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Off-Season Stories Providing Immediate Results

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In the world of professional sports, the off-season has turned into a period of perpetual risk. When even the slightest move is scrutinized and analyzed with such severity, teams are trying harder and harder to minimize those gambles.

This summer saw a few key story lines for some of the leagues biggest franchises, and many of them are providing early dividends. Let’s take a look at some of the most talked about players of the summer, and where they sit just a few games into the seasons.

Auston Matthews – Toronto Maple Leafs:

The first big name to drop, Matthews was selected first overall by the Maple Leafs after they held on to their #1 spot in the draft.  Seen as a franchise-type talent who could make an impact right away, Matthews proved he could play at this level at both the World Championships and the World Cup, before setting an NHL record in his first game with four goals.

With six points in his first four games (and two more assists tonight), the 19-year old Arizona-born centerman has already made an impact. He was made the second star in the first week of the season, and saw his jersey sales skyrocket to the top of the league. While it’s extremely unlikely he’ll continue at this pace for his entire rookie season, the Maple Leafs have to be please with his play thus far.

Steven Stamkos – Tampa Bay Lightning

Expected to hit the open market and garner the most interest of any free agent in the history of the NHL, Stamkos instead decided to sign back with the Lightning at the beginning of the summer. GM Steve Yzerman committed long-term to the 26-year old, handing him an eight year, $68MM deal just before free agency started.

Stamkos hasn’t taken the money and sat back, with four points in his first four games (and another goal tonight). The former 60-goal man is off to a blistering start and will again battle for the Rocket Richard trophy. Fans everywhere will wonder what he could have done for their team had he decided to head somewhere else.

Jimmy Vesey – New York Rangers

The biggest (deserved or not) story of the entire center was the saga of Jimmy Vesey, a college standout who refused to sign with first the Nashville Predators, and then the Buffalo Sabres.  After months of speculation and build up, the winger decided to go to New York, where he would play with former teammate Kevin Hayes.

Though he had just one goal through his first four, Vesey has two more tonight, making people wonder just how effective he truly will be this season.  The pendulum of “top-six winger”-“third line ceiling” that we heard all summer isn’t determined yet, but his three goals are already more than most Rangers fans expected through five games.

Pittsburgh Content To Keep Both Murray and Fleury For Time Being

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Once Matt Murray capped off an impressive postseason run by helping the Pittsburgh Penguins to the 2015-16 Stanley Cup championship, it appeared Marc-Andre Fleury’s days in Western Pennsylvania might be numbered. That belief was further cemented with Murray signing a three-year extension this week, tying him to the Penguins through the 2019-20 campaign. The Penguins will be able to protect only one goalie for the upcoming expansion draft and Fleury has a NMC, meaning unless he waives it at some point to facilitate a move, Pittsburgh could be forced to leave Murray exposed. While it seemed a forgone conclusion the team would at some point approach Fleury about waiving his NMC so they can trade him – and consequently protect Murray in the expansion draft –  GM Jim Rutherford is focused on winning a second Stanley Cup and keeping his goaltending duo together “helps with that objective,” writes Sam Werner of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.

Fleury’s late-season concussion opened the door for Murray in the first place and keeping the pair together guards against an injury to one possibly derailing the Penguins Stanley Cup hopes. The fact Murray was forced to start the 2016-17 season on the shelf due to an injury he suffered playing in the World Cup, serves as a valuable reminder that having two quality options between the pipes is essential in today’s NHL.

Werner also points out that Rutherford believes he’ll be able to address the situation prior to the expansion draft and is therefore in no hurry to make a deal now: “Our focus this year is winning, and we’ll deal with the expansion draft at the appropriate time. This signing of Matt doesn’t go hand-in-hand with any of that.”

