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East Notes: Capitals Cap Overage, Jankowski, Lycksell

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Washington will be facing a bonus overage penalty of nearly $473K for next season, Mike Vogel of the Capitals’ team site relays (Twitter link).  Defenseman Zdeno Chara reached his games played and playoff qualification bonuses while goaltender Ilya Samsonov met his shutout bonus mark as well.  With the team being in LTIR all season long due to injuries to blueliner Michal Kempny and goaltender Henrik Lundqvist, they were never in a position to bank any space during the season that could have offset those bonuses.  The Caps already have over $72MM in commitments for next season per CapFriendly and still have to re-sign captain Alex Ovechkin, Samsonov, and round out the rest of their roster.  GM Brian MacLellan will undoubtedly be working hard in the coming weeks to free up some much-needed cap flexibility.

More from the East Division:

  • The Penguins are unlikely to tender center Mark Jankowski a qualifying offer next month, suggests Seth Rorabaugh of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review. The 26-year-old signed a minimum-salary contract after being non-tendered by Calgary back in the fall in a move that looked like a good one for both sides at the time.  However, he was largely ineffective during the season and was a healthy scratch down the stretch and for their entire first-round series.  Jankowski is only owed a qualifying offer of $750K – next season’s league minimum – but with arbitration eligibility, he could get a bit more than that in a hearing.  With their cap situation, that little bit more is probably more than they can afford for a player on the fringes of the roster.
  • Flyers prospect Olle Lycksell signed his entry-level contract last month but the team will have to wait a little while longer to get him to North America as Vaxjo of the SHL announced that they’ve added the 21-year-old forward on loan for the entire 2021-22 season. Despite not playing in Philadelphia’s system next season, Lycksell will still burn the first year of his contract.

Washington Capitals Extend Bobby Nardella

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The Washington Capitals have come to terms on a new deal with defenseman Bobby Nardella. CapFriendly reports that the two sides have agreed on a two-year extension that will keep the 25-year-old under contract through 2022-23, at which point he will be an unrestricted free agent. The contract carries the minimum NHL salary of $750K and is two-way this coming season, at $110K in the minors, before transitioning to one-way in year two.

If Nardella’s name does not immediately come to mind, it may be because he was under contract with Washington but playing in Sweden this past season. Nardella joined Djurgardens IF back in September, but rather than re-join the Capitals when training camps opened, the team allowed him to say overseas where he was thriving. Nardella recorded 33 points in 47 games this year in just his second professional season. He led Djurgardens in scoring and finished in the top five among SHL defenseman. He returns to North America having tasted what it is like to be an elite scoring defenseman in the pros and the Capitals hope to see that continue.

An undrafted free agent out of Notre Dame in 2019, Nardella is an undersized and offensive-minded blue liner, but has not let that limit him from making a difference in all three zones through his NCAA career and a season apiece in the AHL and SHL. Likely to return to the Hershey Bears to at least begin the 2021-22 season, Nardella could quickly earn a recall if he can show that his time in Sweden improved his game. The Capitals have no shortage of talented left-handed defense prospects such as Alexander Alexeyev, Martin Fehervary, and Lucas Johansen, but they could need immediate help at that area with Jonas Siegenthaler gone, Zdeno Chara heading for free agency or retirement, and Brenden Dillon a potential Expansion Draft casualty. Washington could be inclined to go with their most experienced option among that young group if they need defensive depth and that would be Nardella.

Nominees Announced For 2021 Bill Masterton Memorial Trophy

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The Bill Masterton Memorial Trophy is given out annually to the NHL player who exemplifies perseverance, sportsmanship, and dedication to hockey. The award has been voted on by the Professional Hockey Writers’ Association since 1968, and today they announced their nominees for 2021.

Past winners of the award include Bobby Ryan (2020), Robin Lehner (2019), Brian Boyle (2018), Craig Anderson (2017), Jaromir Jagr (2016), Devan Dubnyk (2015), Dominic Moore (2014), and Josh Harding (2013).

