Toronto Maple Leafs Sign Zach Bogosian
The Toronto Maple Leafs have brought another defender into the fold, this time signing Stanley Cup champion Zach Bogosian to a one-year, $1MM contract.
After adding T.J. Brodie yesterday on a four-year, $20MM contract, the Maple Leafs had changed the makeup of their defense but also pushed themselves over the salary cap ceiling. Today’s move of Andreas Johnsson changed that, meaning they can bring in a little more experience with Bogosian.
The 30-year-old defenseman had quite the rollercoaster 2019-20, going from a contract termination with the Buffalo Sabres in late February to lifting the Stanley Cup with the Tampa Bay Lightning in late September. The Sabres were able to terminate the veteran’s contract after he failed to report to the Rochester Americans of the AHL, allowing him to sign a new deal with Tampa Bay for a playoff run.
A playoff run that Bogosian had been searching for his entire career. The third-overall pick in 2008, Bogosian had never played in a single postseason game, missing the playoffs regularly with the Atlanta Thrashers/Winnipeg Jets and then Sabres. He managed to carve out a role on a deep Tampa team and averaged almost 18 minutes a game in the playoffs. Of course, that doesn’t include the several scratches he faced in the finals, where he suited up only twice against Dallas.
Even though he does possess good size, standing 6’3″ and weighing over 220-lbs, Bogosian isn’t actually the most physical defender on the ice. He will engage in front of the net and certainly doesn’t shy away from contact, but he was actually known as a puck-mover early in his career and can still contribute a little offensively.
That doesn’t necessarily mean he has a place in Toronto’s top-six right away, however. The Maple Leafs have eight NHL options including unsigned restricted free agent Travis Dermott, KHL import Mikko Lehtonen and top prospect Rasmus Sandin, meaning there may be another move in the coming days to free up a little more space.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images
Lightning Sign Zach Bogosian
Zach Bogosian‘s time as an unrestricted free agent was short-lived. The Lightning announced that they’ve signed him to a one-year deal worth a pro-rated $1.3MM.
It has been an interesting last week for the 29-year-old. After asking for a trade, the Sabres found no takers and decided to waive him. Due to his $5.143MM AAV, he went unclaimed and was assigned to the AHL. However, he chose not to report and was suspended without pay. Buffalo then played him on unconditional waivers on Friday for the purposes of terminating his contract and once he cleared on Saturday, he became a free agent.
While he struggled with the Sabres both in terms of his on-ice play and staying healthy (he played in just 19 games this season, recording six points while logging a career-low 16:50 per contest), Bogosian should be a good fit with Tampa Bay. Erik Cernak was injured on Saturday while Ryan McDonagh and Jan Rutta are still working their way back from injuries as well. As a result, there’s an immediate need for him to step in and even if he was to fall out of their top six when everyone is healthy, he’d serve as capable injury insurance down the stretch and for what could be a lengthy playoff run.
TSN’s Darren Dreger was the first to report that Bogosian had reached an agreement with Tampa Bay.
East Notes: Bogosian, Chabot, Brassard, Lightning, Red Wings
After clearing unconditional waivers Saturday, the market for defenseman Zach Bogosian has become quite intense as teams are looking to pick up a veteran blueliner on the cheap with the trade deadline prices for rentals being extremely high at moment. In fact, three teams are currently the frontrunners for the veteran’s services, according to TSN’s Darren Dreger, including the Carolina Hurricanes, Pittsburgh Penguins and the Arizona Coyotes.
Carolina was already rumored to be looking for help on their blueline, but with the injury to Brett Pesce Saturday night in Toronto as well as the injury to Dougie Hamilton, the team is pushing even harder to add some depth. Pittsburgh is another candidate as they wait for the returns of Brian Dumoulin and John Marino. Arizona is a new candidate after the injury to Jakob Chychrun to an injury that looks to be serious.
Bogosian might serve as a band-aid for these teams, even though he has appeared in just 19 games this season.
- The Ottawa Senators could breathe easier today when they learned that defenseman Thomas Chabot, who left Saturday night’s game with a lower-body injury, suffered just a minor injury, according to TVA’s Renaud Lavoie. Apparently the injury is just a bruise. The 23-year-old tried to test his knee during a TV timeout Saturday, but could not go on it. While Chabot’s offensive numbers have been down this season, five goals and 33 points in 62 games, the blueliner has logged a career-high in minutes at 25:43.