However, Pittsburgh will eventually have to convince Fleury to waive his NMC and commit to Murray for the long haul. Murray, 22, is nine years Fleury’s junior and has the potential to be a franchise goalie at least for the next decade. He’s also now slated to make $3.75MM per season from 2017-18 through 2019-20, while Fleury has two years remaining beyond 2016-17 on a contract with an AAV of $5.75MM. Not only can one make the argument Murray is better than Fleury right now, he will undoubtedly be substantially cheaper over the next three seasons and comes with more team control.

If Pittsburgh cannot move Fleury and leaves Murray exposed in the expansion draft, Las Vegas will jump at the chance to add a 23-year-old franchise goalie just coming into his prime. He would represent a strong foundation piece at a key position and at a price too good to pass up. It’s simply impossible to fathom the Penguins allowing that scenario to play out.

Ultimately, when push comes to shove, the Penguins will almost certainly find a way to keep Murray even if that means they have to trade Fleury during the season to do so. As Werner notes, Pittsburgh is usually right up against the cap ceiling and the $5.75MM the team would save against the cap by moving Fleury might well prove to be as valuable to the organization as any asset or assets they could acquire in return for their long-time goalie.

 

 

Snapshots: Malkin, Athanasiou, Subban

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Penguins writer Sam Kasan reports that with Sidney Crosby out for indefinitely, the Penguins are looking at Evgeni Malkin as the man to lead the team in his absence. A mainstay in Pittsburgh since being drafted second overall in 2004, teammate Chris Kunitz comments that having Malkin is a huge plus that most teams in the NHL don’t have:

“Most teams don’t have that luxury. ’Geno’ is an important guy for us. He’s going to get more offensive zone time for himself with ’Sid’ being out and showed (Thursday) that he can change a game at any time.”

Kasan writes that Malkin already put the team on his back after having a breakaway goal, assist, and a shootout goal in the Pens’ 3-2 victory over Washington. Malkin admits that it’s not easy being with Crosby, but adds that he feels his confidence is back after having a sub-par performance in the World Cup of Hockey.

In other news from around the league:

  • Ansar Khan tweeted earlier that the Red Wings are already shuffling lines in the wake of a 6-4 loss at the hands of Stanley Cup favorite Tampa Bay Thursday night. The Red Wings jumped out to a quick 2-0 lead and held a 3-1 lead before the Lightning reeled off four straight goals. The Detroit penalty kill had a busy night while the line of Steve Ott, Drew Miller, and Luke Glendening had a statistically brutal evening. Khan reported that Andreas Athanasiou was slotted into a line with Henrik Zetterberg and Frans Nielsen, while Ott was working into the fourth line. Khan later tweeted that those would indeed be the lines for Saturday’s contest against Florida, meaning that Ott would be the odd man out. This could be an early indicator that head coach Jeff Blashill will truly mix and match in order to find a spark, and will be quick to yank players from the lineup swiftly, whether they’re veterans or rookies. Last season, Athanasiou had 14 points (9-5) in 37 games and did so averaging just over nine minutes on the ice.
  • PK Subban notched his first goal as a Nashville Predator with a blistering slap shot in the first period of Nashville’s contest against the Chicago Blackhawks. Subban, who was traded for Shea Weber on June 29, ripped a shot from just inside the blue line to even the score at one. Known for his enthusiasm, and philanthropy during his time in Montreal, Nashville has fallen in love with its new star and the success expected on the ice should only increase his legend in the Music City.

Western Conference Snapshots: Seguin, Hemsky, Birgas, Setoguchi, Kempe

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One concern with allowing NHLers to participate in international tournaments such as the Winter Olympics and World Cup is the prospect of losing key players to injury either during the season or just prior. The Dallas Stars, for example, saw star center Tyler Seguin suffer a hairline fracture to his foot which has prevented him from playing in any exhibition games. Top-nine winger Ales Hemsky injured a groin during the recent World Cup and has also been held out of preseason action with the Stars.

Mike Heika of The Dallas Morning News has the latest updates on the health of the two forwards and the roster shuffling the team has undergone in their absence. The news on Seguin is optimistic even though he has yet to see any game action. Heika reports Seguin is a full participant during practice and according to head coach Lindy Ruff, should “in all likelihood,” be available to play opening night.