Below are the nominees from each team:

Anaheim Ducks – David Backes

Arizona Coyotes – Phil Kessel

Boston Bruins – Kevan Miller

Buffalo Sabres – Dustin Tokarski

Calgary Flames – Milan Lucic

Carolina Hurricanes – Jordan Staal

Chicago Blackhawks – Andrew Shaw

Colorado Avalanche – Valeri Nichushkin

Columbus Blue Jackets – Zac Dalpe

Dallas Stars – Roope Hintz

Detroit Red Wings – Danny DeKeyser

Edmonton Oilers – Mike Smith

Florida Panthers – Chris Driedger

Los Angeles Kings – Matt Roy

Minnesota Wild – Matt Dumba

Montreal Canadiens – Corey Perry

Nashville Predators – Pekka Rinne

New Jersey Devils – Scott Wedgewood

New York Islanders – Casey Cizikas

New York Rangers – Colin Blackwell

Ottawa Senators – Nick Paul

Philadelphia Flyers – Oskar Lindblom

Pittsburgh Penguins – Casey DeSmith

San Jose Sharks – Patrick Marleau

St. Louis Blues – Vladimir Tarasenko

Tampa Bay Lightning – Steven Stamkos

Toronto Maple Leafs – Jack Campbell

Vancouver Canucks – Tyler Motte

Vegas Golden Knights – Marc-Andre Fleury

Washington Capitals – Zdeno Chara

Winnipeg Jets – Eric Comrie

Three finalists and the winner will be named at a later date.

East Notes: Malkin, Siegenthaler, Chara, Capitals

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Penguins center Evgeni Malkin returned to practice on Friday with a non-contact jersey as he continues to work his way back from a lower-body injury that’s believed to be a knee issue, notes Chris Adamski of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review.  The veteran has been out since mid-March and is currently on LTIR.  If he’s able to return between now and the end of the regular season, Pittsburgh will need to clear just over $2.6MM off their books to get cap compliant before he can be activated.  Injuries have limited the 34-year-old to just 29 games this season and he hasn’t been as productive as usual with eight goals and 16 assists in those contests.

More from the East Division:

  • Devils defenseman Jonas Siegenthaler has been placed in COVID protocol, the team announced (Twitter link). New Jersey acquired the 23-year-old earlier this month and had given him a bigger role as Siegenthaler has averaged 17:10 per game in six contests with the Devils after logging just 13:23 per game in seven matches with Washington.  Colton White was recalled to take Siegenthaler’s place in the lineup.
  • The Rangers were among the teams that showed considerable interest in Zdeno Chara last offseason, reports Larry Brooks of the New York Post. The 43-year-old was eyed as a mentor to what has become a very young back end with five rearguards aged 23 or younger suiting up against Philadelphia earlier in the week.  However, Chara opted to sign with Washington in the hopes of a long playoff run.  New York is likely going to have a similar desire to add a veteran for next year as well but they may be better served going after someone that can play a bit higher in the lineup.
  • The Capitals will be keeping their AHL coaching staff around for the foreseeable future as the team announced recently that head coach Spencer Carbery, assistant coach Patrick Wellar, and associate goalie coach Alex Westlund have all signed multi-year contract extensions. Carbery is in his third season at the helm with Hershey with the Bears posting a .702 points percentage over that span.  Hershey has a 16-5-2 record this season to lead the seven-team North Division in points with 34.

Zdeno Chara Signs With Washington Capitals

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In perhaps the most shocking turn of events in an already bizarre offseason, Zdeno Chara will not be re-signing with the Boston Bruins. Chara confirmed his departure with a long, emotional message to Boston fans on his Instagram. Instead, the 43-year-old will be joining the fourth team of his decades-long career, signing a one-year contract with the Washington Capitals worth $795K. CapFriendly adds that the deal also includes an additional $730K in bonuses: $230K for ten games played, $250K if the Capitals make the playoffs, and $250K if the Capitals win the Stanley Cup.

Chara will once again be the oldest player in the NHL, continuing his climb up the all-time games played leaderboard. The gigantic defenseman currently sits 15th with 1,553 regular season matches, trailing only Patrick Marleau and Joe Thornton among active players. That career, which started in 1997-98 with the New York Islanders, has also included nearly 200 playoff games and a Stanley Cup championship in 2011 with the Bruins.

Even though the writing seemed to be on the wall—including some recent comments from team president Cam Neely—Chara’s departure from Boston seems unthinkable at this point. Though he didn’t arrive in Boston until 2006, more than 500 games into his NHL career, he will be forever linked to the historic franchise as one of its greatest and most memorable players of all-time. Even now into his forties, Chara is still an exceptional penalty killer and can perform well in the defensive end, though his foot speed and offensive ability have greatly diminished.

In Washington, he would be able to provide leadership, physicality, and depth to a team that is looking to get back to the Stanley Cup Finals. The team is getting a lot closer to the end of their championship window and had already tried to bring a legend from a rival Eastern Conference team when they signed Henrik Lundqvist. Though Lundqvist won’t play for the Capitals this season, Washington will get to enjoy Chara on the ice every night.

