bought both players out of the final four years of their deals.  Parise saw his role decrease considerably this past season and wasn’t likely to get more playing time moving forward while Suter’s came as a bit more of a surprise with him still logging over 22 minutes a game on the back end.  Minnesota will get a big boost in cap space for 2021-22 before the dead cap charges nearly match what their original cap hits were.  That could result in them chasing down some one-year deals this summer.  Meanwhile, Parise and Suter won’t be able to sign with new teams until the free agent market opens up on the 28th.

Expansion Lists: After months of speculation as to who Seattle could be picking to start their franchise, we now know who will be available as the protection lists were officially revealed on Sunday.  A summary of the protected players and notables left exposed can be found here.  There were some prominent players left available and while some of them were expected, others were quite surprising.  Among the notables that the Kraken can choose from are Montreal goaltender Carey Price, St. Louis winger Vladimir Tarasenko, Flames defenseman Mark Giordano as well as all but three pending unrestricted free agents.  Seattle now has exclusive negotiating rights to those free agents through the transactions freeze which is lifted on Thursday and could opt to sign and select some of those players on Wednesday.

Trade Deadline: A trade deadline in the middle of July is something that hasn’t happened before.  But with Saturday being the start of the transactions freeze, it spurred a mini trade frenzy with eight swaps being made, some having direct implications on protection lists.  The biggest one was a three-team trade between the Predators, Flyers, and Golden Knights.  Philadelphia made a big addition to their back end, acquiring Ryan Ellis from Nashville in exchange for Philippe Myers and Nolan Patrick; the Preds then flipped Patrick to Vegas for Cody Glass.  Ellis had been a fixture on Nashville’s blueline for a decade but GM David Poile is clearly shaking up the core and in Glass, he gets a once highly-touted center to try to develop and a capable second pairing piece in Myers.  As for the Golden Knights, Patrick was the second-overall pick in 2017 (Glass was sixth) and a change of scenery could do him some good as they try to rebuild his value.

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It was a week of highs and lows around the NHL with a triumph at one end and a tragedy at the other.  Both of those are among the biggest stories from the past seven days.

Kivlenieks Passes Away: The week got off to a devastating start as Blue Jackets netminder Matiss Kivlenieks passed away as a result of chest trauma due to a fireworks mortar blast.  The 24-year-old signed with the Blue Jackets back in 2017 and had been with them since then, splitting time between the AHL and NHL.  Everyone here at PHR joins the rest of the hockey community in sending our condolences to his friends and family.

Bjugstad Stays Put: Nick Bjugstad decided that he likes playing in his home state and has decided to continue to do so as he turned down a shot at testing unrestricted free agency and instead signed a one-year, $900K contract with the Wild.  The deal represents a significant pay cut as Bjugstad had a $4.1MM AAV on his previous contract with a $5.25MM salary.  At the time his previous contract was signed, the 28-year-old looked like a fixture as a second liner but injuries and general ineffectiveness scuttled that.  This past season, he was able to stay relatively healthy, suiting up in 44 games, recording 17 points and if he can put up even those numbers next year, he’ll go from being an overpaid role player to a bargain.

Repeat Champions: It’s always difficult to win the Stanley Cup but even more so to do it in two years in a row but that’s what Tampa Bay has been able to accomplish after a 1-0 victory in the fifth game of their series against Montreal to take home their second straight title.  Ross Colton was the unlikely hero in the series clincher with the only goal of the contest.  Lightning goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy took home the Conn Smythe Trophy as playoff MVP while Nikita Kucherov, who didn’t play at all during the regular season, led all playoff scorers with 32 points in 24 games.  Now, GM Julien BriseBois will be tasked with stripping down his roster with the team already over the cap with several roster spots to be filled.  If they’re going to try to make it three championships in a row, they’ll be doing so with a different-looking roster next season.

New Deal For Dermott: The Maple Leafs took care of their only NHL restricted free agent as they inked defenseman Travis Dermott to a two-year, $3MM deal.  The 24-year-old had a much more limited role this season, logging a career low 13:13 per game and the end result was a quiet year at the offensive end with just two goals and four assists in 51 contests.  He was then a healthy scratch in four of their seven playoff games.  Still, Dermott has shown he can be a capable regular and this deal – one that yields a $1.75MM qualifying offer at the end of it – gives him a bit more time to prove himself.  We’ll find out in a week and a half if that opportunity will be with Toronto or with Seattle as the Maple Leafs are likely to make him available in expansion.

