Week In Review

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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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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