On the flip side, Hemsky’s rehab is not going well. He experienced a setback recently and is expected to be re-evaluated early next week.

Dallas recently added Justin Fontaine via PTO to add depth. Fontaine netted 16 points in 60 games with the Minnesota Wild this past season and was recently released from his PTO with Florida.

In addition to being without Seguin and Hemsky, the Stars are also missing Cody Eakin – out until November – and Mattias Janmark – out until April – both due to knee injuries. With nearly $6MM in available cap space, it’s possible the Stars could look to the trade market or waiver wire to bring in additional depth up front or they could simply try to weather the storm with what they already have on the roster.

More from the Western Conference:

  • The Colorado Avalanche recently sent defense prospect Chris Bigras to their AHL affiliate in San Antonio but as Terry Frei of the Denver Post writes, the demotion had little to do with his play in training camp and more to do with ensuring the 21-year-old blue liner gets plenty of quality ice time. The Avalanche have plenty of quality players to fully staff the big league blue line and Bigras likely would have spent much of his time in the press box had he remained in Colorado. Bigras made his Avalanche debut last year, recording his first NHL goal and adding two assists in 31 games. With offseason free agent acquisition Fedor Tyutin set to hit the open market again next summer, and with three other defensmen – Eric Gelinas, Nikita Zadorov and Patrick Wiercioch – scheduled for restricted free agency, Birgas’ chances of making the team and earning a key role next year should be much better.
  • As teams continue to trim down their rosters in advance of the start of the regular season, Jon Rosen of LA Kings Insider writes about two players facing very different challenges as they try to survive final cuts. Devin Setoguchi, who is in camp on a PTO, realizes this could be his final chance to make an NHL club and is aware his performance in the team’s final two exhibition contests is vital: “I think it comes down to these last two games, and obviously I’m still here and have done something to this point to maybe keep them a little intrigued. Definitely I feel like there’s a lot riding on these next two games that I have to play.” Meanwhile, Adrian Kempe, the 20-year-old selected by the Kings in the 2014 draft, is just beginning his pro career and should he fail to make the Kings team this year, he’ll likely have many more opportunities to do so: “I came over really wanting to take a spot and that’s my goal. That’s been my goal the whole last year. It’s going to keep being my goal till I make it. I made a good camp, I think I played good in the games too and I’m still up, so I don’t know what’s going to happen after this weekend, but we’ve got two games left here and we’ll see what happens, but I feel good out there, so that’s good.” While not necessarily in direct competition for a roster spot, Rosen notes that Kempe’s versatility – he can play both wing and center – could prove to be an advantage. On the flip side, if the Kings like what they see from Setoguchi and feel he can again resemble the player who once netted 31 goals in a season, he could help fill the void created by Marian Gaborik’s foot injury.

 

2016-17 Season Preview: Toronto Maple Leafs

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With the start of the regular season less than a week away, we continue to look at each team’s offseason and preview the upcoming year. Today, we focus on the Toronto Maple Leafs.

Last Season: 29-42-11 record (69 points), 8th in the Atlantic Division.

Remaining Cap Space: $2.03MM as per Cap Friendly (Roster Size of 23), expected to increase to by ~$14MM when Stephane Robidas, Nathan Horton, Joffrey Lupul are placed on LTIR.

Key Newcomers: W Matt Martin (UFA, NY Islanders), C Auston Matthews (draft, NLA), RW Mitch Marner (draft, OHL), D Roman Polak (UFA, San Jose), G Frederik Andersen (trade, Anaheim), G Jhonas Enroth (UFA, Los Angeles), D Nikita Zaitzev (UFA, KHL), W Kerby Rychel (trade, Columbus)

Key Departures: RW P.A. Parenteau (UFA, NY Islanders), RW Brad Boyes (UFA, unsigned), RW Michael Grabner (UFA, NY Rangers), C Shawn Matthias (UFA, Winnipeg), C Mark Arcobello (UFA, NLA), G Jonathan Bernier (trade, Anaheim)

[Related: Leafs Depth Chart from Roster Resource]

Players To Watch: C Mitch Marner – Obviously, one of the biggest storylines this year will be first-overall draft pick Auston Matthews and his ascension to the number-one center position on the Maple Leafs. Not to be forgotten however, is the other top-five draft pick that the Leafs have yet to unveil: Mitch Marner. Marner is coming off a season where he basically won every team and individual trophy possible, leading the OHL’s London Knights to the Memorial Cup and scoring 160 points in 75 total games (regular and post-season).