Tarasenko Wants Out: Earlier this offseason, it was revealed that the Blues were working on finding a new home for winger Vladimir Tarasenko.  However, it turns out that Tarasenko himself was seeking the change of scenery, citing a distrust with their medical staff after his first two shoulder surgeries in 2018 and 2019 didn’t solve the problem, resulting in a third procedure that cost him more than half of this season.  Having only played 34 regular season games over the past two years combined, there would definitely be some risk but if Tarasenko truly has recovered from these lingering shoulder issues, there would also be plenty of upside in bringing in the 29-year-old.

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The first week of July is usually a busy one around the NHL but despite free agency not opening up late in the month, there was still plenty of activity around the league.  The biggest news is highlighted in our key stories.

Coaching Carousel Ends: The final two head coaching vacancies have been filled.  One of them saw no change at all made as the Sabres removed the interim tag from Don Granato, signing him to a three-year deal as their head coach.  Granato took over during the season when Ralph Krueger was let go and led Buffalo to a 9-16-3 record but the team did make some improvements down the stretch.  Meanwhile, Arizona found their new bench boss with the hiring of Andre Tourigny who also received a three-year deal.  This will be Tourigny’s first time as an NHL head coach although he has NHL experience as an assistant with Colorado and Ottawa.  This season, he was supposed to be the head coach for OHL Ottawa but that league never played.  He did, however, coach Canada at the World Juniors and served as an assistant at the World Championships in the spring.

One Veteran Set To Return, Another Set To Leave? The Blackhawks got some good news when team captain Jonathan Toews announced that he has resumed skating in preparation for returning next season.  The center missed all of 2020-21 with what he revealed to be Chronic Immune Response Syndrome and assuming he is able to return, he will give Chicago a huge boost down the middle.  However, while it appears he’ll be back, one of his long-time teammates will be on the move as it was revealed that the Blackhawks and Duncan Keith are working together on a trade that would see the veteran go to either Western Canada or the Pacific Northwest to allow him to be closer to his son.  Keith has been a fixture in Chicago’s lineup for 16 seasons, helping lead the Blackhawks to three Stanley Cups along the way.

Nugent-Hopkins Sticks Around: One of the top forwards in the upcoming UFA class is off the market before he had an opportunity to even get there as the Oilers and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins agreed to an eight-year, $41MM contract.  The contract actually represents a small decrease in his cost as his previous AAV was $6MM but in return for that dip, he gets a max-term contract and a no-move clause.  The 28-year-old was the first overall pick back in 2011 and has been a fixture in Edmonton’s lineup ever since, notching 478 points in 656 games.  He sits 381 games behind Kevin Lowe for the franchise lead in that department and if he stays with the team for the duration of the deal, he should be able to set the new record.  Nugent-Hopkins has been a center for most of his career although he has primarily played on the wing in recent years in an effort to give him a bigger offensive role and load up their top six.  That positional flexibility is certain to come in handy over the next eight years.

Kings Add A Veteran: After the season ended, some of the Kings’ veteran core called for some win-now additions to try to get them back into playoff contention while taking advantage of some of their good youngsters being on team-friendly contracts.  GM Rob Blake did just that with the acquisition of winger Viktor Arvidsson from Nashville in exchange for a 2021 second-round pick and a 2022 third-round selection.  The 28-year-old is coming off a pair of down seasons offensively but before that, he had three straight years with 29 or more goals and should give Los Angeles a much-needed boost in their top six.  Meanwhile, Nashville adds some salary cap flexibility and gets something for a player who GM David Poile acknowledged would have been left unprotected in expansion had they not found a taker for Arvidsson.

One Down, Two To Go: Minnesota took care of one of their prominent restricted free agents with the signing of center Joel Eriksson Ek to an eight-year, $42MM contract.  The 24-year-old had a career year offensively this season with 19 goals and 30 points in 56 games while playing his usual sound defensive game as well.  The $5.25MM AAV may seem a little high but the deal buys out six years of UFA eligibility and guarantees that the Wild have an impact center for the foreseeable future.  Now, GM Bill Guerin will turn his focus to wingers Kirill Kaprizov and Kevin Fiala, a pair of players that are also in line for notable raises.

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The final full week of June has come and gone with the Stanley Cup Final being set between Montreal and Tampa Bay.  Meanwhile, there was some notable news off the ice as well which is highlighted in the key stories of the week.

