2009 NHL Draft Take Two: Sixth Overall Pick
Hindsight is an amazing thing, and allows us to look back and wonder “what could have been.” Though perfection is attempted, scouting and draft selection is far from an exact science and sometimes, it doesn’t work out the way teams – or players – intended. For every Patrick Kane, there is a Patrik Stefan.
We’re looking back at the 2009 NHL Entry Draft and asking how it would shake out knowing what we do now. Will the first round remain the same, or will some late-round picks jump up to the top of the board?
The results of our redraft so far are as follows, with their original draft position in parentheses:
1st Overall: Victor Hedman, New York Islanders (2)
2nd Overall: John Tavares, Tampa Bay Lightning (1)
3rd Overall: Ryan O’Reilly, Colorado Avalanche (33)
4th Overall: Matt Duchene, Atlanta Thrashers (3)
5th Overall: Chris Kreider, Los Angeles Kings (19)
At fifth overall, PHR voters elected to take one of the draft’s better goal-scoring specialists in Kreider, who received 25% of the total votes. Selected straight out of high school, Kreider was drafted as a center but would end up on the wing for the New York Rangers, who took him in the mid-first round. It took him a few years to make the NHL, but he quickly became a dependable middle-six winger once he did, posting solid two-way numbers and routinely scoring over 20 goals. The last two seasons have done wonders for Kreider’s legacy, though, posting 88 markers over 160 games.
Coming up to the podium at sixth overall is the Phoenix Coyotes. The era of Wayne Gretzky behind the bench is now over after four underwhelming seasons, and the franchise is still looking to return to postseason play for just the third time since the year 2000.
They selected Swedish defenseman Oliver Ekman-Larsson, who had spent the entire 2008-09 campaign playing pro hockey with Leksands IF in the Swedish second-tier HockeyAllsvenskan. He posted a massive two-way season there, recording 17 points in 39 games and a +44 rating. Few argued with the pick at the time, and given his peak with the Coyotes, it’s hard to argue they truly made the wrong selection.
He played one more season in Sweden before coming over to the Coyotes in 2010, splitting his rookie year between the NHL and AHL but getting decent NHL action with 48 games, albeit in a bottom-pairing role. He broke into a top-four role during his sophomore season and never looked back, routinely earning Norris Trophy votes and was eventually named the team’s captain in 2018 after the retirement of Shane Doan.
His all-around game began to decline significantly beginning with the 2019-20 season, though, and in the summer of 2021, the Coyotes were able to offload his contract on the Vancouver Canucks in a deal that’s turned out quite well for Arizona, in retrospect. That doesn’t change the fact he provided the Coyotes with solid top-pairing performance for the better part of a decade, however, finishing his stint in the desert with 388 points and averaging 23:26 per game across 769 games.
He didn’t last particularly long in Vancouver, either, and the Canucks executed the largest non-compliance buyout in NHL history this summer to get out of the remaining four years of his massive eight-year, $66MM extension signed with the Coyotes that kicked in just as his decline began in 2019. He’ll suit up for the Florida Panthers next season, looking to prove he can turn things around on a one-year deal.
Ekman-Larsson trails only Hedman and Nick Leddy in total games played for a defenseman from the 2009 class with 902, and he’s third in career points behind Hedman and Tyson Barrie with 439. Despite his solid tenure as a member of the Coyotes, though, should the team have gone in a different direction? Let us know who you think the Coyotes should have selected below:
2009 Redraft: Sixth Overall
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Nazem Kadri 29% (216)
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Mattias Ekholm 21% (157)
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Evander Kane 10% (76)
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Oliver Ekman-Larsson 10% (72)
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Brayden Schenn 8% (61)
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Dmitry Orlov 5% (39)
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Anders Lee 5% (38)
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Ryan Ellis 4% (28)
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Tyson Barrie 1% (11)
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Reilly Smith 1% (11)
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Nick Leddy 1% (6)
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Tomas Tatar 1% (6)
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Brian Dumoulin 1% (5)
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Kyle Palmieri 1% (5)
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Darcy Kuemper 1% (4)
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Erik Haula 0% (3)
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Mike Hoffman 0% (3)
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David Savard 0% (3)
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Calvin de Haan 0% (2)
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Marcus Johansson 0% (2)
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Dmitry Kulikov 0% (2)
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Jakob Silfverberg 0% (2)
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Sami Vatanen 0% (2)
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Robin Lehner 0% (1)
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Brayden McNabb 0% (1)
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Craig Smith 0% (1)
Total votes: 757
If you can’t access the poll above, click here to vote.