The diminutive forward played some center in junior, and was once expected to take that position on the Maple Leafs. Now that Matthews is in the fold though, the Leafs have been playing Marner on the wing to fully utilize his elite offensive skills. In fact, for the last two days at least, Marner has been skating beside Matthews on what would be one of the youngest lines in the NHL regardless of the third player.

D Nikita Zaitsev – One of the most underrated signings of the offseason may come in Leafland, as Nikita Zaitsev will make his NHL debut this year after a number of successful seasons in the KHL. The 24-year old has already completed seven seasons in the Russian professional league, starred internationally for Russia and even made his Toronto debut in the recent World Cup. His right-handed shot fits in nicely with a group sorely lacking them, and should immediately jump to the Leafs top two pairings (depending on if Morgan Rielly moves back to his natural left side or not).

Zaitsev is an all-around blueliner who can work in both ends of the rink, and contribute on both special teams. While he may not possess any one elite skill, he’s proven that he can compete at the highest level. Already turning heads at Maple Leafs camp, Zaitsev scored his first preseason goal against Montreal on Sunday night and, according to Chris Johnston of Sportsnet, should already be considered part of the Leafs’ core.

Key Storyline:

While the Maple Leafs were clearly headed for the basement of the league last year (some would say on purpose), this year has a slightly different feeling in Toronto.  While they’re not expected to make the playoffs or contend for any trophies, the youth injection is exciting enough to hope for a much improved club. With head coach Mike Babcock in no danger of losing his seat, the team can take a slow approach to development and shelter their young prospects.

In truth, the Leafs brass are just hoping for a slightly improved season, but will hope for another high draft pick to continue the rebuild. If they were to select in the top-10 once again, they could add another top prospect to their stocked cupboard, and focus on the free agent market next summer. With cap room, a hugely experienced front office and youth at all positions, the team is poised to succeed in the near future; whether that means contention for the Stanley Cup remains to be seen.

Oilers Name McDavid Team Captain

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As expected, the Edmonton Oilers have announced that Connor McDavid will be the team’s captain for the 2016-17 season and likely well beyond. At just 19-years-old, McDavid becomes the youngest team captain in NHL history, as the team tweeted, edging out Vincent Lecavalier for the honor by about six weeks.

The top overall selection in the 2015 draft, McDavid has the potential to be a generational talent. McDavid was one of only five players last season to average better than a point-per-game, tallying 48 in 45 contests as a rookie. It’s likely had he not missed nearly half the season due to injury that he would have been an easy choice for the Calder Trophy as the league’s top rookie.

Despite his youth, McDavid appears perfectly suited for the role of captain. He served in the same capacity for both his junior club, the Erie Otters, and for Team North America at the World Cup.

In addition to giving McDavid the “C,” the Oilers also appointed Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, Jordan Eberle and Milan Lucic as alternates.

While it’s a near-certainty McDavid will soon be one of, if not the best hockey player on the planet, it remains to be seen whether he can finally lead the long-suffering Oilers back to the postseason in 2016-17. The Oilers have long boasted tremendous talent and skill but have failed to reach the playoffs in a decade. After several high-profile offseason acquisitions and with their best player now leading the way, Edmonton looks poised to make a jump in the standings.

