Week In Review

Although the holiday roster freeze shut down the trade market for the majority of the week, there were still several headlines around the league.  Here are the top five.

Oleksiak To Pittsburgh: There were three smaller trades made before the freeze kicked in with the most prominent being the Penguins acquiring defenseman Jamie Oleksiak from Dallas in exchange for a fourth-round pick in 2019.  The 14th overall pick in 2011 could never really find his footing with the Stars and had been a frequent healthy scratch this season.  With Pittsburgh, Oleksiak will battle for third-pairing minutes while giving them some extra depth, something they’ve been seeking for a while after being forced to shuffle AHL players back and forth as injuries came up.

Ellis To Return Shortly: Nashville’s big four on the back end have yet to play together this season.  That is set to change in the very near future as Ryan Ellis is targeting a return date of January 2nd.  He underwent knee surgery in the offseason.  Ellis took a big leap forward last season with career-highs in goals (16), points (38), and ice time (23:57 per game) and once he gets back into game shape, he will provide the Predators with another threat from the point while allowing them to shuffle Alexei Emelin back into a third-pairing role.

Weber Shut Down Indefinitely: If Montreal plans to get back into the playoff picture, they will be doing so without the services of their top defenseman in Shea Weber for the foreseeable future.  He has been shut down indefinitely as a foot injury sustained in the season-opener against Buffalo is not healing as the team hoped it would.  Not only will they miss his presence from the point (particularly his booming shot), they will also be in tough to account for the 25-plus minutes per game he has logged so far this season.  This could also play a role in Montreal’s plans for Victor Mete once he returns from the World Juniors in early January.

Islanders Win Belmont Park Bid: The Islanders got some great news on their arena front as their proposal for a new 18,000-seat arena at Belmont Park has been approved.  This gives the team some long-term stability especially with their current situation in Brooklyn not going as well as anyone had hoped.  Unlike a lot of new facilities, team owner Jon Ledecky stated that this will be built with private funds and not public.  There will still be some short-term decisions to be made as to where they will play for the next couple of years after this one given that the arena will need to be built.  The team can either try to negotiate a short-term agreement in Brooklyn (they’ll opt out of their current deal next month) or perhaps look to return to their old home at Nassau Coliseum instead.

Burmistrov Retires From NHL: Earlier this month, Canucks center Alexander Burmistrov voiced his frustration with his role with Vancouver as he has been primarily a depth player.  It turns out that he has had enough of his time there as he has retired from the NHL with an eye towards going back home to Russia.  He’s expected to sign with Ak Bars Kazan of the KHL in the coming days.  He finishes his NHL playing days with 101 points (37-64-101) in 348 games between Vancouver, Arizona, and Winnipeg/Atlanta.

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This was the last full week before the holiday roster freeze kicks in but there wasn’t a whole lot of activity.  Here are the top five stories from a relatively quiet week around the league.

Dubinsky Out Six-To-Eight Weeks: The Blue Jackets will be without a core forward until sometime in the New Year as Brandon Dubinsky suffered a fractured orbital bone in a fight with Edmonton’s Zack Kassian and will miss the next six-to-eight weeks.  GM Jarmo Kekalainen confirmed that the damage will not affect his long-term vision which is certainly good news.  However, Dubinsky’s physical presence and faceoff prowess will undoubtedly be missed as Columbus continues to battle for top spot in the Metropolitan Division.

Red Wings Willing To Retain On Mrazek: 2017-18 hasn’t been a kind year for Detroit goaltender Petr Mrazek.  His goals against average and save percentage are career-worsts by a considerable margin and as a result, he went from a possible timesharing role to being Jimmy Howard’s backup.  With a qualifying offer of $4.15MM due in June, he’s a strong non-tender candidate.  With that in mind, the Red Wings have indicated that they are willing to retain salary in a trade and there are reports that there is some lukewarm interest around the league even after Edmonton bowed out of trade discussions.

Karlsson Would Prefer To Stay In Ottawa: Following his comments earlier this month which intimated that he would be going to the highest bidder in free agency, Senators defenseman Erik Karlsson stated that his preference would be to remain in Ottawa.  He’s still more than 18 months away from hitting unrestricted free agency but with a window opening up to sign an extension on the horizon (July 1st, 2018), there has already been plenty of speculation as to what it might cost to lock him up and if the Sens will have to move him if they’re unable to reach an agreement over risking losing him for nothing a year later.

