Week In Review

With training camps now just a few weeks away, activity is beginning to pick up around the league.  Here are the top stories from the past week.

Stafford Joins The Devils: After a tough season, Drew Stafford found himself on the outside looking in until New Jersey signed him to a one-year, $800K contract, one that’s more than an 80% pay cut compared to his contract from last season.  Given that New Jersey’s depth on the right side isn’t particularly strong, Stafford could get a chance to play an important role which could set him up nicely to enter the open market with more leverage next summer.

Beauchemin Goes Back To Anaheim: After losing both Shea Theodore and Clayton Stoner to the Golden Knights in expansion plus Simon Despres to the KHL after a buyout and injuries to Sami Vatanen and Hampus Lindholm that will likely linger into the start of the season, the Ducks brought back Francois Beauchemin for a third stint with the team.  The deal is worth a guaranteed $1MM plus up to $500K in performance bonuses.  Colorado opted to buy out the final year of Beauchemin’s deal back in June rather than pay him $4.5MM in 2017-18.  The 37-year-old stated shortly after signing that he expects this to be his final NHL season.

College Signings: While the top player on the market waited until today to sign, three others inked their entry-level deals over the course of the past week.  Most notably among those was center Alex Kerfoot joining the Avalanche where he will have a chance to play right away.  Fellow pivot Blaine Byron had interest from multiple teams on a two-way NHL deal but opted to take a minor league pact with Florida that will preserve his eligibility to play in the Olympics.  Columbus also got in on the action, signing blueliner Doyle Somerby to a two-year deal.

Zetterberg May Retire After 2018-19: While it doesn’t come as much of a surprise considering the structure of his contract, Detroit captain Henrik Zetterberg acknowledged in an interview back in Sweden that he doesn’t expect to play beyond 2018-19.  He also admitted that the final two years (which carry a $1MM salary) was basically included to artificially lower the cap hit.  If he does retire at that time, the Red Wings will be hit with considerable cap recapture to the tune of more than $5MM for the two seasons.  The news isn’t any better in Detroit when it comes to Andreas Athanasiou as contract talks aren’t progressing and he has a notable KHL offer on the table to consider.

Leafs Ink Brown For Three Years: Toronto locked up their last remaining free agent on Saturday when they signed Connor Brown to a three-year, $6.3MM deal.  He’s coming off a strong rookie season with the team where he posted 20 goals and 16 assists while playing in all 82 games with the Leafs.  Toronto remains well over the salary cap for now but will get into compliance when the season gets underway and they put one of Nathan Horton or Joffrey Lupul on long-term injury reserve (one of the two went on earlier this summer).

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It was a relatively quiet week in the hockey world and was one that ended on a sad note.  Here are the top headlines from the past week.

Bryan Murray Passes Away: Long-time NHL coach and executive Bryan Murray passed away at the age of 74 on Saturday following a lengthy battle with cancer.  He continued to work in the game up until his death as he had been serving as an advisor with Ottawa.  Over an NHL career that spanned more than four decades, he served as a coach for parts of 17 years (winning a Jack Adams Award in 1983-84) and as a general manager for 21 years (and was named Executive of the Year in 1996).

Players On NHL Two-Way Deals Can’t Play In Olympics: As expected, the NHL provided some clarification regarding who is and is not eligible to play in the upcoming Winter Olympics.  While it has been known for a while that active NHL players won’t be going, the same can be said for those that are on NHL two-way contracts that are playing in the minor leagues at that time.  However, players that are on loan to European teams for the year and those that have been signed to entry-level deals but have been sent back to junior will be allowed to participate.  Team USA has already reached out to 85-90 players as they start to put a shortlist of potential players together.

Oilers Ink Yamamoto To ELC: The Oilers wasted little time inking their top prospect from the draft back in June as they signed Kailer Yamamoto to a three-year, entry-level deal.  The diminutive forward was one of the top scorers in the WHL last season (sixth overall) which is an impressive feat for someone in their draft-eligible season.  He’s expected to return to Spokane in 2017-18 to continue his junior career.  Yamamoto becomes the 16th of the 31 first round picks to have already signed their first NHL deal.