2009 NHL Draft Take Two: Fifth Overall Pick
Hindsight is an amazing thing, and allows us to look back and wonder “what could have been.” Though perfection is attempted, scouting and draft selection is far from an exact science and sometimes, it doesn’t work out the way teams – or players – intended. For every Patrick Kane, there is a Patrik Stefan.
We’re looking back at the 2009 NHL Entry Draft and asking how it would shake out knowing what we do now. Will the first round remain the same, or will some late-round picks jump up to the top of the board?
The results of our redraft so far are as follows, with their original draft position in parentheses:
1st Overall: Victor Hedman, New York Islanders (2)
2nd Overall: John Tavares, Tampa Bay Lightning (1)
3rd Overall: Ryan O’Reilly, Colorado Avalanche (33)
4th Overall: Matt Duchene, Atlanta Thrashers (3)
Duchene doesn’t fall more than one spot past his original selection, winning the PHR reader poll by the slimmest margin thus far with only 29% of the total votes. Still, it’s hard to argue with the selection – Duchene remains a top-six threat and, despite his overall inconsistency, has scored upwards of 30 goals and 70 points on multiple occasions. In terms of career totals, he’s played in 123 more games than Evander Kane, Atlanta’s original pick at fourth overall, scored 14 more goals, and added a whopping 157 more assists.
The Los Angeles Kings are now on the clock at fifth overall in our 2009 redraft series. Things are looking up for the team after drafting names like Drew Doughty, Anze Kopitar, Dustin Brown and Wayne Simmonds in recent years, but they’ve now missed the playoffs for six straight years and are feeling the pressure to exit their rebuild in the post-Luc Robitaille era.
With their third-straight top-five pick, they selected center Brayden Schenn from the WHL’s Brandon Wheat Kings. The burgeoning two-way talent had solid name recognition, and the Kings had passed on his older brother, defenseman Luke Schenn, the year prior. Luke went fifth overall to the Toronto Maple Leafs after the Kings selected Thomas Hickey with the fourth overall pick.
While Schenn developed into an established top-six force in the NHL with a fruitful career, it wasn’t with the team that drafted him. He played just nine games with the Kings in the following two seasons after the draft before they traded him (along with Simmonds) to the Philadelphia Flyers in a package for center Mike Richards in 2011. With the Flyers, it didn’t take Schenn terribly long to become a strong middle-six center, eventually earning more chances higher in the lineup once moved to the wing. He tallied 20-plus goals three times in a Philadelphia jersey and had some solid possession metrics, although he never received any Selke Trophy consideration.
His career truly took off in 2017 after another trade, this time to the St. Louis Blues. He immediately posted the best season of his career, scoring a career-high 28 goals and 70 points in 2017-18 and playing nearly 20 minutes per game. He took a small step back in 2018-19, but you won’t hear any Blues fans complaining about that – he would go on to record 12 points in 26 playoff games as the Blues won the Stanley Cup for the first time in franchise history.
Set to turn 32 in a few days, Schenn is actually posting the most consistently high offensive totals of his career, combining for 123 points in 144 games over the past two seasons. His two-way game is starting to decline, but nonetheless, he’s given his two longtime NHL homes some solid hockey over the past decade-plus.
That being said, is Schenn the best player left on the board, or are there other options that would have better served the Kings? Make your voice heard in the poll below:
2009 Redraft: Fifth Overall
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Chris Kreider 25% (227)
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Nazem Kadri 17% (152)
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Mattias Ekholm 15% (139)
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Evander Kane 11% (100)
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Brayden Schenn 9% (78)
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Oliver Ekman-Larsson 6% (55)
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Dmitry Orlov 3% (28)
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Ryan Ellis 3% (23)
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Anders Lee 2% (21)
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Reilly Smith 1% (12)
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Tomas Tatar 1% (9)
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Mike Hoffman 1% (8)
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Tyson Barrie 1% (7)
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Marcus Johansson 1% (7)
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Brian Dumoulin 1% (5)
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Jakob Silfverberg 1% (5)
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Darcy Kuemper 0% (4)
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Dmitry Kulikov 0% (3)
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Nick Leddy 0% (3)
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Kyle Palmieri 0% (3)
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Sami Vatanen 0% (3)
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Calvin de Haan 0% (2)
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Robin Lehner 0% (2)
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Brayden McNabb 0% (2)
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David Savard 0% (1)
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Craig Smith 0% (0)
Total votes: 899
If you can’t access the poll above, click here to vote!
