Week In Review

The week before the trade deadline is usually full of newsworthy events.  This past week was no exception although a lot of the news didn’t pertain to the trade market.

Bogosian Hits The Market, Then Joins Tampa: After making it through waivers unclaimed, defenseman Zach Bogosian refused to report to AHL Rochester, Buffalo’s affiliate.  He was promptly suspended without pay but instead of leaving it at that, the Sabres then placed him on unconditional waivers and after he went unclaimed, they terminated his contract without any lingering cap charges or money owed.  He wasn’t a free agent for long, however, as he has already reached an agreement with Tampa Bay on a one-year deal worth a pro-rated $1.3MM.  By going this route over reporting to the AHL, Bogosian is leaving quite a bit of money on the table but gets the chance to play for a playoff contender.

Martinez To Vegas: Tuesday and Wednesday represented a run on defensemen trades but only one of those involved a blueliner that’s signed through next season.  That player was Alec Martinez who the Kings traded to the Golden Knights in exchange for a pair of second-round picks.  While Martinez missed 18 games earlier this season due to a wrist laceration, he is still a capable defensive defender that should be able to come in and help stabilize the back end for Vegas while they maintain their track record of not adding rental players.  (Those that were added on expiring deals had extension agreements in place at the time they were acquired.)

Canucks Add Toffoli, Lose Boeser: The Canucks made an early splash on the trade front, acquiring Tyler Toffoli from the Kings in exchange for winger Tim Schaller, prospect Tyler Madden, a 2020 second-round pick, and a conditional 2022 fourth-rounder that’s contingent on Toffoli re-signing with Vancouver.  On the surface, it looked like a strong attack was getting even stronger but it was revealed soon after that winger Brock Boeser will miss the next eight weeks due to a rib injury, one that won’t acquire surgery.  Toffoli will serve as a capable replacement for Boeser to help try to keep Vancouver in the mix while in Madden, the Kings add a prospect that has vastly outperformed his draft status and is one of the top scorers in the NCAA this season.

Bruins Get Kase: The Bruins had been shopping for a right winger for a while.  They had also been shopping David Backes for a while.  Those two elements came together as Boston picked up Ondrej Kase from the Ducks in exchange for Backes, their 2020 first-round pick, and defense prospect Axel Andersson.  Boston also is retaining 25% of Backes’ $6MM AAV.  Kase has shown flashes of being a quality offensive threat in the past but has also battled bouts of inconsistency and injuries.  He’s signed through next season at a team-friendly $2.6MM AAV and will be a restricted free agent after that which means he could be around for a while which makes it easier to part with the first-rounder.  Meanwhile, the Ducks utilized their cap space to add an extra first-round selection plus a decent prospect while they should have a use for Backes who is signed through next season.

Bjorkstrand Out For A While: Despite losing several top players and a ridiculously long list of injuries to key players, the Blue Jackets are right in the thick of the playoff race in the ultra-tight Metropolitan Division.  That battle just got a lot harder when they announced that winger Oliver Bjorkstrand will miss the next eight-to-ten weeks due to a sprained and fractured ankle.  The 24-year-old is their leading goal-getter this season with 21 which is particularly notable considering that they’re in the bottom five in the league in goals scored.  That could force GM Jarmo Kekalainen to try to make at least a small move to try to replace some of that offense over the next few hours.

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Activity on the trade front hasn’t reached its peak just yet as the trade deadline is still a couple of weeks away.  However, there was still one swap of note which is among the top stories of the past seven days.

Giordano Injured: The Flames are among the teams in the hotly-contested battle for positioning in the Pacific Division but their postseason hopes have taken a hit with the announcement that defenseman Mark Giordano is out week-to-week with a lower-body injury.  The injury isn’t as bad as initially feared but it’s still a significant loss.  The reigning Norris Trophy winner leads all Calgary blueliners in points with 27 while logging nearly 24 minutes a night, also a team high.  T.J. Brodie had been a speculative trade chip in recent weeks but this injury likely takes him off the market for now.