NHL Announces Preseason Schedule: The wait for NHL hockey is starting to get smaller as the league revealed the preseason schedule.  The first game will be played on September 16th between Vancouver and Los Angeles; those two teams will also be playing a pair of games in China.  The final games of the exhibition season will go October 1st.

Kaprizov signs with CSKA Moscow: The Wild will be waiting a while for one of their better prospects to cross the pond as winger Kirill Kaprizov has signed a three-year deal with CSKA Moscow of the KHL.  The 20-year-old has already shown himself to be quite the capable scorer at that level, posting 42 points (20-22-42) in 49 games last year.  There is no transfer agreement in place between the NHL and Russia so this doesn’t affect Minnesota in terms of retaining his rights but three years is a fairly long time to have to wait to have another shot at signing one of their more talented youngsters.

As we head towards the end of July, the focus has shifted to restricted free agency and the arbitration process.  Those headline several of the key stories over the past week.

1) Seven Years For Arvidsson – Although the Predators and winger Viktor Arvidsson went through their hearing, they were able to agree to terms on a seven-year, $29.75MM contract shortly thereafter.  His case was a particularly intriguing one as although he was coming off a 31 goal, 61 point season, 2016-17 also only represented his only full NHL campaign as he had been a depth player previously.  Was this a one-time fluke or a sign of things to come?  The contract represents a hedge towards production somewhere between the two.  If Arvidsson can come close to repeating those numbers on a regular basis though, Nashville could have another bargain on their hands.

2) Tatar Signs For Four – Arvidsson wasn’t the only player to go through the actual hearing and then sign a long-term deal afterwards.  After declining a five-year, $25MM contract, winger Tomas Tatar signed for close to that in the end, settling on four years with a cap hit of $5.3MM per season with the Red Wings.  The 26-year-old is coming off his third straight 20-goal season and was third in team scoring in 2017-18.  Worth noting here is that this pushes Detroit a little more than over the $75MM salary cap for the time being with Andreas Athanasiou still to re-sign.  Teams can go more than 10% over the cap during the summer before having to use summer LTIR so they’re still within that window for now.

3) Campbell Retires – Defenseman Brian Campbell had made it known that he only wanted to play for Chicago if he was to come back for another year.  While that won’t happen, he’ll still be with the franchise in a front office role after he announced his retirement.  Campbell suited up in over 1,000 career NHL games between Buffalo, San Jose, Florida, and Chicago, collecting 504 points which rank him 60th all-time for points by a blueliner.

4) Parayko Avoids Arbitration – Although the two sides exchanged arbitration numbers, the Blues and defenseman Colton Parayko were able to avoid going through a hearing, instead agreeing to a five-year, $27.5MM contract that buys out his first three years of unrestricted free agency.  He has just two full seasons under his belt but has quickly turned into a strong two-way threat on the back end.  With 2017-18 being the first full season that Kevin Shattenkirk won’t be with the team, many expect the 24-year-old to take another step forward as he takes on a bigger share of the workload.

5) Nichushkin To Return In 2018-19 – While some had speculated that winger Valeri Nichushkin could return to the Stars for the upcoming season with Lindy Ruff no longer behind the bench, the team announced that he will remain in the KHL for one more year before returning in the 2018-19 campaign.  The former first rounder had 11 goals and 13 assists in 36 games with CSKA Moscow this past season and Dallas still views him as a potential top six power forward if he can put it all together.

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Earlier today, Sweden defeated Canada 2-1 in a shootout at the World Championships with Toronto’s William Nylander earning MVP honors.  It marked only the second time that the Gold Medal Game was decided by a shootout.  While that’s an early headline for this week, here are five notable ones from the week that was.

1) Johansen Out 2-3 Months – The Predators received some tough news following their Game Four loss to Anaheim as their top center Ryan Johansen is out for the remainder of the playoffs.  Johansen was diagnosed with Acute Compartment Syndrome in the left thigh and surgery was performed nearly immediately after he was diagnosed.  The team announced that the procedure was a success, that there should be no permanent injury, and that a full recovery is expected.

2) Sekera Out 6-9 Months – The injury that kept Oilers blueliner Andrej Sekera out of the lineup for the end of their second round series against the Ducks is quite a serious one.  The team revealed that Sekera is dealing with a torn ACL that will keep him out for the next 6-9 months.  Even in the best case scenario, he would likely miss the first six weeks of the season while the nine month mark would cause him to miss the better part of half of the 2017-18 season.  Sekera ranked second in points by a defenseman (35) as well as ice time (21:29 per game) this year.