- Newsday’s Andrew Gross reports that New York Islanders forward Derick Brassard skated Sunday for the first time since suffering a samll fracture to his cheek after taking a puck to his head on Wednesday in Colorado. He is considered day-to-day, but has cleared concussion protocol, although he said that he is still dealing with some nausea. “I had a broken jaw so I had a plate [inserted],” Brassard said of a previous injury. “I got hit just above it. I’m lucky a little bit. When I was down, I thought my ear had split in half because of the pressure.”
- With injuries to defensemen Ryan McDonagh and Erik Cernak, the Tampa Bay Lightning, who already have been active before the trade deadline, could be looking to add to their defensive core, according to The Athletic’s Joe Smith (subscription required). Tampa Bay already moved a first-round pick and top prospect Nolan Foote to New Jersey for forward Blake Coleman. However, since there is no word yet on the severity of Cernak’s injury, it’s possible that general manager Julien BriseBois could add even more as he’s “always on the lookout for an opportunity to improve.”
- MLive’s Ansar Khan reports that the Detroit Red Wings are holding out defenseman Mike Green and forward Andreas Athanasiou from Sunday’s game against Calgary. According to the Red Wings, they have both been scratched due to “asset management,” meaning both players are likely candidates to be traded by Monday.
Zach Bogosian Clears Unconditional Waivers
Saturday: Bogosian has cleared waivers as expected, reports Pierre LeBrun of TSN and The Athletic which will pave the way for his release. TSN’s Darren Dreger suggests that Toronto, Carolina, Winnipeg, and Pittsburgh will be among those interested in him as a free agent.
Friday, 10:55am: The Sabres have confirmed the placement of Bogosian on unconditional waivers, and their intention on terminating his contract.
9:45am: After failing to report to the Rochester Americans earlier this month, Zach Bogosian was suspended without pay by the Buffalo Sabres. That took him off the books in regards to the team’s cap, but still didn’t solve anything for the player. According to Darren Dreger of TSN, Bogosian will now be placed on unconditional waivers for the purpose of a contract termination. While that will void the remaining money on his current contract, it does make Bogosian an unrestricted free agent and able to sign with another team.
The timing of this is important, as Bogosian would need a new contract filed with the league before the trade deadline in order to be eligible for the playoffs. It’s hard to know exactly who might be interested, though Pierre LeBrun of The Athletic tweets that he wouldn’t be surprised if the Toronto Maple Leafs “at least checked in.”
The 29-year old Bogosian became a regular healthy scratch for the Sabres this season after a career marred by injury. Selected third overall in 2008 he has only played more than 71 games in a season on one occasion, and has just 194 points in 636 games. The 6’3″ defenseman currently carries a $5.14MM cap hit that will be terminated tomorrow, should the process go smoothly.
Buffalo Sabres Suspend Zach Bogosian
After clearing waivers recently, Zach Bogosian was assigned to the Rochester Americans of the AHL. After failing to report to the minor league team, the Buffalo Sabres have suspended Bogosian indefinitely. While he remains under suspension, Bogosian will forfeit his salary and his entire cap hit will come off the Sabres’ books.
The 29-year old Bogosian is in the final season of the seven-year, $36MM contract he signed with the Winnipeg Jets in 2013 and carries a cap hit of $5.14MM this season. After being made a healthy scratch earlier in the year he had requested a trade, but due to this hefty contract any deal would be difficult for the Sabres to accomplish. Now after several more scratches and an assignment to the minor leagues, it appears that his time with the Sabres’ organization may be over.
The two sides could still come to an agreement of some sort. A mutual contract termination would see Bogosian give up what remains on his deal, but at this point a suspension amounts to the same thing, without an opportunity for him to sign elsewhere. A termination would make Bogosian an unrestricted free agent, though to be eligible for playoff hockey with a new team he would have to sign a contract before the trade deadline.
There is also still a trade option, if the Sabres can find a team willing to take on his contract. That seems unlikely at this point however, given his availability on waivers and the new cap flexibility that this suspension creates for Buffalo.
Bogosian has five points in 19 games this season for the Sabres.