Oilers, Nurse Nearing Extension: After getting Zack Kassian signed late last month, the Oilers shifted their focus towards signing defenseman Darnell Nurse to a contract extension and are on the verge of getting a two-year deal done.   The 25-year-old is playing out the final season of his bridge contract and was slated to be a restricted free agent with arbitration rights in July.  While a long-term pact would have been preferable, Edmonton’s salary cap situation would have made that tricky as they already had more than $62MM in commitments to just 12 players for 2020-21.  A couple of years down the road, some of their other deals will be off the books which will give them the flexibility to get a longer deal done at that time.

Maple Leafs-Kings Swap: Given Michael Hutchinson’s struggles this season and the recent neck injury to Frederik Andersen, Toronto needed to make a move to address their goaltending situation.  They did just that, acquiring goalie Jack Campbell along with winger Kyle Clifford from Los Angeles in exchange for winger Trevor Moore plus a pair of third-round picks.  The Kings are retaining half of Clifford’s $1.6MM AAV while one of the third-rounders could become a second-round selection if Clifford re-signs in Toronto or the Maple Leafs make the playoffs with Campbell winning six or more regular season games.  Campbell very quietly posted a .928 SV% last season which earned him a two-year extension (with a $1.65MM AAV) that kicks in next season.  With Toronto’s salary cap situation, it will be interesting to see if they can afford to spend that on a backup in 2020-21.

Another Surgery For Seabrook: It has been a rough season for Blackhawks defenseman Brent Seabrook.  He struggled considerably early on before being shut down due to injury.  Since then, he underwent shoulder surgery in December and left hip surgery in January.  He now has gone under the knife once again, this time having surgery on his right hip with an expected recovery time of five-to-six months.  If everything goes well, he should be cleared to play next season.  The 34-year-old still has four seasons left on his contract after this one with a pricey $6.875MM cap hit.

Latest On Byfuglien: Last week, it looked like Jets defenseman Dustin Byfuglien wasn’t going to play this season which gave the Jets at least a bit more certainty to work with as the deadline approaches.  However, it appears that the two sides are headed for a mutual contract termination which would end his time with Winnipeg altogether.  If and when it’s finalized, Byfuglien will be able to become an unrestricted free agent and assuming he’ll be healthy for next season, he’ll certainly become one of the top blueliners available on the open market.

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The calendar has now flipped to February so activity around the league should really pick up in the next little while.  In the meantime, here’s a look back at the top stories from the past seven days.

Kassian Extension: This had been in the works for the better part of the last month but the Oilers and winger Zack Kassian put pen to paper on a four-year contract extension.  The deal sees him land a notable raise as his AAV will go from $1.95MM this season to $3.2MM but for that, he doesn’t receive any form of trade protection.  Kassian has been quite productive for Edmonton this season and is almost up to his career highs in goals and points already while being a decent complementary player alongside Connor McDavid.  If he can maintain similar production over the life of the deal, the Oilers should get reasonable value out of it.

Backes Won’t Play In Providence: After clearing waivers nearly two weeks ago, the Bruins assigned winger David Backes to their AHL affiliate in Providence.  However, the two sides have mutually agreed that he should not report there even though he is fully healthy.  The veteran still has another year left on his contract with a $6MM cap hit so while Boston is working to find a suitable trade for him, that may be a bit challenging unless they’re absorbing some of the contract, sending another asset with Backes in the deal, or both.  As he was sent to the minors, the Bruins continue to get the $1.075MM in cap relief and the team is still paying the 35-year-old during this time.

Hertl Out For The Year: To say that things have not gone well for San Jose this season would be a big understatement.  Any slim hopes of them turning things around took another hit when it was announced that center Tomas Hertl had sustained a torn ACL and MCL and is out for the season.  Surgery has not yet taken place.  The 26-year-old was tied for second in team scoring with winger Logan Couture prior to the injury.  As it turns out, Hertl happened to be Couture’s replacement at the All-Star Game.  San Jose is now 11 points out of a playoff spot with just 29 games left to play and between that and being down their top two forwards, expect them to start selling over the next few weeks.