Where he fits into the Capitals lineup is not clear, though the team’s defensive group was leaning to the right side as the season approached. John Carlson, Justin Schultz, Nick Jensen, and Trevor van Riemsdyk are all right-handed options, meaning Chara can perhaps give some balance to the left side alongside Brenden Dillon, Dmitry Orlov, and Jonas Siegenthaler.

Amazingly, in this unique season, Chara will actually be battling the Bruins on a regular basis. Washington and Boston are both part of the East Division and will play each other eight times in the 56-game season. Even if the veteran isn’t in the lineup every night for the Capitals, it seems likely he’ll be on the ice for each of those occasions.

Of course, not only is Chara a big leadership add for the Capitals, but he also comes at a very reasonable price. He’ll come in with a lower cap hit than both van Riemsdyk and Siegenthaler, meaning anything he brings to the table is a positive. His low price could even mean that Washington moves someone else out, though depth will be even more important this season.

For the Bruins meanwhile, they’ve now watched both Chara and Torey Krug leave in one offseason, dramatically changing the look of their defense. Sure, Charlie McAvoy, Brandon Carlo, and Matt Grzelcyk are very strong players that perhaps can handle even more responsibility, but Chara and Krug were the obvious leaders on Boston’s blueline. They’ll also now have to decide on a new captain, with Patrice Bergeron the obvious choice.

Washington wasn’t the only team after the veteran, once the chance of him leaving Boston became a reality. Frank Seravalli of TSN reports that two-thirds of the league checked in on Chara, while Eric Engels of Sportsnet tweets that he was told the Montreal Canadiens had an interest. That doesn’t come as much of a surprise, especially from teams that have had to try and deal with the 6’9″ legend.

Ken Campbell of The Hockey News was first to report that Chara was headed to Washington. 

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images

Morning Notes: Chara, Gauthier, Nolan

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Zdeno Chara remains unsigned with just a few weeks until the regular season, but that doesn’t mean he’s looking anywhere other than Boston for his next deal. Matt Keator, Chara’s agent, told Pierre LeBrun of The Athletic yesterday that more than 20 teams have reached out on the veteran defenseman, but his focus is still on the Bruins.

Given Keator even mentioned that Chara “still has the option to retire,” it seems very unlikely that the 43-year-old plays for anyone else this season. Still, it’s not a guarantee that the Bruins even have room for him. Team president Cam Neely told reporters including Amalie Benjamin of NHL.com that they “do want to take a look” at some of the younger, left-shot defensemen in the system, while also wavering on whether he thinks Chara would even want to return for the condensed season.

  • The Toronto Maple Leafs decided not to give Frederik Gauthier a qualifying offer this offseason, bringing in more veteran options like Joe Thornton as depth down the middle. Now, the 25-year-old center could be heading for a professional tryout with the Arizona Coyotes, as Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet reports. Gauthier was never expected to be much of an offensive threat, even when picked 21st overall in 2013, but he has just 31 points in 176 NHL games and doesn’t skate well enough to be a true checking center. If he decides to take the PTO, he’ll have a tough battle on his hands in a crowded Arizona bottom-six.
  • Another player that will be fighting for an NHL job is Jordan Nolan, who signed an AHL contract with the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins earlier this month but will be invited to training camp with Pittsburgh according to GM Jim Rutherford. Nolan could earn himself another NHL contract with a strong camp, despite not playing a single game above the AHL last season. The powerful winger does have more than 400 games at the NHL level in his career but has never recorded more than ten points in a single season.

Zdeno Chara Waiting For 2020-21 Details Before Deciding Plans

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One of the surprises so far in free agency is that Zdeno Chara remains unsigned more than a month in.  While it’s still possible that he opts to stay in Boston, it’s also at least a bit intriguing that he hasn’t caught on anywhere else yet either.  Speaking with Boston Hockey Now’s Jimmy Murphy, Chara’s agent Matt Keator indicated that the reason for the delay in his client signing is that they are waiting to see what the format for next season will be before making any decisions on his plan and that there is no rush for him to make a decision.

Of course, while there was hope that there would be some information on how next season would proceed following yesterday’s Board of Governors meeting, that didn’t really happen.  All options remain on the table for now and the NHL remains hopeful that they can drop the puck on the regular season on January 1st.

The 43-year-old isn’t in a situation where he needs to show what he can still do; while Chara isn’t the top pairing player he once was, he showed last season that he can still handle a sizable workload, logging just over 21 minutes a night.  But that was in a normal schedule and next season certainly doesn’t have the feel of a normal one so it’s understandable that the uncertainty is delaying things here.

