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Full 2024 NHL Draft Order

at CDT | by 3 Comments

Updated 6/28/24. Originally published 6/7/24.

With the draft lottery behind us (spoiler alert: there were no changes) and all but the most important playoff series decided, the final order for the 2024 NHL Draft has come into clear view.

We’ll likely see some of these picks change hands on June 28 or 29 or in the days before the draft. We’ll be sure to update the list below if and when picks are traded.

Here’s the full 2024 NHL draft order:

First Round

1. San Jose Sharks
2. Chicago Blackhawks
3. Anaheim Ducks
4. Columbus Blue Jackets
5. Montreal Canadiens
6. Utah Hockey Club
7. Ottawa Senators
8. Seattle Kraken
9. Calgary Flames
10. New Jersey Devils
11. San Jose Sharks (from BUF)
12. Philadelphia Flyers
13. Minnesota Wild
14. Buffalo Sabres (from PIT)
15. Detroit Red Wings
16. St. Louis Blues
17. Washington Capitals
18. Chicago Blackhawks (from NYI)
19. Vegas Golden Knights
20. New York Islanders (from TBL)
21. Montreal Canadiens (from LAK)
22. Nashville Predators
23. Toronto Maple Leafs
24. Colorado Avalanche
25. Boston Bruins
26. Los Angeles Kings (from WPG)
27. Carolina Hurricanes
28. Calgary Flames (from VAN)
29. Dallas Stars
30. New York Rangers
31. Anaheim Ducks (from EDM)
32. Philadelphia Flyers (from FLA)

Second Round

33. San Jose Sharks
34. Chicago Blackhawks
35. Anaheim Ducks
36. Philadelphia Flyers (from CBJ) (Note: CBJ has until after the first round to decide whether they’re sending their 2024 or 2025 second-round pick to PHI)
37. Winnipeg Jets (from MTL)
38. Utah Hockey Club
39. Ottawa Senators
40. Seattle Kraken
41. Calgary Flames
42. Buffalo Sabres (from NJD)
43. Buffalo Sabres
44. Pittsburgh Penguins (from PHI)
45. Minnesota Wild
46. Pittsburgh Penguins
47. Detroit Red Wings
48. St. Louis Blues
49. Utah Hockey Club (from WSH)
50. Chicago Blackhawks (from NYI)
51. Philadelphia Flyers (Note: compensatory pick for not signing 2018 first-round pick Jay O’Brien)
52. Washington Capitals (from VGK)
53. San Jose Sharks (from TBL)
54. New York Islanders (from LAK)
55. Nashville Predators
56. St. Louis Blues (from TOR)
57. Los Angeles Kings (from COL)
58. Anaheim Ducks (from BOS)
59. Nashville Predators (from WPG)
60. Carolina Hurricanes
61. New York Islanders (from VAN)
62. Calgary Flames (from DAL)
63. Seattle Kraken (from NYR)
64. Edmonton Oilers
65. Utah Hockey Club (from FLA)

Third Round

66. Anaheim Ducks (from SJS)
67. Chicago Blackhawks
68. Anaheim Ducks
69. Columbus Blue Jackets
70. Montreal Canadiens
71. Utah Hockey Club
72. Chicago Blackhawks (from OTT)
73. Seattle Kraken
74. Calgary Flames
75. New Jersey Devils
76. Buffalo Sabres
77. Philadelphia Flyers
78. Montreal Canadiens (from MIN)
79. Anaheim Ducks (from PIT)
80. Detroit Red Wings
81. St. Louis Blues
82. Washington Capitals
83. Washington Capitals (from NYI)
84. Calgary Flames (from VGK)
85. San Jose Sharks (from TBL)
86. Columbus Blue Jackets (from LAK)
87. Nashville Predators
88. Seattle Kraken (from TOR)
89. Utah Hockey Club (from COL)
90. Washington Capitals (from BOS)
91. New Jersey Devils (from WPG)
92. Carolina Hurricanes
93. Vancouver Canucks
94. Nashville Predators (from DAL)
95. St. Louis Blues (from NYR)
96. Utah Hockey Club (from EDM)
97. Florida Panthers

Fourth Round

98. Utah Hockey Club (from SJS)
99. Nashville Predators (from CHI)
100. Anaheim Ducks
101. Columbus Blue Jackets
102. Montreal Canadiens
103. Utah Hockey Club
104. Ottawa Senators
105. Seattle Kraken
106. Calgary Flames
107. Calgary Flames (from NJD)
108. Buffalo Sabres
109. Buffalo Sabres (from PHI)
110. Minnesota Wild
111. Pittsburgh Penguins
112. Ottawa Senators (from DET)
113. St. Louis Blues
114. Washington Capitals
115. New York Islanders
116. San Jose Sharks (from VGK)
117. Ottawa Senators (from TBL)
118. Los Angeles Kings
119. Nashville Predators
120. Toronto Maple Leafs
121. Colorado Avalanche
122. Boston Bruins
123. Winnipeg Jets
124. Carolina Hurricanes
125. Vancouver Canucks
126. Detroit Red Wings (from DAL)
127. New York Rangers
128. Tampa Bay Lightning (from EDM)
129. Florida Panthers