Pettersson Extension: Last offseason, the Penguins were hoping to get defenseman Marcus Pettersson signed to a long-term deal but salary cap constraints forced them to settle for a one-year deal for his qualifying offer.  They then cleared out some money for next season when they dealt Erik Gudbranson to Anaheim and they’ve turned around and given it to Pettersson as they signed him to a five-year extension with a cap hit of just over $4.025MM.  The deal also contains an eight-team no-trade clause in the final two seasons.  Pettersson has been a stabilizing part of Pittsburgh’s back end since they acquired him early last season and he’s averaging a career-high 19:26 so far this season in 51 games.

Byfuglien Unlikely To Play This Season: While the suspension without pay grievance is still heading for arbitration, there appears to be some news on the Dustin Byfuglien front in Winnipeg.  He has yet to resume skating following his ankle surgery and as it stands, he’s now not likely to play this season.  This will give Jets GM Kevin Cheveldayoff some much-needed certainty heading into the trade deadline as he looks to bolster a defense corps that lost several key players over the summer and has dealt with several injuries this year.  Now, even if the suspension without pay is overturned, Winnipeg will now be able to turn around and say that he was eligible for LTIR, effectively allowing them to go over by the cap by his $7.6MM cap hit to make any additions.

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With many teams having this week off as their bye heading into the All-Star Game, it was a relatively quiet week around the NHL.  However, there were still a few notable headlines which are highlighted in the top stories of the week.

Vote Of Confidence For Wilson: This season has not been a good one for San Jose.  After making it to the Western Conference Final in 2019, they were able to keep the core intact including getting defenseman Erik Karlsson locked up long-term.  Things were looking up, or so it seemed.  This season has been the complete opposite with many veterans struggling and a coaching change that hasn’t changed much.  Despite that, GM Doug Wilson received a vote of confidence from owner Hasso Plattner which suggests that he will be given the opportunity to turn things around.  Previous reports have suggested that Wilson, who has been with the team since 1997 (GM since 2003) after finishing his career as a player there, was inclined to keep the core intact but their continued struggles could ultimately change that.

Florida To Host The 2021 All-Star Game: After St. Louis hosted the All-Star festivities this week, the event will be heading back to the East as Florida will host the event next season.  There have been frequent format changes over the years and it appears that this will the case for this event as NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman suggesting that there could be a return of an international component.  This comes on the heels of him reiterating his desire to not shut down in 2022 to allow NHL players to participate in the Olympics.

Zajac Won’t Waive: Devils center Travis Zajac has been with New Jersey since they made him a first-round pick (20th overall) back in 2004.  With the team struggling once again this season, at least one team made a serious overture about acquiring him with some speculation that the Islanders, a Metropolitan Division rival, was the team that was going after him.  However, his agent Kurt Overhardt indicated that Zajac is not willing to waive his no-trade clause at this time while adding that they will revisit the situation after the season which suggests that he won’t be on the move in the next month.  The 34-year-old still has one year left on his eight-year contract after this one with a $5.75MM cap hit.

Lowry Out For A While: The Jets have dealt with injury issues all season long and will now be missing a key player for at least a month as Adam Lowry is out with an upper-body injury.  Among their full-time centers, Lowry is Winnipeg’s best player at the faceoff dot while his 132 hits leads the team.  Winnipeg is currently tied for ninth in the Western Conference and are now down five players off their roster plus the uncertain situation surrounding suspended defenseman Dustin Byfuglien.

Andersson Assigned: The Lias Andersson situation has been a strange one over the last month.  After abruptly leaving AHL Hartford and demanding a trade, the Rangers suspended him without pay and he returned to his native Sweden but he wasn’t able to play.  That now has changed as the team has officially loaned him to HV71 of the SHL.  While it’s certainly a benefit from a development perspective, it’s also an important one on the trade front as interested teams will be able to keep tabs on his progress before deciding whether or not to make a move.  If the Rangers do decide to trade the 21-year-old, he’ll be one of the more intriguing prospects to change organizations over the next month.