Metro Notes: Pirri, Leighton, Wilson

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The hardest skill to find on the open market is goal-scoring yet one of the NHL’s most prolific when it comes to finding the back of the net, Brandon Pirri, remained unsigned as a UFA late into the summer. Pirri is tied for 30th in goals scored for every 60 minutes of ice time he plays at even strength over the last two seasons. Eventually, the New York Rangers decided to roll the dice and invest in a one-year deal with Pirri and as Sean Hartnett of CBS New York writes, the Blue Shirts might have scored the steal of the summer.

Despite his offensive prowess, Pirri has bounced around the league quite a bit since breaking into the league with the Blackhawks during the 2010-11 season. He wouldn’t earn a regular role until dealt from Chicago to Florida during the 2012-13 campaign. Pirri would spend parts of three seasons with the Panthers before a trade deadline deal to Anaheim this past season. The Ducks chose not to qualify Pirri after the season, thus making the forward a free agent.

Recently, after a preseason loss to Philadelphia, Rangers head coach Alain Vigneault acknowledged the offensive abilities but also pointed out other areas Pirri needs to improve upon before earning the bench boss’ trust.

“There’s no doubt that he’s got the knack to find the net and score. Tonight, he scored a big goal for us. But there’s other areas where I need to be sure he’s going to be able to make the play, get the puck out, be strong on the wall. And tonight, in certain areas, he needed to make a better play. But there’s no doubt offensively that he’s got good hands and he can find the back of the net.”

Pirri is also locked in a tight battle for a roster spot. Even after placing Marek Hrivik and Nicklas Jensen on waivers for the purpose of sending them down to the AHL, the Blue Shirts have four or five players competing for perhaps three spots. Additionally, Vigneault has previously said Pirri would be best served in a top-nine role and he might have a hard time beating out some of his competition despite a four goal, six point preseason. But as Hartnett notes, Pirri’s versatility could be key as he can play either wing and even fill in at center if needed. If Pirri can find enough playing time in New York and continues to put the puck in the net as he has done for much of his career, the minimal investment the Rangers made this summer could prove one of the wisest moves of the offseason.

Elsewhere in the Metro Division:

  • When goalie Michael Leighton inked a deal with Carolina in September, he knew in all likelihood he was destined to spend most of the season in the AHL with the Charlotte Checkers. But as Chip Alexander of The News & Observer writes, the veteran of 106 regular season NHL contests is content being the #3 netminder in the organization and with his role mentoring the teams goalie prospects. “They’ve got two solid goalies up here, I knew that coming in. I just want to go down there and help the young guys, hopefully show them a little bit of leadership and kind of guide them toward what they should be doing in the future. And also play well. I want to win. If I go down to Charlotte I want to win games and hopefully win a championship.” Of course Leighton is aware he is just an injury away from NHL duty. Last season, while in the Chicago organization, Leighton got that call and would see action in a single NHL contest. Leighton is perhaps best known for back-stopping the 2009-10 Philadelphia Flyers to within two wins of an improbable Stanley Cup championship. He won eight of his 13 starts that spring and recorded three shutouts during the Eastern Conference Final against Montreal. Regardless of whether Leighton sees any NHL action this season or not, his experience should prove valuable to the Hurricanes organization.
  • LW Scott Wilson of the Pittsburgh Penguins is doing his best to land a plum job skating next to one of the elite centers in the game today. As Seth Rorabaugh of DKPittsburghSports.com writes (subscription required), Wilson has taken advantage of the absence of several high profile players due to their World Cup commitments and impressed the Penguins coaches with his play. He is being rewarded with an opportunity to skate along side Evgeni Malkin and Patric Hornqvist in tonight’s preseason tilt with Detroit. Whether the Penguins leave Wilson in the spot to open the season is open for debate. But assuming the Carl Hagelin – Nick Bonino – Phil Kessel line that was dominant in the postseason remains intact, the Penguins will need to find four wingers to play with Sidney Crosby and Malkin. Hornqvist, Chris Kunitz and Conor Sheary figure to fill three of those vacancies but that does leave open the possibility Wilson could force his way into that last spot.