One of the more discussed possibilities is the usage of short-term bubbles where a team would play several games in a short period of time before returning home.  Another is playing consecutive games at a place on the road to lessen the amount of travel.  Neither of these scenarios necessarily suit Chara well as extra back-to-back games at this stage of his career certainly isn’t ideal.  And of course, there is the possibility of things changing in-season to further complicate things.

Chara is in a position where he can certainly afford to wait things out.  He’s not commanding top dollar on the market at this stage of his career and by now, his camp probably has a pretty good idea of what his next deal will look like, whether it’s from the Bruins or elsewhere.  So, while other free agents are playing the waiting game to see what type of money they’ll eventually be able to get, he’ll continue waiting as well but for a different reason entirely.

Poll: Which 35+ Player Would You Sign?

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In today’s NHL, by the time a player reaches the age of 35, many consider his career to be over. ’He’s too slow,’ is usually the critique, given how fast the game has gotten over the last few decades. Even players that were once considered strong skaters are being passed by young phenoms, able to carve up the ice. But for some, that isn’t the case. The rare player is still effective into his mid and late-thirties, able to compensate for the declining footspeed with experience and awareness.

Joe Thornton, currently the oldest active player under contract in the NHL, recently signed a new deal with the Toronto Maple Leafs at age-40. He’s just a few months the senior his longtime teammate Patrick Marleau, who also just inked a new deal, this time to return to the San Jose Sharks. Henrik Lundqvist is the oldest goaltender in the league, though he’s only a few weeks older than Mike Smith.

For a long time now, Zdeno Chara has held the title of the oldest in the league. But the 43-year-old defenseman has still yet to sign a contract for the upcoming season. Perhaps after more than twenty years in the league, he’s prepared to hang up his skates, but you certainly can’t rule him out at this point. He’s still an effective penalty killer and can add instant leadership and experience to any locker room.

But beyond Chara, there exist some interesting older players on the open market.

Ron Hainsey, for instance, is coming off a season in which he logged nearly 21 minutes a night for the Ottawa Senators. The 39-year-old defenseman actually led the team in +/- and even recorded 12 points in 64 games, despite heavy defensive deployment. Hainsey averaged more than three minutes of short-handed ice time, but was actually quite an effective penalty killer.

Then there is Andy Greene, a longtime member of the New Jersey Devils who actually served as captain for five seasons. Not only did he earn $5MM on the last year of his deal, but he also netted the Devils a second-round pick at the deadline when he was acquired by the New York Islanders. Greene actually scored at a better point-per-game pace than Chara and is another respected leader.

Then there are the forwards. The whole league just watched Corey Perry go all the way to the Stanley Cup Final with the Dallas Stars, looking rejuvenated and as feisty as ever. Perry scored as many goals (5) in the postseason as he did in the regular season, but could still be a valuable fourth-line addition for a team that wants that bite for the playoffs.

Brian Boyle is also player that has plenty of playoff experience and can add a bit of physical presence. He’ll turn 36 in December but still scored 15 points in 39 games for the Florida Panthers this season, an 82-game pace that puts him over 30. There’s nothing wrong with that kind of production, especially when it comes along with a 6’6″ frame that is one of the most imposing in all of professional hockey.

Not to be forgotten of course is Ilya Kovalchuk, the enigmatic winger that is likely headed for the Hall of Fame one day. He could reach the 1,000 regular season game threshold if he plays in the NHL in 2020-21, and will likely break 900 career points as well. Kovalchuk is certainly not playoff-tested and has seemingly disappeared at times throughout his career, but that short stint in Montreal this season—when he scored 13 points in 22 games and looked re-energized—may excite a front office even as he approaches his 38th birthday next spring.

Who would you sign? All of these players would be eligible for bonus-laden deals, if they agree to a one-year contract. Could they still play a role on your NHL team? Cast your vote below and make sure to explain your thoughts in the comments.

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Photos courtesy of USA Today Sports Images

Bruins’ Kevan Miller Expected To Start 2020-21 Healthy

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It has been a rough couple of years for Kevan Miller. The Boston Bruins defenseman missed the entire 2019-20 season with a fractured kneecap, an injury that incurred setback after setback. The season prior, 2018-19, was when the kneecap injury initially occurred, causing Miller to miss the team’s regular season finale and all 24 postseason games as they reached Game Seven of the Stanley Cup Final. It was his fourth different injury of the season, as he was able to play in just 39 games. In that limited action, Miller’s play reflected someone who was never quite at 100% and paled in comparison to his previous seasons.