3) Teams Inquiring About Niederreiter – While many expect that Minnesota will inevitably have to deal a defender in advance of the expansion draft, one of their forwards – winger Nino Niederreiter – is drawing some interest around the league.  The 24 year old is set to become a restricted free agent in July and is due a qualifying offer of $3.5MM.  Wild GM Chuck Fletcher acknowledged that teams have been calling about Niederreiter as well as defenseman Mathew Dumba as well as several other players.  He noted he’s going to have to make some changes to the roster but that he’s only listening to offers at this time and not truly shopping players.

4) Vegas Gets AHL Affiliate – With the expansion draft still a month away, most of the heavy lifting for the Golden Knights is still to come.  One thing they needed to take care of was getting an AHL affiliate and this week, they did just that, reaching a multi-year deal with the Chicago Wolves as their primary affiliate.  The Blues, who have been with Chicago since 2013, will still send some players there next season but are also expected to seek agreements with other teams for next season.  The expectation is that a 31st team will join the AHL for 2018-19, leaving just one year that St. Louis will be in limbo.

5) Da Costa Receiving NHL Interest – With the Worlds now over, there will likely be some more international signings in the coming days.  One of those could be former Ottawa Senator Stephane Da Costa, who is receiving interest from multiple NHL clubs.  His first NHL stint didn’t go too well as he had just 11 points in 47 games but Da Costa has put up 96 points in 94 KHL games over the past three seasons since leaving the Sens following the 2013-14 campaign.  The 27 year old is also fielding offers from multiple KHL teams so there’s no guarantee he will once again try his hand in North America.

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The final full week of April resulted in quite a few headlines around the league, particularly behind the bench.  Here are five key stories from the week that was.

1) Kings Promote Stevens To Head Coach – While many teams will conduct a thorough coaching search before making a hire, Los Angeles opted to do the opposite.  Only John Stevens was seriously considered to replace Darryl Sutter behind the bench and one of the worst secrets in hockey was made official when the Kings officially named him as their new bench boss.  Stevens is no stranger to the team having been with the team for the last five years and will now be tasked with getting Los Angeles back into the playoffs.

2) Canucks Hire Green As Head Coach – The Kings weren’t the only team who named a new head coach as the Canucks promoted Travis Green to the position from their AHL affiliate in Utica where he had spent the past four seasons.  It’s the first NHL coaching gig for the long-time NHL veteran, who received a four year contract.  Vancouver appears headed for a longer-term rebuild and Green will likely have a longer leash to work with than Stevens will with Los Angeles.

3) Bruins Remove Interim Tag From Cassidy – The coaching news wasn’t just limited to the Western Conference as following their first round loss to Ottawa, Boston removed the interim tag from Bruce Cassidy, making him their full-time head coach.  Cassidy took over midseason from Claude Julien and the move seemed to bolster the Bruins who went 18-8-1 after the change while the team looked reinvigorated as they started to score at a higher level.

4) Hurricanes Acquire Darling – Trades at this point of the year aren’t all that common but they do happen from time to time.  Carolina decided to try to get a head start on free agency, acquiring the negotiating rights to goaltender Scott Darling from Chicago in exchange for Ottawa’s third round pick in 2017 (previously acquired for Viktor Stalberg).  No talks had been held with Darling’s camp prior to the move but clearly GM Ron Francis is confident that he can lock up the pending unrestricted free agent and give the team another option between the pipes after Cam Ward and Eddie Lack both struggled this season.

5) Draft Lottery – Not too long ago, the NHL’s Draft Lottery wasn’t too eventful with only one team winning while only being allowed to move up four spots.  That changed last year and while that lottery didn’t yield much movement, the one held on Saturday certainly did.  The Avalanche, Canucks, and Golden Knights all dropped three spots.  Taking their place in the top three were the Devils, Flyers, and Stars, respectively.  Philadelphia’s jump to number two was particularly noteworthy as they were originally slated to select 13th.

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We’ve already seen one major announcement this week with the Kings making it official, announcing the promotion of John Stevens from Associate Coach to their head coach.  Before we look forward any further, here’s a look back at the top stories from the week that was.