Gunnarsson Retires: Veteran defenseman Carl Gunnarsson has decided to call it a career at the age of 34.  A right knee injury limited him to just a dozen games with the Blues this season so his career wraps up with 138 points in 629 regular season games between Toronto and St. Louis.  Of course, he’ll best be remembered by St. Louis fans for his game-winning overtime goal in the second game of the 2019 Stanley Cup Final.  It winds up being his only postseason tally in 82 games but it was certainly a critical one as it helped lead the Blues to the title.

Armia Enters COVID Protocol: The Canadiens could be without winger Joel Armia for the Stanley Cup Final as he has entered COVID protocol.  The 28-year-old missed more than two weeks back in March following a positive test and if he has indeed tested positive again (more information is expected on Monday), he’ll miss the entire series.  Armia has been an important piece of their surprising run, tying for the team lead in goals with five, including a pair of shorthanded tallies.  Meanwhile, Montreal will soon get their head coach back as Dominique Ducharme will return for the third game of the series after testing positive for the virus last round.

Hakstol Hired: There were several different coaches linked to Seattle but Dave Hakstol wasn’t one of them.  However, in the end, he was GM Ron Francis’ pick as the Kraken’s inaugural head coach after a lengthy search.  This will be Hakstol’s second go-round as an NHL head coach as he spent three years behind the bench with Philadelphia; while they made the playoffs twice in that span, they were also eliminated in the first round both times.  He spent the last two years as an assistant with Toronto and has head coaching experience in the NCAA and USHL as well.  Francis wanted someone with NHL experience and while Hakstol was certainly under the radar, he is certainly an intriguing hire for the expansion franchise.

Exempt From Expansion: The NHL released the list of players who have medically been ruled exempt from the upcoming expansion draft.  These are players who are not expected to play again due to long-term or chronic injury and features some that have effectively retired such as Chicago’s Brent Seabrook and Andrew Shaw and players that haven’t played in several years including Tampa Bay’s Marian Gaborik and Arizona’s Marian Hossa.  Vancouver’s Micheal Ferland is one that’s still under contract and a return hasn’t been ruled out that was deemed exempt from selection as is Winnipeg’s Bryan Little although a return for him remains highly unlikely at this point.

Kurvers Passes Away: Minnesota assistant GM Tom Kurvers passed away at the age of 58 following a valiant battle with lung cancer.  He was diagnosed more than two years ago but retailed his role in the front office during that time.  Kurvers had an 11-year NHL playing career, suiting up in 659 games with seven different franchises before beginning an even longer journey off the ice.  From 1998 through to this past week, he worked in several different capacities, working his way up from a scout to an assistant GM, making him a hockey lifer.

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The Stanley Cup Finals are fast approaching, though no one from the final four is giving in easily. The year’s biggest transactions are still probably a couple of weeks away, but that doesn’t mean there has been a lack of news over the last week.

Empire State Of Mind: Things kicked off with a big name arriving in the Big Apple. The New York Rangers decided that Gerard Gallant would be the team’s next head coach, signing the former Golden Knights bench boss to a four-year, $14MM contract. Gallant has never made it through three seasons with a single team, but posted a .601 winning percentage at his last stop and took Vegas to the finals in their inaugural season. With a cast of young talented players and some valuable veterans, Rangers GM Chris Drury will hope Gallant can turn another trick and get New York back to the playoffs in 2021-22.

It’s An Honor To Be Nominated, But…: After finishing the finalist announcements, the league started handing out its regular season awards. Things started with Pekka Rinne of the Nashville Predators taking home the King Clancy and Oskar Lindblom winning the Masterton, both awards that have just as much to do with the player’s off-ice dedication as their on-ice play. Things then got a little more interesting when Rod Brind’Amour took home the Jack Adams as the league’s top coach, Aleksander Barkov won his first Selke as the league’s best defensive forward, and Jaccob Slavin became just the fourth defenseman in history to take home the Lady Byng.

The Bod Is Back In Town: Just a few hours before Brind’Amour was awarded the Jack Adams, he received some different good news. The head coach signed a new three-year deal with the Carolina Hurricanes after a long negotiation. In his press conference, Brind’Amour confirmed that the talks took so long because he was making sure his staff also received new contracts. There were several teams around the league ready to pounce if the Hurricanes happened to let their coach go, but the program they’ve built in Carolina will continue to have the same leader for the next few years.

Raise A Glass To Freedom: Though Brind’Amour is returning, it might not be the exact same group in Carolina next season. Dougie Hamilton, one of the team’s top defensemen, was given permission to speak to other teams in the league ahead of his pending unrestricted free agency. Hamilton, 28, is arguably the best defenseman in the 2021 free agent market and should be in line for a huge long-term contract. The act of letting him check out the market wasn’t a white flag from GM Don Waddell, who explained that the team still hopes to sign Hamilton but now also has an opportunity to trade his rights if he decides to go elsewhere.