2009 NHL Draft Take Two: Fourth Overall Pick
Hindsight is an amazing thing, and allows us to look back and wonder “what could have been.” Though perfection is attempted, scouting and draft selection is far from an exact science and sometimes, it doesn’t work out the way teams – or players – intended. For every Patrick Kane, there is a Patrik Stefan.
We’re looking back at the 2009 NHL Entry Draft and asking how it would shake out knowing what we do now. Will the first round remain the same, or will some late-round picks jump up to the top of the board?
The results of our redraft so far are as follows, with their original draft position in parentheses:
1st Overall: Victor Hedman, New York Islanders (2)
2nd Overall: John Tavares, Tampa Bay Lightning (1)
3rd Overall: Ryan O’Reilly, Colorado Avalanche (33)
The Conn Smythe winner with the 2019 Stanley Cup champion St. Louis Blues is off the board at third overall, becoming the first player taken outside of the first round to appear in our redraft. Notably, he does stay with the team that took him on Day 2 of the 2009 NHL Draft – the Colorado Avalanche, who used their second pick of the draft on O’Reilly after selecting Matt Duchene with the third overall pick. Both players have gone on to produce good offensive totals near the top of the class, although O’Reilly’s taken home more in terms of award hardware with a championship, a Conn Smythe and a Selke Trophy all under his belt. O’Reilly won with 48% of our polling, while Duchene finished second in third-overall voting with just 13% of the vote.
Next up on the draft board is the Atlanta Thrashers at fourth overall. This was their second straight top-five selection after using the third overall pick on defenseman Zach Bogosian in 2008.
This year, however, their big prospect add was forward Evander Kane out of the WHL’s Vancouver Giants. While it wasn’t a bad pick at all if you look at his point production throughout his career and his ability to consistently play a top-six role, Kane has had a multitude of off-ice incidents throughout his career, including having his contract terminated by the San Jose Sharks in 2022 for breaching COVID protocols.
Nonetheless, Kane was a solid player for the Thrashers (and Winnipeg Jets) for parts of six seasons until he was moved to the Buffalo Sabres in 2015. He was widely viewed as the best pick available at the time – after all, he had just posted 96 points in 61 games with the Giants while recording 89 penalty minutes to boot, and he’d recorded six points in six games for Canada at that year’s World Junior Championships.
He signed his entry-level contract with Atlanta just weeks after the draft and made the NHL full-time out of the gate in a middle-six role. As an 18-year-old, he recorded 14 goals and 12 assists for 26 points in 66 games, finishing tied in Calder Trophy voting with Hedman that year. By the time the 2012-13 partial lockout rolled around, Kane had a 30-goal season under his belt and was averaging over 20 minutes per game.
After later career stops with the Sabres, Sharks and now Edmonton Oilers, Kane has some well-documented defensive weaknesses but still brings an intriguing blend of shooting ability and physicality to the table. In 853 games, he’s scored 302 goals – third among the 2009 class behind Tavares and Duchene. His 573 career points are sixth in the class.
There’s an argument to be made that the Thrashers made the right pick, but Duchene could have also been a more intriguing option had he been available for the Thrashers to select at fourth overall. They don’t have very long to decide, though, as Atlanta is now on the clock – who should they select with the fourth-overall pick in the 2009 NHL Draft? Make your voice heard below:
2009 Redraft: Fourth Overall
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Matt Duchene 30% (247)
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Chris Kreider 15% (126)
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Nazem Kadri 14% (116)
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Mattias Ekholm 12% (100)
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Evander Kane 8% (68)
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Oliver Ekman-Larsson 4% (35)
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Dmitry Orlov 4% (30)
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Brayden Schenn 3% (26)
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Ryan Ellis 3% (25)
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Anders Lee 2% (13)
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Reilly Smith 1% (7)
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Darcy Kuemper 1% (5)
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Robin Lehner 1% (5)
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Mike Hoffman 0% (4)
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Tomas Tatar 0% (4)
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Tyson Barrie 0% (3)
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Marcus Johansson 0% (3)
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Dmitry Kulikov 0% (3)
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Brayden McNabb 0% (3)
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Calvin de Haan 0% (2)
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Nick Leddy 0% (2)
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Sami Vatanen 0% (2)
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Kyle Palmieri 0% (1)
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David Savard 0% (1)
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Jakob Silfverberg 0% (1)
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Craig Smith 0% (1)
Total votes: 833
If you can’t access the built-in poll, click here to vote.