1) Sabres Clean House – Just a day after reports surfaced that Sabres center Jack Eichel might not be willing to sign an extension (he’s signed through 2017-18) if Dan Bylsma was still the head coach, owner Terry Pegula decided to change things up, firing both Bylsma as well as GM Tim Murray.  The search has begun for a replacement GM with Pegula suggesting he will be looking for someone with previous experience in that role.  One name that has quickly surfaced is former Kings GM Dean Lombardi though Pegula diffused the report that Lombardi had already been interviewed for the role.

2) Canucks Lose Two – The Canucks lost a pair of blueliners in a matter of hours.  Most notable among the two was Nikita Tryamkin, who inked a two year deal with Yekaterinburg of the KHL, the Russian team he had played for before crossing the pond to play in Vancouver.  GM Jim Benning confirmed that the team had offered the 22 year old a two year extension and that Tryamkin’s decision to go back home was also family related.  Fellow defender Philip Larsen, who was slated to become an unrestricted free agent on July 1st, also signed a two year contract in the KHL with Salavat Yulaev.

3) Vegas Roster To Be Named At NHL Awards – The NHL Awards typically get their own day in the spotlight in June after the conclusion of the Stanley Cup Final but this year they’re likely to be overshadowed after the league announced that the inaugural Golden Knights roster will be announced during the awards show.  That means that the roster will not be announced publicly until Wednesday, June 21st.  The award show is being held Las Vegas for the eighth straight year but this edition will undoubtedly carry a lot more interest across the league.

4) Former Linesman Henderson Suing Wideman, Flames – Former NHL linesman Don Henderson has yet to work a game since suffering a concussion in an incident with Flames defenseman Dennis Wideman back in late January of 2016.  This past week, he filed a $10.25MM lawsuit against Wideman and the team, citing that the Flames are vicariously liable for Wideman’s conduct.  The league initially suspended Wideman for 20 games but that was cut in half by an arbitrator (who was subsequently fired by the league) and was upheld in New York court last month.

5) Rangers Sign Bereglazov – One of the more intriguing overseas free agents is off the market after the Rangers officially inked KHL defenseman Alexei Bereglazov to a two year entry level contract.  The deal carries a cap hit of $925K and also has $850K in potential bonuses in each season and also contains a European Assignment Clause, per CapFriendly.  While New York already has seven blueliners under contract for next season, there’s a strong chance that Bereglazov will make a strong case for a roster spot in training camp.

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We’ve already seen some big news early this week with the announcement today that Lindy Ruff would not be back behind the bench for the Stars next season.  It figures to be a busy week in that regard but before we look forward, let’s take a look back at some of the top stories from the week that was.

1) NHL Will Not Participate In 2018 Olympics – Although Commissioner Gary Bettman was adamant in the past that the NHL was not likely to go to the 2018 Olympics in South Korea, the official announcement that they wouldn’t be participating caught many by surprise while upsetting many fans and players.  The league was expecting the NHLPA to provide some sort of concession, including potentially extending the CBA, to make shutting the league down for more than two weeks more of a palatable option for them.  While some players (most notably Washington’s Alex Ovechkin) are vowing to go regardless, the league is expected to issue some sort of league-wide ruling that would either govern or, perhaps more likely, prevent individual players from choosing to go even if they have permission to do from their team owner.

2) Penguins Lose Letang For Four-To-Six Months – Instead of getting top blueliner Kris Letang back for the postseason, Pittsburgh will not only be without him for the duration of this year but perhaps the start of next season as well.  Letang was diagnosed with a herniated disc in his neck, one that requires surgery and will have him on the shelf for the next four-to-six months.  All of a sudden, it looks like the Penguins will be going back to a defense-by-committee setup for the playoffs, making the late acquisitions of Mark Streit and Ron Hainsey even that much more important.  The 29 year old Letang finishes the year with 34 points (5-29-34) in 41 games.

3) Okposo Hospitalized – Sabres right winger Kyle Okposo has been out of the lineup since March 27th with an undisclosed illness.  It turns out it was a serious one as it was revealed that he had been hospitalized and spent time in a neurological intensive care unit.  Fortunately, there was some positive news on Friday as it was reported that he has been discharged after showing signs of improvement.  The exact nature of what Okposo is battling remains undisclosed.