Coyote Ugly: If you miss out on Hamilton, there’s always Oliver Ekman-Larsson if you’re looking for a highly-paid defenseman. The Arizona Coyotes captain is once again exploring the trade market with the team, looking for a fit for both sides. Last summer, the Coyotes approached Ekman-Larsson about waiving his no-trade clause but he decided that only trades to Boston or Vancouver would be acceptable. After that didn’t work out he spent the year in Arizona, playing 21 minutes a night and happily accepting his $8MM salary. Of course, this year a trade might be even more difficult, given the fact that he’s owed $10.5MM in 2021-22 and none of it is due as a signing bonus. Ekman-Larsson has six seasons left on the eight-year, $66MM deal he signed in 2018, carries an $8.25MM cap hit, and holds a full no-movement clause through the end of 2026-27.

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With the number of teams still playing down to four, the busy offseason draws closer.  While the biggest stories are still a few weeks away, there was still some notable news around the league over the past seven days.

Larsen Promoted: The first domino in the head coaching searches around the league has fallen.  The Blue Jackets have their new bench boss and it’s someone they’ve had all along as the team promoted assistant Brad Larsen to the top role, handing him a three-year deal.  The 43-year-old has been with Columbus since 2014-15 so he will be quite familiar with the current roster and will now be tasked with helping them get through what appears to be a pending rebuild with prized defenseman Seth Jones indicating recently that he’s not interested in signing a contract extension.

Kadri Suspension Upheld…Again: After being suspended for eight games for a hit in the first round of the playoffs, Avalanche center Nazem Kadri decided to try his luck with the appeal process.  The first went to NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman and the eight-game ban was upheld.  The next step was to independent arbitrator Shyam Das who also upheld the suspension.  A big part of the decision was Kadri’s prior suspension history and the fact that Justin Faulk sustained an injury on the play.

Rask Needs Surgery, Wants To Stay With Bruins: Bruins goaltender Tuukka Rask was dealing with lingering hip trouble all season long and now that the season is over for Boston, he’s set to undergo surgery to repair a torn labrum.  That procedure will keep him sidelined through the first half of next season.  The 34-year-old is also set to become an unrestricted free agent this month and this news certainly doesn’t help his leverage.  However, he has also made it clear that he only wants to play for Boston so he’s not in a situation where he will want to shop himself to the highest bidder.  If the Bruins are okay with Jeremy Swayman as the starter for the first half of the season, it’s possible that they could bring Rask back to have their playoff tandem back together in the second half.

Shero To Minnesota: Former Penguins and Devils GM Ray Shero has found his next team as the Wild announced that they’ve hired him as a senior advisor to GM Bill Guerin.  It’s not the first time the two have worked together as Shero acquired Guerin while with Pittsburgh and then hired him as a development coach after his retirement.  Shero will replace Jack Ferreira who spent the past three seasons in an advisory role and has worked in an NHL front office since 1980-81.

Latest On Eichel: It hasn’t been a great offseason for Jack Eichel.  The Sabres star bemoaned the “disconnect” between him and management in his end-of-season media availability and wants a surgery to repair a neck injury that the team won’t sign off on.  Now, there are reports that Buffalo would also like to move on from the 24-year-old and have a fresh start.  Top centers rarely become available and while he carries a $10MM cap hit through 2025-26, there still should be considerable interest although the standoff over his neck certainly isn’t going to help his value.

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The second round is flying by with incredible playoff action in each of the four series, but that didn’t stop big news being made off the ice as well.

Playoff Suspensions For Everyone: The week kicked off with NHL commissioner Gary Bettman upholding Nazem Kadri’s eight-game suspension, making the Avalanche center now move his appeal to a neutral arbitrator. He wasn’t the only player sat down for playoff games though, as both Ryan Reaves and Mark Scheifele were given suspensions. Scheifele may not even be able to serve his entire four-game suspension in this playoffs given the Winnipeg Jets’ current situation, down 3-0 to the Montreal Canadiens in the second round.

Trophy Finalists Announced: With the regular season in the rearview, the NHL began to release the finalists for its major awards. The Vezina, Ted Lindsay, Calder, King Clancy, Lady Byng, and Selke nominees were all announced, leading to a healthy debate over the merits of each player (and award). Finalists will continue to be released for the next several days, with the Willie O’Ree Community Hero Award nominees coming out on Monday morning.