Turris Comments On His Trade: From a current Senator to a former one, Predators center Kyle Turris raised some eyebrows when he commented publicly about his trade to Nashville.  The deal came on the heels of extension negotiations and when the trade was made, he signed a seven-year pact with the Preds.  Turris stated that it was his belief that the Senators GM Pierre Dorion wanted to get a deal done to keep him in Ottawa (a six-year offer was believed to be on the table) but owner Eugene Melnyk did not feel the same way.  In the end, the trade has worked quite well for Nashville and Turris while Matt Duchene, who was acquired in the three-way swap, hasn’t fared as well for the struggling Sens.

Blues Seeking Top-Six Forward: On the heels of Jaden Schwartz’s injury that will keep him out for the considerable future, St. Louis is on the lookout to add a top-six forward to the mix with Buffalo’s Evander Kane among those that they have interest in.  Adding another scorer has been something they’ve been looking for since Robby Fabbri tore his ACL before the season even got underway.  However, with very limited cap space, they may have to get creative to make a move or at least match salaries going the other way.

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While there was still a bit of player movement over the past week, the headlines were dominated by significant off-ice developments.  Here are the top stories from the past seven days.

Seattle Expansion: Seattle council approved a $660MM renovation proposal for KeyArena that would help pave the way for an NHL (and/or NBA franchise) down the road.  It’s very clear that the NHL has been keeping tabs on the situation as days later, they announced that they green-lighted Seattle’s prospective ownership group to conduct a season-ticket drive to gauge interest in the market while also setting an expansion fee of $650MM as well as a target start date of the 2020-21 season.  If they were to be added, that would re-balance the conferences at 16 teams apiece although one team would have to shift from the Pacific to the Central Division.

Russia To Compete Under Neutral Flag In Olympics: The announcement from the International Olympic Committee to ban Russian athletes from competing under the Russian flag has raised some more questions about the status of the hockey tournament in February.  While Russian athletes may still be permitted to play under the Olympic flag as an “Olympic Athlete from Russia”, there is still no firm decision from the KHL as to whether they will attempt to revise their schedule to play through the Olympics while barring players from participation.

Hurricanes To Be Sold: An agreement has been struck for Dallas billionaire Tom Dundon to buy the Hurricanes from owner Peter Karmanos.  The deal is pending approval by the Board of Governors.  Dundon is purchasing 52% of the team now with an option to buy the remaining 48% three years from now.  Also notable is that the team will not be moved for at least the next seven years so that should put an end to any relocation speculation, at least for a while.

Schwartz Out Six Weeks: The Blues were dealt a significant blow as winger Jaden Schwartz, who sits second on the team in scoring (with 35 points in 30 games) and tied for ninth league-wide, will miss at least the next six weeks with a right ankle injury.  The key phrase in their announcement is that he will be re-evaluated at that time and based on how they’ve used that term for other injuries already this season, there’s a decent chance he will be out longer.  This will be the second time in three seasons that Schwartz will miss significant time due to an injury; he missed 49 games with a fractured ankle back in 2015-16.

Cap Increase On The Horizon: At the recent Board of Governors meetings, Commissioner Gary Bettman projected a notable raise in the salary cap, providing a range between $78MM and $82MM.  This, of course, will be affected by any notable fluctuations in the Canadian dollar as well as what the NHLPA chooses to use for their inflator percentage.  Even if the raise is at the low end of that scale, it would still be the biggest jump since 2014-15 when the Upper Limit increased by $4.7MM.  With some big ticket contracts either kicking in or on the horizon, many general managers are undoubtedly looking forward to the extra flexibility.

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As the calendar has turned to December, activity has started to pick up around the league.  Here are the top stories from the past week, highlighted by a significant trade between Anaheim and New Jersey.

Doughty, Karlsson Comment On Next Contracts: Although Kings defenseman Drew Doughty and Senators blueliner Erik Karlsson are signed through 2018-19, that didn’t stop both of them from commenting on their next contracts.  Doughty fired the first salvo saying that he (and Karlsson) “deserve quite a bit more” than Predators defender P.K. Subban, whose $9MM cap charge leads the league.  A day later, Karlsson made some waves when he told reporters that there will be no hometown discount for the Senators and suggested that he will go to the highest bidder if he makes it to the open market in 2019.  Neither player can sign an extension until July of 2018 so this is going to linger for a while.