East Notes: Muzzin, Flyers, Bogosian, Hischier
The Toronto Maple Leafs are currently in discussion with pending unrestricted free-agent defenseman Jake Muzzin. However, with the team’s cap situation next season and the fact that their top two blueliners, Muzzin and Tyson Barrie, will both be UFAs this summer, it becomes quite an interesting negotiations.
In fact, The Athletic’s James Mirtle (subscription required) writes that the Maple Leafs have a challenging negotiations in front of them. While Muzzin is a local, the team has to consider his age before signing him as he will turn 31 next week and the team cannot afford to be loaded down with a player down the road with a long-term deal. Unfortunately, Mirtle writes that Muzzin isn’t signing with Toronto on a short-term deal and suggests that it likely would be a four to five-year pact at about $5MM.
If the team does sign him to a contract similar to that, it is important that Toronto signs him to a front-loaded contract, which might make him more attractive to other teams later in the deal, which might allow Toronto to move him later on in the deal if he doesn’t age well. That might be the best-case scenario for the franchise, according to Mirtle.
- The Philadelphia Flyers are in an interesting position as the trade deadline nears. After falling to the Tampa Bay Lightning Saturday, the Flyers are now holding onto the last wild card playoff berth in the Eastern Conference. Yet, The Athletic’s Charlie O’Connor (subscription required) writes that the Flyers will be buyers no matter what at the trade deadline. Regardless, the team likely won’t be going after the big names on the market as the team lacks the cap space to do that and in reality, Philadelphia isn’t really a Stanley Cup contender just yet. Nor is the team ready to move a first-round pick for player either. However, O’Connor adds that the team is far more likely to add a lower-level target, most likely upgrading at the wing.
- The Buffalo News’ Lance Lysowski reports that while defenseman Zach Bogosian has cleared waivers and been assigned to the Rochester Americans of the AHL, Bogosian’s agent, Darren Ferris said the two will meet in the next couple days and to discuss his next step, which will include whether Bogosian accepts the assignment to Rochester. The injury-prone 29-year-old has only appeared in five AHL games in his career, back during the 2008-09 season and may not be too keen on returning there at this point in his career.
- NHL.com’s Amanda Stein reports that there is a good chance that all-star center Nico Hischier could return to the team on Sunday. Hischier, who has been out of the lineup since Feb. 1 with a knee injury, would give the team a significant boost if ready to return. Hischier has 13 goals and 32 points in 46 games.
Zach Bogosian Clears Waivers
Saturday: Bogosian has cleared waivers, reports Sportsnet’s Chris Johnston. The Sabres announced that he has been assigned to AHL Rochester.
Friday: The Buffalo Sabres have decided to offer Zach Bogosian to the rest of the league for free, placing him on waivers today. Bogosian has been a healthy scratch at times this season and reportedly requested a trade, but also comes with a hefty contract that makes a deal difficult.
Bogosian, 29, was acquired by the Sabres back in 2015 as part of the huge Tyler Myers–Evander Kane deal, but his constant battle with injury never stopped. In fact, Bogosian has played more than 80 games in a season just once in his career, not even topping 65 since 2010-11. That fact, combined with a steady decline in effectiveness, has made him even impossible to ice for the Sabres.
Combine those struggles with the fact that he is still carrying a $5.14MM cap hit this season and the idea of a team claiming the right-handed defenseman becomes unlikely. Bogosian is an unrestricted free agent at the end of the year and could still try to continue his career elsewhere, but having a team take that contract of Buffalo’s hands right now will be difficult.
There is always the trade route, if the Sabres are willing to retain some salary, but again it would be hard to see him providing any real upgrade for a contending team. At this point, it seems likely that he’ll just have to wait out the rest of the year in Buffalo (or, alternatively Rochester if the team decides to send him to the minor leagues and save $1.075MM against the cap).
Sabres And Hurricanes Have Multiple Defensemen Available
Teams that are looking to add defensive depth should be focusing on a pair of Eastern Conference squads. TSN’s Bob McKenzie reports in the latest edition of Insider Trading (video link) that on top of veterans Zach Bogosian and Marco Scandella who were known to be available, the Sabres are also willing to part with Colin Miller. Meanwhile, the Hurricanes aren’t just open to moving Trevor van Riemsdyk as recent acquisitions Jake Gardiner and Joel Edmundson are also believed to be trade options for them.