Buffalo All Powered Up?: The Buffalo Sabres took home the top spot at Wednesday’s draft lottery, giving them the opportunity to take Michigan defenseman Owen Power with the first-overall selection. While Power isn’t guaranteed to go at the very top, his performance at the World Championship, helping Team Canada to a gold medal will certainly help his case. The team’s seventh defenseman at the start of the tournament, Power quickly proved his worth to head coach Gerard Gallant and ended up playing more than 24 minutes in the gold medal-clinching game against Finland. The Seattle Kraken will be picking second, with plenty of talent up for grabs at the top of the board.

Dollar Dollar Bill Kirill: While getting a finalist nod for the Calder Trophy should be enough to make it a good week, Kirill Kaprizov has much more to smile about. The Minnesota Wild have reportedly offered Kaprizov an eight-year contract extension that carries an average annual value around $8MM, meaning the young forward is about to cash in. The 24-year-old scored 51 points in 55 games and breathed new life into a Wild franchise that hadn’t had much to get excited about in recent years.

Border Exemption Officially Approved: Though it had been rumored for a few weeks, today the Canadian government officially announced there will be a travel exemption for the team that comes out of the North Division and their opponent. The agreement comes with some strict protocols that will limit all interaction with the general public, but at least allows the North champs to host playoff games at their home rink.

While it was a busy week on the ice with the second round mostly being set, it was a bit quieter off of it although there were still some notable reports which help comprise the top stories.

Rask, Bruins Table Extension Talks: While there is certainly an expectation that Boston and goaltender Tuukka Rask will get a new deal done, it won’t be happening during the playoffs as the two sides agreed to put those talks on hold until their postseason run comes to an end.  The 34-year-old has been a regular in Boston’s goalie tandem since 2009, making over 650 career appearances between the regular season and the playoffs.  While Jeremy Swayman looks like he’ll be part of their long-term plans between the pipes, there is definitely a spot to bring Rask back though it will likely need to come at a dip in pay from his $7MM AAV.

Flames Listening To Offers For Monahan: With Calgary missing the playoffs this season and the fact the only playoff round they’ve won over the past six years was the Qualifying Round in the bubble, there is an expectation of change for the Flames.  To that end, a report surfaced that the team is listening to offers for center Sean Monahan.  After an 82-point season in 2018-19, Monahan’s numbers have dropped significantly (and not just because the years were shortened due to the pandemic as his per-game rates were near the lowest of his career) but the 26-year-old would definitely be an intriguing addition as a change of scenery candidate.  Monahan has two years left on his contract and with impact centers to come by, there should be considerable interest despite the recent struggles.

Jones Won’t Sign Extension: While the Blue Jackets got an answer from Seth Jones, it wasn’t the one they were hoping for as the defenseman has declined to engage in extension talks with a preference to test unrestricted free agency next summer.  The 26-year-old has been a fixture on the back end in Columbus for the past six years, logging nearly 25 minutes per game along the way.  As we saw last fall, even in this market, top-pairing defenders are going to command a sizable contract which means Jones will be in line for a sizable raise on his current $5.4MM AAV.  Meanwhile, GM Jarmo Kekalainen may be a bit hesitant to risk losing Jones for nothing a year from now so as a result of this news, his name has already come up in trade speculation.

Breakdown In Talks For Nugent-Hopkins: After a decade with Edmonton following his first-overall selection in 2011, it has been widely suggested that Ryan Nugent-Hopkins would find a way to work out an extension with the Oilers.  However, talks have apparently broken down between the team and the pending unrestricted free agent.  The 28-year-old has been on a relatively team-friendly $6MM contract for the last seven years and even in this cap environment, a small raise doesn’t seem to be too unrealistic, especially since he can play down the middle (although he has been on the left wing more in recent years).  Free agency is still nearly two months away so there is still time to get discussions back on track but all of a sudden, the odds of him hitting the open market are much higher than what they would have been not long ago.

Nygard Heads Home: The other news out of Edmonton involved another pending UFA winger Joakim Nygard.  Rather than try to catch on as a role player with another NHL team, the 28-year-old opted to go home, signing a six-year deal with Farjestad of the SHL, the longest contract in team history.  Nygard was an intriguing free agent pickup back in 2019 with his speed making him a possible threat on the wing but it didn’t materialize to much in the way of production as he managed just nine points in 42 games.  Nevertheless, a six-year deal to go back home is a nice consolation prize after struggling in the NHL.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.