Dorsett’s Career Over: Canucks winger Derek Dorsett was off to a strong start to his season, one that saw him record seven goals in 20 games after missing most of last year after undergoing cervical disc herniation surgery.  Unfortunately, the feel-good story came to a crashing halt on Thursday when it was announced that his career is over after consulting with doctors when his neck pain returned late last month as the decision was made that it would be too dangerous to his health to continue playing.  Dorsett has one year remaining on his contract after this one but he will likely spend the season on injured reserve and then formally retire at the end of the 2018-19 season.

Sabres Willing To Retain On Kane: Sabres winger Evander Kane already figures to be in high demand between now and the trade deadline.  He’s off to a blistering start to the season and leads Buffalo in scoring but the speculation has been that a contract extension isn’t likely to occur in the weeks to come.  This past week, it came out that the team would be willing to retain salary to facilitate a trade.  Considering Kane carries a $5.25MM cap hit, their willingness to hold back part of that should help draw more interest from some of the more cap-strapped teams around the league.  Buffalo can retain up to 50% of Kane’s contract.

Golden Knights Extend McNabb: Vegas has been quite pleased with the play of defenseman Brayden McNabb so far this season and put their money where their mouth is as they inked the blueliner to a four-year, $10MM contract extension.  While his offensive numbers don’t stand out, he is logging a career-best 19:30 of ice time per night while providing a sound defensive presence on a relatively inexperienced Golden Knights back end.

Devils, Ducks Make Big Trade: Last but certainly not least in the headlines of the week was the trade between Anaheim and New Jersey that saw defenseman Sami Vatanen join the Devils (along with a conditional third-round pick) in exchange for centers Adam Henrique and Joseph Blandisi plus a 2018 third-rounder.  For Anaheim, it helps to solidify their depth down the middle (which is important given their top-two pivots are both injured) while New Jersey fills a big hole on their back end.  On the surface, this appears to be one of those pure ‘hockey trades’ where both teams successfully use a surplus to fill a need.

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American Thanksgiving is often viewed as a key date around the league where teams start to get a better sense of where they stand and what they need.  With that now having passed, activity should begin to pick up around the league.  In the meantime, here are the top stories around the game from the past week.

Russia Could Block KHL From The Olympics: This was floated as a possibility a few weeks back but gained traction last week with Russia’s parliament drafting a bill that could try to block all KHL players from playing in the Olympics if the Russian Federation is barred from participating due to state-sanctioned doping from the 2014 Games.  Other countries have numerous players in the KHL as well that are there on legitimate IIHF transfers which could create a really messy situation in the near future.  This will certainly be something to keep an eye on.

Petrovic Sounds Off: It hasn’t been a great season so far for Panthers defenseman Alex Petrovic.  After being a fixture in their lineup in recent years, he has been frequently scratched this season and he voiced his frustration regarding his usage.  While he didn’t go as far as saying that he’d like to be traded, his name will likely come up in speculation in the weeks to come given the demand for defensemen on the market with a relatively low supply.  The healthy scratches certainly won’t help his case when it comes to negotiating a new contract as a restricted free agent with arbitration rights next summer.

Kings Acquire Mitchell: While many expected Montreal to make some sort of trade following their slow start to the season, not many were expecting it would be of the minor variety.  The Canadiens dealt center Torrey Mitchell to the Kings in exchange for a conditional 2018 fifth-round pick that will become a fourth-rounder if Los Angeles makes the playoffs.  Mitchell represents an upgrade at their fourth line center position and in the days following the trade, Brooks Laich, who had been in that spot, was waived, sent to the minors, and is now back on waivers to be released.

Zaripov Settles Appeal, Signs In KHL: Veteran Russian winger Danis Zaripov drew some NHL interest after he had been suspended from the KHL for two years for a failed drug test.  That suspension was appealed and was reduced to six months which paved the way for him to return back home.  He wasted little time doing so, signing a contract with Ak Bars Kazan less than 24 hours after his eligibility had been reinstated.