4) Sobotka Terminates KHL Deal, Signs Extension With Blues – Although center Vladimir Sobotka was unable to join St. Louis at the beginning of the year, he will be with the team for the postseason after he terminated his KHL deal.  The team didn’t want him to fulfill his arbitration-awarded contract by playing just a handful of games this season though so they agreed to terms on a three year, $10.5MM extension that kicks in next year.  He has a career 56.3% success rate at the faceoff dot in the NHL and should give the Blues another reliable option for their bottom six.

5) MacArthur Returns – After being ruled out for the season back in January, Senators left winger Clarke MacArthur surprised many by getting the green light to return to the lineup on Tuesday.  MacArthur has dealt with four separate concussions over the last 18 months and there is some concern that he may be returning too early.  The 32 year old has suited up in three games for Ottawa this week and logged over 16 minutes of ice time on Saturday against the Rangers.  If he can stay healthy, he could provide the Sens with some critical secondary scoring in the postseason.

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The hockey world continues to keep tabs on the situation between USA Hockey and its women’s team in advance of the World Championships which start this week.  Player agent Allan Walsh suggested late Saturday that American NHL players may also decline to participate in their World Championships (which start in May) as a sign of solidarity.  With the puck dropping on the women’s side on Friday, there will likely be plenty more to this story in the days to come.  In the meantime, here are five key stories from the week that was:

1) Sharp To Undergo Hip Surgery – It came out just before the trade deadline that Dallas winger Patrick Sharp had been dealing with a lingering issue that wound up preventing the Stars from trading him.  It came out on Saturday that he is set to undergo hip surgery, ending his season.  The pending unrestricted free agent will be sidelined for four to five months so he should be ready in time for training camp.  Sharp finishes the campaign with just 18 points in 48 games, his lowest point total since his rookie season back in 2003-04.

2) Halak’s Back – Earlier this season, the Islanders determined their three goalie situation wasn’t an ideal one and eventually waived Jaroslav Halak, sending him to the minors after he went through unclaimed.  Now, with the team battling for their playoff lives, New York is once again turning to carrying three netminders as they recalled him on Thursday.  His return was a successful one as he made 37 saves in a shootout win against the Penguins.  The Isles have eight games remaining and sit two points behind Boston with a game in hand for the final Wild Card spot and will likely turn to Halak again at some point in the next two weeks.

3) Ekblad Returns, Gets Hurt Again – The return of Panthers blueliner Aaron Ekblad from his latest concussion came as quite the surprise, especially since he had only missed a couple of weeks and the fact that Florida is out of the playoff picture.  His return was short-lived though as he has suffered a neck injury and is once again on the shelf.  Head coach/GM Tom Rowe admitted on Saturday that he had some reservations about putting him back in, even though he had been cleared to return by team doctors.

4) KHL Free Agent Asking Prices – KHL forwards Vadim Shipachyov and Evgeni Dadonov are expected to be highly sought after this summer but teams that are interested better be prepared to pay up.  Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reported on Wednesday that Shipachyov is seeking a contract with an AAV of $5.5MM while Dadonov is looking for $3.5MM per year.  Shipachyov was third in KHL scoring with 76 points in 50 games and has yet to play at the NHL level.  Dadonov came in fifth with 66 points in 53 games and spent parts of three NHL seasons with Florida early in his career.

5) Blue Jackets Extend Three – Columbus signed a trio of players to two year extensions on Monday.  Defenseman Scott Harrington inked a two year, $1.65MM contract as did forward Lukas Sedlak while forward Markus Hannikainen signed a deal worth a total of $1.35MM.  Of those three, only Sedlak will meet the NHL’s 40/70 requirements when it comes to meeting an exposure quote in the Las Vegas expansion draft in June.

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The trade deadline has now come and gone but that hasn’t stopped there from being any key storylines throughout the hockey world.  Here are five from the week that was.