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The 2019-20 season is quickly looking like it will be looked back as the year of the coaching change as yet another head coach was replaced which is among the top stories of the week.

Martinez Available: Last season, the Kings traded Jake Muzzin, one of their key defensemen, to Toronto.  This season, it appears that blueliner Alex Martinez could have the same fate as he has been made available around the league.  He recently returned to the lineup after missing more than a month after his wrist was cut by a skate blade so it’s likely that he’ll need to play for a little while yet to show teams that he has fully recovered.  Similar to Muzzin a year ago, the 32-year-old has another year left on his contract with a $4MM cap hit that should be of interest to several contending teams as it’s a deal that’s a little bit below market value.

Hamilton Out Indefinitely: Hurricanes defenseman Dougie Hamilton appeared to be well on his way towards a career year offensively after picking up 14 goals and 26 assists through the first 47 games of the season.  However, that momentum was quickly derailed after he suffered a fractured fibula that he has already undergone surgery for.  He’s listed as out indefinitely but similar injuries have carried a timeframe for recovery of around three months which would basically put him out for the rest of the regular season.  Carolina had been making some defensemen available but now, they may have to pull back on that with Hamilton out of the lineup.

Backstrom Extension: Going into the season, the Capitals had a pair of prominent veterans that were slated to become unrestricted free agents in July.  They have trimmed that down to one after agreeing to a five-year, $46MM extension with center Nicklas Backstrom.  The deal, which was negotiated with Backstrom directly and not an agent, also contains a full no-move clause in the first three years of the deal plus a 15-team no-trade clause in the final two seasons.  The contract gives the 32-year-old a significant raise on his current $6.7MM AAV.  Backstrom, a first-round pick (fourth overall) back in 2006 has played the entirety of his 13-year NHL career with Washington where he is the all-time franchise leader in assists and sits second in points behind Alex Ovechkin.  He’ll be holding onto those marks for a long time now with this deal.

Another Coaching Change: Some of the coaching changes around the league haven’t come as much of a surprise.  The latest, one that saw Vegas fire Gerard Gallant and hire Peter DeBoer as his replacement, certainly doesn’t qualify as one of those.  While the Golden Knights have struggled in recent weeks, they were still in a playoff spot in the ultra-tight Pacific Division and reports have since surfaced that there were some discussions about a contract extension not that long ago.  Despite that, GM Kelly McCrimmon acted quickly with a capable veteran coach in DeBoer who has some familiarity with Vegas having previously coached one of their bigger rivals in San Jose.  He’ll now be tasked with making some tweaks to help them down the stretch.

Rielly Out For A While: Toronto’s back end isn’t the deepest and was already without Jake Muzzin.  They suffered another significant injury as Morgan Rielly will miss the next two months due to a broken foot.  The injury was sustained last weekend against Florida and they’ve had difficulty keeping the puck out of the net since then; including that game, they’ve allowed 20 goals in their last four contests.  As Rielly is expected to be back before the end of the regular season, the Maple Leafs won’t be able to trade for a replacement using LTIR as they’d need to get back into cap compliance before they could activate Rielly in that circumstance.  Since their coaching change, Toronto has been one of the top-scoring teams and they’ll need to keep that up in Rielly’s absence.

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The first full week of 2020 is in the books and there were several newsworthy events around the NHL which are highlighted in the key stories of the week.

More Changes In New Jersey: While in-season coaching changes happen with some regularity, GM changes usually occur in the offseason.  That wasn’t the case for New Jersey as they fired GM Ray Shero partway through his fifth year with the team.  The timing is particularly surprising as it comes less than a month after trading away Taylor Hall while he also let John Hynes go as head coach (more on him momentarily).   Tom Fitzgerald will take over as interim GM and will likely be tasked with shepherding the team through the upcoming trade deadline where they will have several veterans that will likely garner interest around the league.