2009 NHL Draft Take Two: Third Overall Pick
Hindsight is an amazing thing, and allows us to look back and wonder “what could have been.” Though perfection is attempted, scouting and draft selection is far from an exact science and sometimes, it doesn’t work out the way teams – or players – intended. For every Patrick Kane, there is a Patrik Stefan.
We’re looking back at the 2009 NHL Entry Draft and asking how it would shake out knowing what we do now. Will the first round remain the same, or will some late-round picks jump up to the top of the board?
The results of our redraft so far are as follows, with their original draft position in parentheses:
1st Overall: Victor Hedman, New York Islanders (2)
2nd Overall: John Tavares, Tampa Bay Lightning (1)
Unsurprisingly, the top two selections from the 2009 crop are gone by the time we reach third overall. However, Hedman did leapfrog Tavares for the number one spot in our PHR polling, although it was much closer than in years past, with Hedman capturing just 53% of the vote. Tavares’ win was much more squarely in landslide territory at second overall, however, earning over 75% of the vote with no real challengers other than Ryan O’Reilly, who received 8%. With Tavares producing at one of the more consistent clips over the past decade and a half, it’s no surprise he didn’t fall any further than he did.
Now on the clock at third overall is the Colorado Avalanche, who are coming off their worst season in 15 years and look to be entering a full-scale rebuild with longtime captain Joe Sakic announcing his retirement shortly after the 2009 Draft.
This was a rather consequential pick for the Avs franchise, who hadn’t picked in the top ten since the Quebec Nordiques took netminder Jocelyn Thibault at tenth overall in 1993 (followed by future Avalanche cult legend Adam Deadmarsh at #14). With it, they selected the second center (and second OHLer) of the top three in Matt Duchene, coming off a 79-point season with the Brampton Battalion. He immediately looked like an incredible selection – Duchene stepped into a top-six role as a 19-year-old the following season, scoring 55 points in 81 games and helping the Avalanche return to a playoff spot in 2010. After building on it with 27 goals and 67 points in his sophomore season, Duchene looked like a potential Sakic replacement if his development stayed linear.
It wasn’t to be, however. His third season was a write-off, partially thanks to knee and ankle injuries which cost him 24 games. He quickly rebounded, though, clicking near a point per game in 2012-13 and 2013-14, but his offense soon fell to second-line caliber numbers, and he was eventually dealt to the Ottawa Senators early in the 2017-18 campaign. It started a run of four teams in three seasons for Duchene, who also had a brief pit stop with the Columbus Blue Jackets before signing a massive seven-year, $56MM contract with the Nashville Predators in free agency after he rebounded for 70 points in 73 games in 2018-19.
His tenure in Nashville was equally inconsistent. While he did have a career season in 2021-22, scoring 43 goals and 86 points, both his offense and defense took a step back last season, and the Predators bought out the final three seasons of his contract. Set to suit up for the Dallas Stars next season, Duchene does remain a serviceable (at worst) top-six piece as he enters his early/mid-30s.
While he wasn’t the standout, everyday first-liner he looked to be during his early days with Colorado, Duchene has still had quite a fruitful career. He hasn’t won any major awards but sits second in goals and points among the 2009 class behind Tavares. However, Colorado’s second-round pick this year, O’Reilly, has finished in the first spot behind Hedman and Tavares in both of our polls so far.
Given the polling and career resume, one of Duchene or O’Reilly will likely remain with the Avs in our Take Two series. Was Duchene the better Av out of this class, or has O’Reilly’s career (or someone else) eclipsed him? Make your voice heard in the poll below:
2009 Redraft: Third Overall
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Ryan O'Reilly 48% (644)
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Matt Duchene 13% (172)
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Chris Kreider 9% (126)
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Mattias Ekholm 7% (89)
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Nazem Kadri 6% (84)
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Evander Kane 3% (47)
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Oliver Ekman-Larsson 3% (42)
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Ryan Ellis 2% (30)
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Dmitry Orlov 2% (21)
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Anders Lee 1% (18)
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Brayden Schenn 1% (15)
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Tomas Tatar 1% (10)
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Reilly Smith 1% (9)
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Tyson Barrie 1% (7)
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Calvin de Haan 0% (4)
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Kyle Palmieri 0% (4)
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Craig Smith 0% (4)
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Darcy Kuemper 0% (3)
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Brayden McNabb 0% (3)
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Jakob Silfverberg 0% (3)
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Nick Leddy 0% (2)
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Robin Lehner 0% (2)
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David Savard 0% (2)
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Mike Hoffman 0% (1)
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Marcus Johansson 0% (1)
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Dmitry Kulikov 0% (0)
Total votes: 1,343
If you can’t access the poll above, click here to vote.