Injury Notes: Monahan, Seguin, Kronwall

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When Sean Monahan had to pull out of the World Cup with a back injury, many Flames fans clutched their hearts and hoped for the best. Indeed, with Johnny Gaudreau still without a contract, a Monahan injury could have spelled the end for the Flames before the season even started.

After returning to the ice a few days ago however, Monahan skated without the dreaded no-contact jersey today, according to Pat Steinberg of Sportsnet. A full participant in practice, Monahan should be ready for the start of the regular season. With a Gaudreau contract sounding at least a bit closer to a reality, perhaps Flames fans have nothing (or at least less) to worry about.

  • Another World Cup deserter, Tyler Seguin, will ramp up his skating workload today, according to Mike Heika of the Dallas Morning News. Seguin suffered a hairline fracture in his foot just before the tournament began, but has never been expected to miss the start of the regular season. Lindy Ruff stands by that, telling Heika that he assumes Seguin will be ready for opening night.
  • Niklas Kronwall, one of the injured Red Wings was on the ice for the first time today during his rehab of a knee injury. While Kronwall isn’t expected to take part in any preseason games, Ansar Khan of MLive reports that head coach Jeff Blashill thinks he has a chance at opening night in Tampa Bay next Thursday. Tomas Tatar, Frans Nielsen and Thomas Vanek all re-joined in practice today as well, the trio coming off the silver medal winning Team Europe.

Atlantic Division Notes: Sergachev, Redmond, McKenna, Condra

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With Shea Weber, Alexei Emelin and Andrei Markov all absent due to their participation in the World Cup, the Montreal Canadiens have had a chance to get long looks at other blue liners during training camp. As the Montreal Gazette’s Pat Hickey writes, several players have taken full advantage of the opportunity and impressed the team’s coaching staff.

Hickey specifically identified Nathan Beaulieu and Greg Pateryn as having “stood out” so far, while 2016 first-round pick Mikhail Sergachev and free agent signing Zach Redmond were both impressive in the team’s recent game against Ottawa.

Redmond has scored a goal in each of his preseason appearances and has shown a physical element. He was added in the offseason to provide depth and a solid camp might earn him a spot on the regular season roster.

Sergachev would have to really impress in order to stick. Montreal likely wishes to see the young Russian defender, who just turned 18 in June, get lots of quality ice time and the best chance for that would be if he was returned to junior.

Beaulieu and Pateryn are both already penciled into the club’s top-six and Montreal has to be pleased at their play so far. The Habs were recently said to be taking calls on the 23-year-old Beaulieu but if he’s been as impressive in camp as Hickey suggests it seems unlikely Montreal would be too keen on moving him. With a healthy Carey Price set to return from injury and an improved defense, it wouldn’t be hard to project a return to the playoffs for Montreal.

Elsewhere in the Atlantic Division:

  • When Florida went out and acquired Reto Berra and James Reimer – via trade and free agency respectively – this summer, Mike McKenna’s prospects of winning the Panthers backup goalie job dried up. But as George Richards of the Miami Herald writes, McKenna has been down this road before and knows all it takes is an injury to give the 33-year-old another opportunity between the pipes in South Florida. McKenna: “No matter what the situation looks like with contracts, you always want to put your best foot forward. You never know what will happen through the course of a season. I’m just trying to go in the right direction.” Last season, McKenna was called up from the AHL when Al Montoya went down with an injury, though he didn’t see any NHL action. As it stands, Roberto Luongo will be the starter with Reimer serving as his understudy. That would seem to put Berra in position to be the starter for the Panther’s AHL affiliate in Springfield but the 29-year-old veteran would have to clear waivers before being sent down and could conceivably be claimed by a team in need of an experienced backup. That would again elevate McKenna to third overall on the organization’s goaltending depth chart and would put him in line for promotion should Luongo or Reimer suffer an injury.
  • Tampa Bay is looking for depth scoring and one player who could help address that need is Erik Condra, as Joe Smith of the Tampa Bay Times writes. Condra had a disappointing first season with the Lightning, scoring just six goals and 11 points in 54 games after signing a three-year, $3.75MM deal with Tampa. Condra twice hit the 20-point plateau as a member of the Senators and the Lightning would likely be content with that level of production. Smith also lists Cedric Paquette and Cory Conacher as two more players who could also offer some scoring punch in the bottom-six. Conacher had by far his best NHL season during the 2012-13 campaign which he began with the Lightning. That season, Conacher tallied 29 points in 47 games – 24 in 35 with the Lightning. Conacher was dealt in-season to Ottawa in a deal that brought Ben Bishop to Tampa Bay in what has turned out to be quite the steal for the Bolts. Paquette saw his goal output decrease from 12 in 2014-15 to just six last season. Tampa would surely benefit from a return to double-figures in goals scored from the grinding Paquette.