Another Coaching Change: With the Predators underachieving considerably in the first half of the season, GM David Poile decided to make a change behind the bench, relieving Peter Laviolette of his duties as head coach, just days after saying that he wasn’t planning on making a coaching change.  Laviolette spent five and a half seasons in Nashville, compiling a 248-143-60 record while helping lead them to the Presidents’ Trophy in 2017-18 as well as their only Stanley Cup Final appearance the year before.  Poile wasted little time finding a replacement as the next day, John Hynes was hired as their new head coach.  The team picked up their first win under Hines on Thursday and it was quite the memorable one with Pekka Rinne becoming the first goalie to score a goal since Mike Smith did so back in 2013.

Big Contract For Andersson: Flames defenseman Rasmus Andersson is in his second full NHL season but has emerged as a capable top-four defender on Calgary’s back end.  With fellow blueliners Travis Hamonic and T.J. Brodie both slated to become unrestricted free agents in July, GM Brad Treliving opted to ensure Andersson (who was going to be a restricted free agent) would be sticking around for the long haul, signing him to a six-year, $27.3MM extension.  The deal buys out two years of UFA eligibility and if his offensive game progresses, it could become quite the bargain fairly quickly.  The Flames now have four defensemen under contract for next season (including the injured Juuso Valimaki) so GM Brad Treliving still has some work to do at that position.

Shesterkin Debuts: For years, Rangers goaltender Igor Shesterkin has been viewed as one of the top goaltenders outside the NHL if not the best.  That is no longer the case as the team brought him up from AHL Hartford and had him make his NHL debut.  There aren’t any injuries between the pipes in New York so for the time being at least the Rangers will be going with three goaltenders as Shesterkin joins Henrik Lundqvist and Alexandar Georgiev.  Carrying three goalies is rarely a tenable situation but Shesterkin is the only waiver-exempt option of the three but his deal contains a European Assignment Clause.  Not surprisingly, the Rangers appear to be open to listening to offers for Georgiev, a pending restricted free agent.

Williams Returns: When Justin Williams announced that he was taking a break from hockey at the beginning of training camp, speculation immediately began that he would eventually find his way back to Carolina.  That is indeed what happened as he signed a one-year deal to rejoin the Hurricanes.  The deal is worth the pro-rated league minimum but contains performance bonuses for games played as well as Carolina’s postseason success.  That allows the team to preserve most of their remaining cap room although if they utilize that, they will run the risk of a bonus overage that would roll over into 2020-21.

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The Winter Classic has come and gone and as usual, the announcement of where next year’s event will be held was made.  There were plenty of other newsworthy events around the league which are highlighted in the key stories of the week.

Rodrigues Wants Out: A year ago, it looked like Evan Rodrigues was settling in as a useful secondary scorer for Buffalo.  He picked up a career-best 29 points and was awarded a $2MM contract in arbitration back in July.  However, things haven’t gone so well this year.  His role has been limited and he has spent considerable time as a healthy scratch and as a result, he has asked for a trade.  The Sabres don’t appear to have any interest in playing him at the time being – they’ve given Dalton Smith a game (and 1:26 of ice time) and dressed seven defensemen over putting Rodrigues back in but at this point, it’s reasonable to assume that his trade value is low.  Either GM Jason Botterill will have to sell low or they’ll have to get Rodrigues back in the lineup but this will be worth monitoring over the coming weeks.

Scandella, Frolik Get Dealt: In what basically amounted to a three-way trade, the Sabres parted with defenseman Marco Scandella while picking up winger Michael Frolik from Calgary.  Scandella was sent to Montreal for San Jose’s 2020 fourth-round pick and then Buffalo flipped that to land Frolik.  The Canadiens have been looking to upgrade the left side of their defense corps and have tried quite a few different players there already but Scandella’s history suggests he could have more of an impact.  Meanwhile, a long list of injuries up front for Buffalo (the latest being Victor Olofsson) necessitated adding some forward help; Frolik gives them some versatility and someone with a previous track record of being a useful secondary piece.  As for the Flames, they now have $4.3MM in full-season cap space to work with when they try to add to their roster between now and the trade deadline.