2009 NHL Draft Take Two: Second Overall Pick
Hindsight is an amazing thing, and allows us to look back and wonder “what could have been.” Though perfection is attempted, scouting and draft selection is far from an exact science and sometimes, it doesn’t work out the way teams – or players – intended. For every Patrick Kane, there is a Patrik Stefan.
We’re looking back at the 2009 NHL Entry Draft and asking how it would shake out knowing what we do now. Will the first round remain the same, or will some late-round picks jump up to the top of the board?
Earlier in the week, we kicked off the 2009 Take Two series by polling PHR readers on their pick for first overall with the benefit of hindsight. Defenseman Victor Hedman jumped up to claim the number-one spot by a comparatively slim margin, capturing 53% of the vote. In past years, the choice has been rather clear, with PHR voters settling on the draft class’ best player by scores of 70% or more.
Now with Hedman off the board to the New York Islanders at first overall, John Tavares remains on the board, with the Tampa Bay Lightning picking at number two. At the time of the draft, there was no question about whether Tavares would fall. He was one of the few players granted exceptional status into the OHL as a 15-year-old and, given he was only five days away from being eligible for the 2008 draft, Tavares already had four full seasons of junior hockey under his belt with two 100-plus point seasons to show for it.
While the circumstances of Tavares’ departure in free agency from the Islanders for the Toronto Maple Leafs in 2018 have soured the fanbase’s opinion on his time with the team, he’s inarguably one of the most talented players in team history and was the cornerstone behind their first-round playoff win in 2016, ending a decades-long streak without a series victory. The team’s captain for five seasons ended up with 621 points in 669 games as an Islander and ranks fifth in team history in Hockey Reference’s point shares system.
Among his 2009 peers, he currently sits as the all-time leader in goals, assists and points and is the only one with more than 1,000 career NHL games under his belt. Despite that, Tavares hasn’t taken home any major awards like Hedman – although Tavares was a Hart Trophy finalist in 2013 and 2015 at just 22 and 24 years old. If he had fallen to Tampa for whatever reason, may they have won more Stanley Cups with this core with Tavares in the fold along with Steven Stamkos?
That’s what we’re asking you today, PHR readers. Will Tavares fall yet another spot in your hindsight-influenced 2009 draft ranking, or will the Lightning select a second franchise center to complement Stamkos, who they selected first overall just one year prior? Vote in the poll below:
2009 Redraft: Second Overall
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John Tavares 77% (1,150)
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Ryan O'Reilly 8% (127)
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Chris Kreider 2% (37)
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Matt Duchene 2% (31)
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Mattias Ekholm 2% (27)
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Evander Kane 1% (14)
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Nazem Kadri 1% (13)
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Dmitry Orlov 1% (12)
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Brayden Schenn 1% (11)
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Oliver Ekman-Larsson 1% (10)
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Ryan Ellis 1% (9)
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Anders Lee 0% (7)
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Tomas Tatar 0% (7)
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Calvin de Haan 0% (6)
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Jakob Silfverberg 0% (6)
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Reilly Smith 0% (6)
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David Savard 0% (5)
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Tyson Barrie 0% (4)
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Nick Leddy 0% (3)
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Robin Lehner 0% (3)
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Kyle Palmieri 0% (3)
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Craig Smith 0% (3)
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Mike Hoffman 0% (2)
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Marcus Johansson 0% (2)
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Darcy Kuemper 0% (2)
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Dmitry Kulikov 0% (1)
Total votes: 1,501
Click here to vote if the poll doesn’t display.
2009 NHL Draft Take Two: First Overall Pick
Hindsight is fantastic, allowing us to look back and wonder “what could have been.” Though perfection is attempted, scouting and draft selection is far from an exact science, and sometimes, it doesn’t work out the way teams – or players – intended. For every Patrick Kane, there is a Patrik Stefan.