Blue Jackets Discussing Murray Trades: Blue Jackets defenseman Ryan Murray has been in trade rumors for a while now and that doesn’t appear to be changing anytime soon.  It was reported that the team had been considering trading him for a top draft pick back at the draft while he was also involved in failed trade talks with Colorado.  Columbus is still looking to add help down the middle and they are willing to move a defender to do so and it appears that Murray is the logical choice to be dealt if they can find the right fit.

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The activity level has started to pick up across the league as we have now passed the one-month mark of the season.  Here’s a look back at the top stories from the past week.

Shipachyov Saga Finally Ends: It took longer than expected but all parties agreed on Vadim Shipachyov’s departure from Vegas and the NHL.  Instead of going on waivers to terminate his contract, he instead retired with the Golden Knights placing his name on the Voluntary Retired List.  This means that they will retain his rights through his age-35 season if he ever decides to try his hand in the NHL again down the road.  He wasted little time rejoining his former team in Russia, SKA St. Petersburg, although he wound up taking quite the pay cut in order to do so.

Yamamoto, Tippett Return To Junior: The Oilers decided to return 2017 first rounder Kailer Yamamoto to Spokane of the WHL.  He got into nine games (the maximum before burning the first year of his contract) and more than held his own but the team is taking the long-term view with him which, given their cap projections down the road, isn’t a bad idea.  He made quite the impression in his first junior game as well, collecting four points.  Meanwhile, the Panthers sent winger Owen Tippett, the tenth overall pick back in June, to OHL Mississauga.  Tippett got into seven games with Florida, collecting a goal while averaging a little under 12 minutes per night.

Getzlaf Out Up To Two Months: It seems like every year there is at least one team that gets hit with a significant amount of injuries.  That team appears to be Anaheim this season.  Already without one of their top-six centers in Ryan Kesler, they now will miss their top line pivot in Ryan Getzlaf for up to two months after he underwent surgery on his cheekbone.  Not surprisingly, Anaheim is in the market for help down the middle but there isn’t an abundance of top-six options readily available at this time.  For the time being, they will run with Derek Grant as their number one center.

Fleury Nears A Return: It has been a while since the Golden Knights received any good news when it came to their goaltenders.  That may change soon as starting netminder Marc-Andre Fleury is getting closer to returning which would give them a big boost between the pipes.  Unsurprisingly, the team has struggled as of late with Maxime Lagace as the full-time starter while they’re still carrying 2017 seventh-rounder Dylan Ferguson as their backup.  Once Fleury is activated off IR, Ferguson will have to go back to the junior ranks right away.

Columbus Ready To Move A Defenseman: After failing to land Matt Duchene (or Kyle Turris), the Blue Jackets remain in the market for help up front.  They are well-stocked on the back end and are willing to move one of their defenders to acquire an impact forward.  Demand largely outweighs supply in terms of quality defensemen being available so Columbus should have plenty of interest from other teams in the coming weeks.

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With the frenzy of opening week now gone, it was quieter around the league over the past week but there were still several notable stories.

1) Athanasiou Situation Nearing A Resolution? Darren Ferris, the agent for Red Wings RFA winger Andreas Athanasiou, said that he expects a resolution to his situation next week.  He has multiple offers from Switzerland on the table as well as a one-year, $2.5MM KHL offer and signing one of those would keep his Olympic eligibility.  It was also reported that Los Angeles, Montreal, and Ottawa are the teams that have shown the most interest in trading for Athanasiou although Detroit isn’t believed to be actively shopping him around the league either.

2) Injury Woes In Minnesota: Already missing key forwards Zach Parise and Mikael Granlund, things went from bad to a whole lot worse in the span of one day for the Wild.  No fewer than three more forwards went down as Charlie Coyle suffered a right fibula fracture that will have him out for close to two months, Nino Niederreiter will miss at least three weeks with a high ankle sprain, while Marcus Foligno has a facial fracture that will cost him at least a week.  Interestingly enough, the long-term nature of Coyle’s injury actually provided them with the opportunity to afford to be able to recall replacement players up while remaining in compliance with the salary cap.

3) Gionta To Skate With Rochester: Veteran unrestricted free agent winger Brian Gionta wasn’t able to land an NHL contract over the offseason so he has turned his focus to the Olympics.  In order to try to be in game shape, he has reached an agreement with Buffalo’s farm team in Rochester to skate with them for “extended period of time”.  Assuming he can land a spot on the US Olympic squad, it would be his first appearance in those games since 2006.