1) News From GM Meetings – There weren’t many proposed changes coming from the GM meetings but there will be a couple of recommendations for next season.  It was suggested that teams should no longer be able to use a timeout following an icing while the managers would also like to see some tweaks to the bye week system.  Surprisingly, there wasn’t enough support to recommend any changes to the offside rule, one that has come under fire more frequently with the challenge system.  The league also suggested the salary cap should come in between $75.5MM-$76MM but that’s assuming that the NHLPA exercises their full 5% inflator.  Given the state of escrow at the moment, that’s no guarantee.

2) Bettman Comments On Glendale – The trouble surrounding the Coyotes and their arena situation has been well documented.  NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman entered the discussion on Wednesday, issuing a letter to Arizona officials detailing why the team needs a new home in the area.  While some have suggested the team could and should remain in Glendale but Bettman is certainly not a fan of that option, stating that “The Coyotes cannot and will not remain in Glendale”.

3) Stars Extend Two – Dallas, in need of having some NHL forwards eligible to be exposed in June’s Vegas expansion draft, inked a pair of wingers to contract extensions in Adam Cracknell and Curtis McKenzie.  Both players received one year deals worth $675K and $700K respectively.  Each team must expose at least two forwards who have played either 40 games this season or 70 over the past two years combined.  McKenzie meets the first requirement while Cracknell fulfills the latter.

4) Vegas Signs Their First Player – Speaking of the Golden Knights, they completed their first transaction in franchise history, signing Reid Duke to a three year, entry level contract.  Duke was a 6th round pick of the Wild back in 2014 but didn’t sign and is in the middle of his final WHL season with Brandon.  He already has set career highs in goals (36), assists (34), and points (70) through 56 games with the Wheat Kings this season.

5) College Free Agency Opens – NCAA teams are starting to be eliminated from their playoffs and as a result, the free agent market is beginning to open up.  The Capitals struck early, agreeing to contracts with defenseman Kristofers Bindulis and winger Hampus Gustafsson.  Both deals begin next season and each player will report to AHL Hershey for the rest of this year on amateur tryout contracts.  With more teams being eliminated next weekend, several more players are expected to sign in the coming days.

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Although the trade deadline is quickly approaching, several of the key stories over the past week came off the ice.  Here are five of the top stories from the week that was.

1) Coaching Change In Montreal – Although the Canadiens find themselves atop the Atlantic Division, that wasn’t enough to prevent GM Marc Bergevin from making a change behind the bench, as he let Michel Therrien go.  Replacing him is Claude Julien who returns for his second stint with the team after serving as their bench boss from 2003-2006.  Coincidentally, it also happens to be the second time that Julien replaced Therrien in Montreal after they originally let Therrien go back in 2003.

2) Vermette Suspended Ten Games – Ducks center Antoine Vermette was handed an automatic ten game suspension as a result of him slashing linesman Shandor Alphonso after a faceoff back on Tuesday night.  The NHLPA has filed an appeal on his behalf and there is no timetable for when that will be heard.  He won’t be permitted to play while he waits for the appeal process to play out.  Vermette has 22 points in 58 games with Anaheim this season while ranking second in the league in faceoff percentage.

3) Nyquist Suspended Six Games – Red Wings winger Gustav Nyquist received a six game ban for a high sticking incident on Minnesota defenseman Jared Spurgeon last weekend.  It’s the second longest suspension in the league this season (tied with Philadelphia’s Radko Gudas, both behind Vermette’s) but it has largely been criticized as being too lenient.  Working in Nyquist’s favor was that Spurgeon wasn’t seriously injured on the play and that he had no prior history of supplemental discipline.

4) Tanguay Retires – Unable to land an NHL contract, left winger Alex Tanguay announced that he is joining the NHL Network as a full-time television analyst, meaning that he has effectively announced his retirement.  The 37 year old hangs up his skates with an impressing 863 points in 1,088 career regular season games with the Avalanche, Flames, Canadiens, Lightning, and Coyotes.

5) Maatta Out Six Weeks – The Penguins were hit with some tough news on the injury front, losing Justin Schultz indefinitely to a concussion and Olli Maatta for at least six weeks after he underwent hand surgery.  With just seven weeks left in the season, it’s certainly plausible that Pittsburgh could hold him out of the lineup for the rest of the regular season and place him on Long-Term Injury Reserve.  That would then allow them to basically free up nearly $4.1MM in cap space to make a deadline at the trade deadline before activating Maatta for the playoffs (where there is no cap in place).