As we find ourselves amidst the summer lull, it’s the perfect time to reflect on times gone by – the strategies that bore fruit and those that missed the mark. This sentiment resonates even with draft picks – where some early selections have blossomed into the cornerstones of their respective franchises, while others fell short of the lofty expectations. Having delved into the drafts of 2006, 2007, and 2008 in the past, it’s now an opportune moment to embark on a similar journey through a new NHL redraft series, focusing on the class of 2009.
The draft pool from this year stands out as notably robust, featuring an impressive tally of 39 players (and the count is ongoing) who have graced the NHL ice for a minimum of 500 games. Within this assembly, one can spot All-Star performers and, potentially, a small handful of players destined for the esteemed corridors of the Hall of Fame in the years to come. Conversely, a less fortunate facet also emerges, as five first-rounders failed to hit the century mark, keeping them out of the picture in the forthcoming series.
During the upcoming weeks, as we anticipate the commencement of training camps, we will delve into the 2009 NHL Entry Draft. In this quest, we invite the PHR community to make their choices, armed with the hindsight of each player’s career trajectory. A roster of players will be presented, and we will continuously update the first round as the selection process unfolds.
In the 2009 draft, the New York Islanders retained the first overall pick through a lottery win, granting them the privilege of making the top selection. At this pivotal juncture, the team confronted a crucial decision: opt for a cornerstone center or a cornerstone defenseman, much like the Tampa Bay Lightning the year prior. John Tavares and Victor Hedman emerged as the consensus top two prospects, with general manager Garth Snow looking to get the team back to relevance as quickly as possible after finishing last in their division for two consecutive seasons. Ultimately, the Islanders chose the former, and Tavares certainly became a cornerstone piece for them, leading the draft in games played (1,029) and in all major scoring categories. It’s worth noting that Hedman, though, would’ve been a very fair pick with hindsight in mind, as he’s manned a formidable Lightning blueline to four Stanley Cup Finals throughout his tenure and leads all 2009-drafted defenders in scoring by a wide margin. Armed with retrospective wisdom, the question arises: Did the Islanders’ decision to take Tavares give them the best shot at success before he departed for the Toronto Maple Leafs in free agency in 2018, or would Hedman get the team closer to a championship by now?
With the first pick of the 2009 NHL Entry Draft, who should the New York Islanders select? Make your voice heard below.
2009 Redraft: First Overall
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Victor Hedman 53% (1,101)
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John Tavares 38% (791)
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Ryan O'Reilly 3% (58)
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Matt Duchene 1% (21)
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Chris Kreider 1% (18)
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Evander Kane 1% (17)
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Mattias Ekholm 0% (8)
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Dmitry Orlov 0% (7)
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Oliver Ekman-Larsson 0% (6)
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Mike Hoffman 0% (6)
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Nazem Kadri 0% (6)
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Tomas Tatar 0% (6)
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Calvin de Haan 0% (5)
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Dmitry Kulikov 0% (5)
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Robin Lehner 0% (5)
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Reilly Smith 0% (5)
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Tyson Barrie 0% (4)
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Ryan Ellis 0% (4)
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Craig Smith 0% (4)
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Kyle Palmieri 0% (3)
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Anders Lee 0% (2)
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David Savard 0% (2)
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Marcus Johansson 0% (1)
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Darcy Kuemper 0% (1)
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Brayden Schenn 0% (1)
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Nick Leddy 0% (0)
Total votes: 2,087
App users, click here to vote.
Poll: Who Won The Erik Karlsson Trade?
For the first time in quite some time, the hockey world saw a blockbuster in early August, watching the San Jose Sharks trade defenseman Erik Karlsson to the Pittsburgh Penguins in a three-team deal. In recent trades over the last several years, teams have typically weaponized cap space as a third-team, retaining salary and usually getting mid to late-round picks in return. A unique aspect of this trade, however, is that the third team, the Montreal Canadiens, were able to take care of some business they had been hoping to accomplish for a while, namely removing forward Mike Hoffman‘s salary off their books.
Running up to the Karlsson trade, speculation had arisen about how much the Sharks would eventually retain on Karlsson’s contract, and for the most part, it was much lower than many experts had theorized. San Jose only retained $1.5MM (13%) of Karlsson’s $11.5MM salary, effectively clearing $10MM from their cap table over the next four years. Nevertheless, the Sharks did take back salary in exchange with Hoffman ($4.5MM), Mikael Granlund ($5MM), and Jan Rutta ($2.75MM), but all three of these deals will be off their books after the 2024-25 NHL season.