4) Rockets Owner Interested In NHL Team: Houston has long been speculated as a potential home for an NHL team and talk of that picked up last week when their new owner, Tilman Fertitta, indicated that he would like to have an NHL franchise in that market as well.  There is some history of hockey in the market with the Aeros of the WHA as well as the Aeros of the AHL, who moved to Iowa back in 2013.  With the league currently unbalanced with 31 teams, some have speculated that Houston could become a strong candidate for an expansion franchise in the near future.

5) Sustr On The Market: The Lightning are carrying eight blueliners (like many other teams to start the year) and with youngsters like Mikhail Sergachev, Slater Koekkoek, and Jake Dotchin all needing a look, Andrej Sustr has been a scratch three times already this season.  Not surprisingly, word came out that Tampa Bay is believed to be shopping the 26-year-old, who carries a $1.95MM cap hit this season and will be eligible for unrestricted free agency in July.  While he’s not a top-four option, the veteran of over 300 NHL games (regular season and playoffs) could potentially serve as a third pairing upgrade on several teams around the league.

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With the 2017-18 NHL season now underway, it has been a busy week across the league.  Here are the top stories from the opening week of the season.

Jagr To Flames: It took until the season started but Jaromir Jagr will indeed suit up in the NHL this season after signing a one-year contract with Calgary.  He did have to take a sizable pay cut on this contract though as he’s only guaranteed $1MM with another $1MM in potential bonuses, well below the $5.5MM he received in salary and bonuses with the Panthers last season.  He’s not quite in game shape yet but should make his debut with the Flames sometime this week.

Hossa, Lupul Eligible For LTIR: Although the league decided it wanted to take a closer look at the placements of Marian Hossa (Blackhawks) and Joffrey Lupul (Maple Leafs) on long-term injury reserve, they ruled that both Hossa and Lupul are eligible to be put there and both teams wasted little time doing so.  Hossa was ruled out for the season back in June due to a skin disorder while Lupul failed his physical last month at the outset of Toronto’s training camp.

Eight For Eichel: The Sabres decided not to wait to see how Jack Eichel fared in the final year of his entry-level contract as instead, they inked him to an eight-year, $80MM extension that will commence in 2018-19.  The deal will tie the 2015 second overall selection for the fifth highest cap hit in the league when it kicks in and will keep their franchise player with the team for the better part of the next decade. It also likely sets the floor for contract extensions for 2016 top picks Auston Matthews (Maple Leafs) and Patrik Laine (Jets) one year from now.

More Long-Term Extensions: Eichel was hardly the only player to sign a long-term extension last week.  Anaheim defenseman Josh Manson signed a four-year, $16.4MM pact (and got to announce his own contract in the process), Panthers blueliner Mike Matheson somewhat surprisingly signed for eight years and $39MM, while Winnipeg’s Nikolaj Ehlers inked a seven-year, $42MM deal on the heels of a 64-point season.  All three of those deals will also begin in the 2018-19 season.

Turris Talks Not Going Well? After it had been suggested earlier in the week that progress was being made for Ottawa center Kyle Turris to remain with the team long-term, TSN’s Darren Dreger made some waves when he stated that a trade seems likely.  The hold-up here appears to be term; while Turris is eager to sign a seven or eight-year contract, the Sens don’t appear to be as willing to make that commitment just yet.  Given the high demand and the short supply of quality centers on the open market each summer, there’s a good chance that Turris could land a deal of that length from someone but if he wants to stay in Ottawa, it appears he might have to take a shorter-termed contract.

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With puck drop on the regular season getting closer, activity around the league is starting to pick up as well.  Here are the biggest stories around the game over the past week.

Boyle Diagnosed With Leukemia: Devils center Brian Boyle was diagnosed with Chronic Myeloid Leukemia, a form of bone cancer.  Doctors revealed that they caught the disease early and the expectation is that it will be able to be treated with medication although more tests will still be performed.  Boyle remains hopeful that he will be able to suit up on opening night which is certainly a promising sign.  Everyone here at PHR wishes Boyle the best as he goes through the treatment and recovery process.