Miller can only hope that 2020-21 will be different and that obviously starts with his health. He tells Ty Anderson of The Sports Hub that things are trending in the right direction:

I’m doing really well. Knee is feeling great, body is feeling great. Obviously, had a lot of time to get things in order. I’m making really good progress. I’ve been skating two to three times a week. I’ve been training. I’m really, super excited to have the opportunity to play again. If we were playing right now, I wouldn’t be cleared. But come puck-drop, I definitely will be. I have no doubt in my mind I will be 100 percent by then.

If there is any reason to believe Miller’s hopeful statement, it’s because the Bruins did. Boston rushed to re-sign Miller on the first day of unrestricted free agency, despite not having seen him play since April 2019. They also didn’t just hand him a minimum-salary “show me” deal, either. Miller signed a one-year deal with incentives, yes, but it includes a $1MM base salary and a $250K roster bonus for spending just one day on the active roster. That’s essentially $1.25MM guaranteed with a maximum of $2MM with bonuses.

Boston’s other moves this off-season also reflect some faith in Miller’s comeback. Even after losing Torey Krug, the Bruins have refrained from adding to their defense corps. To this point, they have not even re-signed Zdeno Chara. On paper, this leaves the Bruins very thin on the blue line. Charlie McAvoy, Brandon Carlo, and Matt Grzelcyk are returning regulars who will play top-four roles, but the other starting jobs appeared to be up for grabs between another oft-injured veteran in John Moore and promising but unproven prospects Jeremy Lauzon, Connor Clifton, and Jakub Zboril. The team also has veteran Steven Kampfer, first-round prospect Urho Vaakanainen, and high profile college signing Jack Ahcan slated for AHL Providence. The group has some depth, but isn’t exactly loaded with the talent and experience that one would expect from a contender.

A healthy Miller would help with that. Although he has played almost exclusively in the NHL since 2013-14, Miller has just two seasons with 68+ games played, the most recent in 2017-18. Yet, in each of those seasons he averaged over 19 minutes of ice time per game, recorded nearly 20 points, logged over 150 hits and 100 blocked shots, played a key role on the penalty kill, and produced strong plus/minus and possession numbers. Granted, it has been a while since Miller has played a complete season, but his career numbers indicate that at full health he has the ceiling of a top-four shutdown defenseman, a possible Chara replacement even.

However, the caveat to any Miller excitement is that health is never guaranteed, even if he does begin the season at full strength. Miller’s resume reads like a list of all possible hockey injuries, and then some. He’s lost an even 200 regular season games to injury in his career, with ailments including the standard upper-body and lower-body injuries, concussions, and sickness but also multiple injuries to his shoulders and hands as well as a bruised larynx. Miller’s kneecap will be of most concern in the coming season, but the aggressive defenseman has shown a propensity for injury and cannot be trusted for a season-long role even if the knee holds up. A healthy Miller to begin the season is good news for the Bruins, but his presence and peak performance cannot be relied upon.

Zdeno Chara: “I Want To Stay In Boston”

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The Boston Bruins have several questions to answer as they examine what went wrong against the Tampa Bay Lightning, including how a team known for their defensive structure and strong goaltending allowed 17 goals in four straight losses. Two of the biggest decisions of the offseason sit on that defensive unit, as Zdeno Chara and Torey Krug are both scheduled for unrestricted free agency.

In Chara’s case at least, there’s nowhere he’d rather be than Boston. The 43-year old captain explained just that to reporters today including Amalie Benjamin of NHL.com:

I want to stay in Boston. I want to be a Boston Bruin.

Chara has played on consecutive one-year deals the past two seasons and earned just $2MM in base salary for 2019-20. His effectiveness in the playoffs was questionable at best, but the legendary defenseman still logged more than 21 minutes a night throughout the regular season, usually taking long shifts on the Bruins penalty kill. His possession numbers plummeted, but as a depth defenseman, it will be hard to turn him down.

If Chara does return, he will be working to become just the 13th player in NHL history to suit up for more than 1,600 regular season games. Currently sitting at 1,553 he reached his 1,000th in a Bruins uniform this year and will likely be headed to the Hall of Fame when it is all over.

Krug on the other hand isn’t quite as sure of his return. In fact, today he repeated a line he’s used in the past, saying he’s not sure what the future holds. Krug did make it clear that he would not consider taking a one-year deal because of the cap uncertainty, explaining that he has “bet on himself before.”

The 29-year old defenseman will be one of the very best free agents on the market and is coming off another outstanding offensive season. Krug tallied 49 points in 61 games, taking his streak to seven consecutive seasons (every full campaign of his career) of at least 39 points. One of the best powerplay quarterbacks in the league, Krug has shown his talents in the playoffs before, racking up 52 points in 75 career postseason contests.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images

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