Lastly, at face value, the Penguins appear to be the undeniable winner in this deal. Even though he has not played a game for Pittsburgh, acquiring the best player in the deal always looks good. Surprisingly though, and maybe even more importantly long-term than acquiring Karlsson, the Penguins were able to move some poor contracts out from the Ron Hextall era, including Granlund, Rutta, Casey DeSmith ($1.8MM), and Jeff Petry ($4.69MM – 25% retained). New General Manager Kyle Dubas was able to add a $10MM player in Karlsson, while also creating $3MM of cap space in the same deal, a feat that has been largely difficult for most teams in the salary cap era.
Now that the complete trade is public and final, and knowing the perspectives of all three teams, who do you think ultimately won the Karlsson trade?
Who Won The Erik Karlsson Trade?
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Pittsburgh Penguins 60% (1,642)
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Montreal Canadiens 28% (769)
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San Jose Sharks 12% (337)
Total votes: 2,748
Poll: Will The Penguins Utilize Their Second Buyout Window?
As a result of the pre-arbitration settlement with Drew O’Connor earlier this week, the Penguins now have a 48-hour window that began today to buy a player out. Unlike the regular buyout window, however, there are some additional restrictions on who can be bought out during this stretch. The player must have a cap hit of at least $4MM and must have been on the roster at the trade deadline.
There is one obvious candidate to go this route in forward Mikael Granlund, who was a speculative buyout option back in June. The 31-year-old was acquired from Nashville at the trade deadline in somewhat of a surprising move and he struggled with his new team, notching just one goal in 21 games following the swap. That’s not the type of return they were expecting on someone that has a $5MM cap charge for two more seasons.
It’s not that Granlund is a bad player by any stretch – he’s coming off a 44-point year and had 64 points in 2021-22 but this is not a marketplace for a team to trade a player on an expensive contract and get fair value. If GM Kyle Dubas doesn’t want to pay future assets to get a team to take on Granlund’s deal and has an eye on completing an Erik Karlsson trade with San Jose, a buyout would be one way to create cap space.
Next season, Granlund’s cap hit would go down to just $833K, yielding more than $4MM in short-term savings. That amount jumps to $1.833MM for the following three seasons, however. But if making that move helps acquire Karlsson, it’s an option to consider.
There is also one other speculative candidate for a buyout and that’s Jeff Petry. The defenseman is widely expected to be traded as part of any potential Karlsson swap but he also holds a 15-team no-trade clause which certainly is a complicating factor. If none of the teams that aren’t on his no-trade list are interested in picking him up, Pittsburgh might be forced to buy Petry out and then use Granlund as the offsetting salary ballast in a swap.
That route doesn’t yield as much in the way of savings, however, with the veteran having signing bonus money in both remaining years of his deal, one that carries a $6.25MM AAV. That cap charge would drop to $3MM next season with a buyout before increasing to $4.5MM in 2024-25 so the savings aren’t as significant. (The Penguins would then carry a $1.25MM charge for 2025-26 and 2026-27.)
It’s worth noting that Pittsburgh will have some short-term flexibility at the start of next season thanks to Jake Guentzel’s ankle surgery that will keep him out for the next three months, making him LTIR-eligible. But in order to activate him midseason, they’ll need to be cap-compliant. Accordingly, they can’t really use any of his money to offset Karlsson’s cost, whatever portion of the $11.5MM they’d be taking on.
Dubas has been hesitant to go the buyout route in the past but this is a bit of a different situation now. The team has 48 hours to make a decision and if going this way helps to facilitate the acquisition of Karlsson, it’s one they’ll strongly have to consider if the trade options either aren’t there or are too punitive in terms of what it would cost to get a team to take on the deal.
What will the Penguins do? Make your prediction by voting below.
Will The Penguins Utilize A Buyout This Weekend?
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Yes 59% (275)
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No 41% (189)
Total votes: 464
App users, click here to vote.
Poll: Which Non-Playoff Team Will Make The Playoffs This Year?
From the 2021-22 season to the 2022-23 NHL campaign, the league saw two teams from the Eastern Conference (New Jersey Devils and New York Islanders), and three teams from the Western Conference (Seattle Kraken, Vegas Golden Knights, and Winnipeg Jets) make the playoffs after having missed the year prior. With another offseason almost behind us, it is time to start thinking about which teams will make the jump this upcoming year.