Compelling RFA Cases For 2017: Gostisbehere, Dumoulin

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Jacob Trouba, Johnny Gaudreau and Nikita Kucherov highlight a strong and deep group of restricted free agents that remain unsigned at the moment. While they will each ultimately cash in and receive substantial contracts for the 2016-17 campaign and likely beyond, their status as restricted free agents has certainly complicated their respective negotiation processes.

Next summer, another quality group of players are set to hit restricted free agency, unless they can agree to terms on a new deal prior to the 2017-18 league year. In a series of posts, Pro Hockey Rumors will profile the top pending 2017 RFAs and examine what kind of contract they could elicit assuming they put up a strong performance during their platform year. Today we continue in the Metro.

Shayne Gostisbehere (Philadelphia): Gostisbehere exploded upon the scene in 2015-16, netting 17 goals and 46 points – in just 64 games – to lead all rookies in those categories. The former Union College defenseman quickly became one of the league’s most exciting blue liners and earned a spot on the Team North America entry in the World Cup.

The agents for this year’s top remaining unsigned RFA defenders – Hampus Lindholm and Rasmus Ristolainen – are pointing to the recently-signed and massive extension signed by Aaron Ekblad as the target. Ekblad of course inked an eight-year, $60MM deal with Florida and while Lindholm and Ristolainen are probably not at the level the Panthers blue liner is, they will still likely pocket something in the vicinity of $6MM annually when they finally sign.

Chances are Gostisbehere is also going to use the Ekblad deal as a comparable. Ekblad hasn’t produced offense at the same rate as Gostisbehere (0.72 PPG for “The Ghost” versus 0.47 PPG for Ekblad) but is a former #1 overall pick and projects as a perennial Norris Trophy candidate.

It’s likely the Lindholm and Ristolainen deals will actually serve as a better framework for a new contract for Gostisbehere. Assuming they each get something close to $6MM per, it’s fair to guess the Flyers young blue liner will also land in the same neighborhood.

Brian Dumoulin (Pittsburgh): Dumoulin tallied just 16 points in 79 contests and failed to net a single goal in 2015-16. Ordinarily those numbers wouldn’t be reflective of a guy who is going to cash in but Dumoulin showed in the postseason he has more to offer the Penguins. In 24 playoff games, Dumoulin scored two goals and eight points while averaging 21:31 of ice time per game. If he can carry over that level of play into the 2016-17 regular season, Dumoulin will surely be rewarded handsomely on his next contract.

A similar comparable could be Dmitry Orlov, who eventually signed a one-year deal with Washington worth $2.57MM. Orlov has clearly been a superior offensive producer, averaging 0.30 PPG during his career while Dumoulin has averaged just 0.19. But at 25, Dumoulin is just entering his prime and as we saw in the playoffs, he is capable of producing more offense in the right role. Currently he is listed opposite Kris Letang on the Penguins top blue line pair which could result in a higher point total for Dumoulin.

Even if Dumoulin doesn’t produce much offensively, there is still plenty of value in a steady and reliable performer on the back end. If both team and player elect for a one or two-year bridge deal, an AAV close to $2.5MM would seem fair. A long-term deal buying out free agent years could take the price up north of $3MM annually.

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