Another Injury In Pittsburgh: The Penguins have been hit extremely hard by injuries this season and they are now dealing with another one as winger Jake Guentzel is out for the rest of the regular season at least after undergoing successful shoulder surgery.  The 25-year-old was coming off his first 40-goal season and was on pace to surpass his 2018-19 production before the injury as he had 43 points in 39 games while logging over 20 minutes a night in ice time for the first time in his career.  The official timeline for recovery is four-to-six months so if it winds up being towards the shorter end, it’s possible that Guentzel would be available to return at some point in the postseason.

Extension For Holl: After hardly playing at all last season (just 11 games), Justin Holl got an opportunity to play more of a regular role with Toronto this year.  He has made the most of it and has moved up the depth chart in recent weeks and has been rewarded for his efforts with a three-year, $6MM extension.  There is some risk on both sides with the deal; the 27-year-old hadn’t played in 50 NHL games at the time the deal was signed and the contract represents a big commitment to someone with that little experience.  However, if Holl continues to do well in a top-four role, the deal could certainly become a bargain as well.

Kovalchuk To Montreal: It took nearly three weeks for Ilya Kovalchuk to find his next place to play after agreeing to a contract termination with the Kings but he has resurfaced in the NHL, inking a one-year contract with the Canadiens.  The deal will pay him the league minimum $700K in Montreal while also containing a two-way provision that pays $70K in the minors which may very well be in there to encourage a termination should things not pan out.  The Canadiens are missing four regulars up front and they’re hoping that the veteran can give them a short-term boost until some of those players return.

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The first full week of December is in the books and there were a few newsworthy events across the hockey world which are highlighted in the top stories of the week.

New Arena Deal For Calgary: After several years of ups and downs in negotiations, the Flames have a ratified agreement in place for a new arena in Calgary.  The project will cost roughly $565MM to complete with $290MM of that being publicly funded.  Although the financial arrangement is in place, the design still has to be done which has resulted in a rough timeline to begin construction in the fall of 2021 so it will be a while before the team will be finished at the Saddledome.

Stephenson To Vegas: With Carl Hagelin set to return off LTIR, the Capitals were once again about to face a cap crunch.  Rather than shuffle a few pieces on their roster back and forth, they opted instead to trade center Chandler Stephenson to Vegas in exchange for a 2021 fifth-round pick.  While Stephenson’s $1.05MM salary isn’t particularly high, it was a premium that Washington simply couldn’t afford.  The 25-year-old made quite the impression with the Golden Knights as he scored in his first game with his new team.

Coaching Change In New Jersey: The Devils were a popular pick to be a big factor in the Metropolitan Division this season but instead, they’ve underachieved considerably.  As a result, GM Ray Shero decided to make a change behind the bench as he fired head coach John Hynes.  Assistant Alain Nasreddine has taken over on an interim basis.  The team went just 9-13-4 under Hynes this season and they haven’t fared much better with their new bench boss just yet as they’ve yet to win in three games since the change.  Hynes’ tenure wraps up with a 150-159-45 record over parts of five seasons.  Former Florida and Toronto head coach Peter Horachek has moved from a scouting role to serve as an assistant on Nasreddine’s staff.

Another Pittsburgh Injury: To say that the Penguins have been hit hard by the injury bug this season would be quite the understatement.  Their lengthy list of injuries has grown as winger Patric Hornqvist will be out longer-term with a lower-body injury less than two weeks after missing time with a different lower-body issue.  Despite missing several key players, Pittsburgh hasn’t missed a beat as they’re one of the top scoring teams in the league.

Stajan Retires: Veteran center Matt Stajan has decided to call it a career at the age of 35.  The 2002 second-round pick carved out a lengthy career for himself, reaching the 1,000 games played mark in his final NHL season back in 2017-18.  Stajan only played for two NHL organizations throughout his career which spanned parts of 15 seasons.  He was with Toronto from 2003 to 2010 before being sent to Calgary in a midseason deal where he spent parts of nine seasons.  He suited up last season with EHC Munich in the German DEL but wasn’t able to attract any NHL interest last summer.

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