The Lupul Saga: It has been an eventful week for Maple Leafs winger Joffrey Lupul.  He suggested on social media that Toronto cheats the system when it comes to LTIR but he later deleted those comments.  Although he elected not to opt for a second opinion on his failed physical, the league has stepped in and decided that they’d like a second look.  They have ordered an independent evaluation of Lupul and it’s possible that they could block Toronto from placing him on LTIR if they deem he is healthy enough to play.  It was also reported that the NHL is in the middle of the same procedure with Blackhawks winger Marian Hossa.

Panthers/Coyotes Trade: September trades aren’t particularly frequent in nature but Florida and Arizona made a somewhat notable swap of veterans with defenseman Jason Demers heading to the desert in exchange for winger Jamie McGinn.   The deal gives the Coyotes another top-four defender with the Panthers paying 15% of his $4.5MM contract for the next four years while Florida adds some depth up front having lost several wingers this offseason while shedding some financial obligations in the future.

St. Louis Injuries: The injury bug has not been kind to the Blues so far.  Over the past week, they lost forward Zach Sanford for the next five-to-six months as he required surgery to fix a disclosed shoulder as well as defenseman Jay Bouwmeester to a fractured ankle with no firm timeframe for his return (he will be re-evaluated closer to the start of the season).  Then it was revealed that winger Alex Steen will miss the rest of training camp with a hand injury and he will also be re-evaluated at the end of the preseason which calls his availability to start the year into question as well.  (And this week didn’t get off to a great start either with Robby Fabbri now on the shelf as well.)

Wild Extend Koivu: Minnesota will be keeping its longest-tenured player in the fold for a while longer as the team reached an agreement on a two-year, $11MM extension with center Mikko Koivu.  The 34-year-old (who also serves as team captain) has been with the Wild since they drafted him sixth overall back in 2001 and is the franchise leader in many categories including games played, assists, and points.

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The wait is almost over as training camps are set to kick off this week.  Before looking ahead to those camps getting underway, let’s take a look back at some of the notable stories over the past week.

Ellis Out Long-Term: Nashville’s decision to acquire Alexei Emelin from Vegas raised a few eyebrows with the Predators already having a high-end defense corps.  As it turns out, they will be without one of their ‘big four’ for a while as Ryan Ellis is expected to be out four-to-six months after undergoing knee surgery earlier this summer.  That places him out until early January at the earliest which is a big blow to their back end.  Ellis is coming off of a career year offensively with 38 points while he also logged just shy of 24 minutes a night, more than three minutes per game higher than his previous career best.

Van Riemsdyk Seeking Sizable Raise: While Toronto will undoubtedly be prepared to pay big money to keep their young trio of Auston Matthews, Mitch Marner, and William Nylander around over the next couple of years, they also have some notable veterans that are close to free agency.  One of those is winger James van Riemsdyk, who is reportedly seeking around $6MM per season on a long-term deal.  The 28-year-old is earning $5MM (with a $4.25MM cap hit) as he enters the final year of his contract.  Assuming he stays healthy this season and produces close to the 62 points he got last season, he should have a good chance of landing that money, whether it’s from the Maple Leafs or elsewhere.

Horvat Gets Six Years: While there had been some speculation that he could wind up with a short-term bridge deal, the Canucks and center Bo Horvat were able to agree on a six-year, $33MM contract.  With the Sedin twins nearing retirement, the 22-year-old is quickly entrenching himself as their next core forward to build around.  He already has taken on a big part of the offensive workload as he led Vancouver in scoring with 52 points while he was the only Canuck to reach the 20-goal mark in 2016-17.

Bridge Deals: While Horvat and Vancouver avoided a bridge contract, there were a couple handed out over the past week.  Arizona and winger Anthony Duclair agreed to a one-year, $1.2MM deal after a season where he struggled considerably at the offensive end with only five goals in 58 NHL games (and just one in 16 AHL contests).  Meanwhile, the Flames and center Sam Bennett put pen to paper on a two-year contract with a cap hit of $1.95MM.  The former fourth overall pick saw his production drop in his sophomore campaign but he still figures to be part of their plans for the long haul.

Tougher Offside Challenge Penalties: After an influx of questionable offside challenges that delayed quite a few games last season, the league took a step towards trying to curtail that.  Instead of just losing their timeout if their challenge fails, that team will also now be assessed a minor penalty for delay of game.  It will be interesting to see if the rule change works as intended and that coaches will be more hesitant before initiating some of the more frivolous challenges that were used at times last year.

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