Bogosian ($5.143MM) and Scandella ($4MM) are on expiring contracts and have had limited roles when healthy over the last couple of years. In Bogosian’s case, he recently asked to be dealt following the first of his healthy scratches earlier this month. But Miller has another two years left after this one at a reasonable $3.875MM AAV. While he hasn’t performed to expectations with Buffalo, the 27-year-old put up 70 points in his two seasons with Vegas and averaged over 19 minutes a night in both years. That was enough for the Sabres to part with second and fifth-round picks for Miller back in June although they may not be able to recoup that now considering he has spent time as a healthy scratch recently.
As for Carolina, Gardiner just signed with them back in September, inking a slightly-backloaded four-year, $16.2MM deal to match his $4.05MM AAV from his previous contract. He has struggled considerably with his new team though, recording just eight points along with an ugly -17 plus/minus rating; only four blueliners in the league have a lower rating. With those struggles, his contract, and a seven-team no-trade clause, the market for him may be somewhat limited.
Edmundson ($3.1MM) and van Riemsdyk ($2.3MM) are both pending unrestricted free agents. Edmundson was part of the Justin Faulk trade at the beginning of the season and has been a steady presence on their third pairing. However, the team would like to give Haydn Fleury some more playing time so clearing out one of their left-shot defenders would help create that opportunity. As for van Riemsdyk, he has been available for a while now but his value has taken a bit of a dip as he’s averaging less than 14 minutes a night, well below his career average which is up over the 17-minute mark.
McKenzie notes that both teams are looking for scoring help but at this stage, they may have to settle for future assets in return and then try to turn those around into the forward that they covet. While we’re only hours away from the Holiday Roster Freeze coming into effect, these players will be ones to keep an eye on heading into 2020.
Zach Bogosian Requests Trade
The Buffalo Sabres have had an overload of NHL-caliber defensemen for the entire season, and now one of their veterans wants out. Darren Dreger of TSN is reporting that Zach Bogosian—who is expected to be a healthy scratch tonight—has requested a trade.
Bogosian, 29, is in the final season of the seven-year, $36MM deal he signed with the Winnipeg Jets in 2013 and carries a cap hit of more than $5.14MM. That number makes him a very difficult asset to move, given how his career has gone the last several years.
Originally selected third overall by the Atlanta Thrashers in 2008, Bogosian seemed to be the whole package. A 6’3″ right-handed defenseman that could skate, move the puck and was willing to engage physically, he entered the league as a teenager and immediately made an impact. When the Thrashers closed their doors and went to Winnipeg, he already had 199 NHL games under his belt and was logging nearly 23 minutes a night.
After that however, health issues seemed to crop up every year. Bogosian hasn’t played more than 65 games in a single season since arriving in Winnipeg in 2011, only even breaking 60 on four occasions. This year he has suited up just ten times for the Sabres and even when he does get into the lineup, he’s averaged the fewest minutes since his rookie season.
For a player like Bogosian, requesting a trade is the only chance he has at securing a market for himself next summer. If the Sabres aren’t going to play him on a regular basis, he might as well try to go to another team that will. Buffalo isn’t going to get any real assets for him at this point though, and may even have to eat salary to accomplish it.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images
John Gilmour Placed On Waivers
Saturday: Gilmour has cleared waivers, the Sabres have reported. He has been assigned to the AHL’s Rochester Americans. With a roster spot open, head coach Ralph Krueger stated that Bogosian is likely to re-join the team this weekend.
Friday: The Buffalo Sabres have decided to place John Gilmour on waivers. The move likely precedes the return of Zach Bogosian, and is the first to start clearing the log jam of defenders on the Buffalo roster.
Gilmour, 26, has played just four games this season for the Sabres, his first after signing a one-year, $700K contract with them in the offseason. The left-handed defenseman spent the first three seasons of his NHL career with the New York Rangers, but after failing to become a full-time player with them qualified for Group VI unrestricted free agency.
A member of the 2015 Providence College team that took home the National Championship, Gilmour was actually a relatively high profile college free agent when he first signed with the Rangers. Originally selected in the seventh round by the Calgary Flames, he never signed with them and instead took his talents to New York.
The Sabres have a huge number of defensemen ready to contribute at the NHL level, a group that they’ve been trying to deal from for some time. Looking for a forward to help kickstart their offense, the team will try to slip Gilmour through the cracks to open up a spot on the roster.