Western Conference Contenders
Nashville Predators – In what many considered to be a disappointing campaign in 2022-23, the Predators still only missed the playoffs by a hair, sitting three points back of the Jets. This offseason, the team filled out the roster with some aggressive moves, adding Ryan O’Reilly, Luke Schenn, and Gustav Nyquist into the mix. The Central Division is top-heavy with the Colorado Avalanche and Dallas Stars likely leading the charge, but the Predators should have some room to sneak their way into the playoffs.
Calgary Flames – The success of the first half of the year for the Flames should largely dictate what this team looks like at the season’s end. If Calgary is unable to come to terms on extensions with Mikael Backlund, Elias Lindholm, and seemingly their entire defensive core, the Flames will likely be one of the biggest sellers at next year’s trade deadline if they are unable to string together some wins. However, if the team plays well, Calgary would only be a couple of rental pieces away from being a legitimate playoff candidate.
St.Louis Blues – A very similar team to the Predators in regards to their circumstances, the Blues could be a sneaky playoff candidate coming out of the Western Conference in the upcoming season. Bringing back a largely similar roster to the one they finished last year with, St.Louis has good young talent, very intriguing project players, and has also added Kevin Hayes to their forward core. Again, playing in a division with only two surefire bets for the playoffs, the Blues could make some noise.
Eastern Conference Contenders
Buffalo Sabres – For the first time in a long time, the last week of the season mattered for Buffalo. Going down to the wire with the Florida Panthers, the Sabres only finished one point outside the top wild-card spot in the Eastern Conference. They finished third in the league last year in Goals For but finished a dismal 26th in Goals Against. Their goaltending could become an issue if Devon Levi does not live up to the hype, but adding defensemen such as Connor Clifton and Erik Johnson should help mask some weaknesses between the pipes.
Ottawa Senators – After acquiring Alex DeBrincat at last year’s draft, as well as signing Claude Giroux in the offseason, the Senators seemed poised to return to the playoffs last season. Unfortunately, due to some untimely injuries and poor goaltending performance, Ottawa once again found themselves outside looking in. The team is hoping to have found their answer in the net, signing goaltender Joonas Korpisalo for the next five seasons. The team will also benefit from a full year of defenseman Jakob Chychrun, and now having the privilege of employing Vladimir Tarasenko in the team’s top six could get them back into the mix.
Detroit Red Wings – Copying last offseason’s method, the Red Wings were once again one of the more active teams in free agency this year. Adding players like J.T. Compher, Justin Holl, and James Reimer, Detroit is once again trying to fill holes through their ample cap space. Not feeling they had done enough, the team went out and made a trade with the Senators to bring DeBrincat to Motor City. After some impressive drafts over the last four seasons, the sentiment around the league is that the Red Wings are on the cusp of returning to the Stanley Cup Finals. Unfortunately for them, and the two other Eastern teams mentioned, they all find themselves in arguably the toughest division in the game.
Now, we leave it to you. Which team do you think will make it back to the postseason for the 2024 Stanley Cup Playoffs? Will it be one of the teams mentioned above or a team completely off anybody’s radar?
Which Non-Playoff Team Will Make The Playoffs This Year?
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Buffalo Sabres 34% (509)
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Detroit Red Wings 17% (250)
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Ottawa Senators 15% (223)
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Other (Comment Below) 14% (216)
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St.Louis Blues 8% (124)
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Nashville Predators 7% (98)
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Calgary Flames 5% (78)
Total votes: 1,498
Poll: What Was The Top Offseason Acquisition?
As we approach August, this time of year typically signifies the gateway to the dog days of summer for the NHL. There already has been significant movement up to this point, including Alex DeBrincat, Pierre-Luc Dubois, Dmitry Orlov, etc., but dominoes such as Vladimir Tarasenko, and Erik Karlsson, still need to fall.
With all the moves being made so far, the question arises about what acquisition moves the needle the most for the acquiring team. Stanley Cup contenders certainly added to star-studded rosters, and several teams made moves to end lengthy rebuilds.
At this stage of the summer, what do you think has been the best off-season acquisition?
What Was The Top Offseason Acquisition? l
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Alex DeBrincat (Detroit Red Wings) 34% (514)
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Pierre-Luc Dubois (Los Angeles Kings) 26% (387)
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Dmitry Orlov (Carolina Hurricanes) 13% (200)
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Tyler Toffoli (New Jersey Devils) 12% (185)
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Other (Comment below) 10% (156)
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Ryan O'Reilly (Nashville Predators) 5% (69)
Total votes: 1,511