Fifth Round

130. Montreal Canadiens (from SJS)
131. San Jose Sharks (from CHI)
132. Colorado Avalanche (from ANA)
133. Columbus Blue Jackets
134. Montreal Canadiens
135. Utah Hockey Club
136. Ottawa Senators
137. Colorado Avalanche (from SEA)
138. Chicago Blackhawks (from CGY)
139. New Jersey Devils
140. Minnesota Wild (from BUF)
141. Florida Panthers (from PHI)
142. Minnesota Wild
143. San Jose Sharks (from PIT)
144. Detroit Red Wings
145. St. Louis Blues
146. Washington Capitals
147. New York Islanders
148. Philadelphia Flyers (from VGK)
149. Tampa Bay Lightning
150. Philadelphia Flyers (from LAK)
151. Toronto Maple Leafs (from NSH)
152. Toronto Maple Leafs
153. New Jersey Devils (from COL)
154. Boston Bruins
155. Winnipeg Jets
156. Carolina Hurricanes
157. Toronto Maple Leafs (from VAN)
158. Dallas Stars
159. New York Rangers
160. Edmonton Oilers
161. Buffalo Sabres (from FLA)

Sixth Round

162. Vancouver Canucks (from SJS)
163. Chicago Blackhawks
164. Anaheim Ducks
165. Columbus Blue Jackets
166. Montreal Canadiens
167. Utah Hockey Club
168. Carolina Hurricanes (from OTT)
169. Seattle Kraken
170. Calgary Flames
171. New Jersey Devils
172. Buffalo Sabres
173. Philadelphia Flyers
174. Minnesota Wild
175. Pittsburgh Penguins
176. Detroit Red Wings
177. Philadelphia Flyers (from STL)
178. Washington Capitals
179. New York Islanders
180. Vegas Golden Knights
181. Tampa Bay Lightning
182. Los Angeles Kings
183. Edmonton Oilers (from NSH)
184. Carolina Hurricanes (from TOR)
185. Colorado Avalanche
186. Boston Bruins
187. Winnipeg Jets
188. Carolina Hurricanes
189. Vancouver Canucks
190. Utah Hockey Club (from DAL)
191. New York Rangers
192. Edmonton Oilers
193. Florida Panthers

Seventh Round

194. San Jose Sharks
195. Tampa Bay Lightning (from CHI)
196. Edmonton Oilers (from ANA)
197. Vegas Golden Knights (from CBJ)
198. Los Angeles Kings (from MTL)
199. Utah Hockey Club
200. Toronto Maple Leafs (from OTT)
201. Seattle Kraken
202. Seattle Kraken (from CGY)
203. Detroit Red Wings (from NJD)
204. Buffalo Sabres
205. Philadelphia Flyers
206. Tampa Bay Lightning (from MIN)
207. Pittsburgh Penguins
208. Detroit Red Wings
209. St. Louis Blues
210. Montreal Canadiens (from WSH)
211. St. Louis Blues (from NYI)
212. Vegas Golden Knights
213. Nashville Predators (from TBL)
214. Los Angeles Kings
215. Colorado Avalanche (from NSH)
216. Toronto Maple Leafs
217. Colorado Avalanche
218. Edmonton Oilers (from BOS)
219. Winnipeg Jets
220. Carolina Hurricanes
221. Vancouver Canucks
222. Dallas Stars
223. Pittsburgh Penguins (from NYR)
224. Montreal Canadiens (from EDM)
225. Florida Panthers

PHR Mailbag: Goalies, Mock Draft, Flyers, Avalanche, Devils, Islanders, NHL-CHL Rule, Rentals

at CDT | by 2 Comments

Topics in this edition of the PHR Mailbag include the goaltending market, questions about Colorado’s upcoming offseason, and much more.  If your question doesn’t appear here, check back in our previous two mailbag columns.

@3rdWorldGhost: Where do these goalies end up? – Markstrom, Saros, Gibson, Korpisalo, Nedeljkovic, Samsonov, Ullmark, and what other goalies do you see moving?

What UFAs end up in Chicago?
What’s your top 10 mock draft?
Do the Panthers blow it up if they win?

There’s a lot to dig into here so these will be pretty quick answers.  We now know that Jacob Markstrom will be with New Jersey and Alex Nedeljkovic is staying in Pittsburgh.  We also now know Joonas Korpisalo and Linus Ullmark have traded places. As for the other goalies, I’m leaning toward Juuse Saros staying in Nashville while John Gibson landing in Toronto is something I’ve had kicking around for a bit, assuming they’re not on his no-trade list and Anaheim holds back some salary.  My original landing spot for Ilya Samsonov went out the window with the goalie movement this week so let’s go with him landing in Chicago.  There are other goalies who will move, largely of the backup variety, headlined by Laurent Brossoit and Alex Stalock.  Guessing where they’ll land on that particular carousel is nothing short of a dart throw, however.

Looking back at my picks for our upcoming UFA rankings (which will require some adjustments for that goalie movement), I had them picked for Jake Guentzel, Alexander Wennberg, Daniel Sprong, and Matt Grzelcyk plus Samsonov now.  Note that we make picks independently of each other knowing that one signing often blocks others on that team so don’t interpret that as me picking all of them, they’re all individual one-off predictions.  (Keep this in mind when the full predictions come out in the coming days.)

Guentzel is the headliner while the others I picked as short-term bridge players to give their prospects some time to develop.  I don’t think they’ll land all of those players but if they got Guentzel plus a floor-raising veteran or two, that wouldn’t be a bad trip through free agency.  I wouldn’t be shocked if there’s some activity on the trade front as well where they take on a short-term contract as they’ve done lately.

As for a mock draft, here are my predictions as things currently stand:

1) SJ – F Macklin Celebrini
2) CHI – D Artyom Levshunov
3) ANA – D Anton Silayev
4) CBJ – F Ivan Demidov
5) MTL – F Cayden Lindstrom
6) UTA – D Zeev Buium
7) OTT – F Bennett Sennecke
8) SEA – D Sam Dickinson
9) CGY – D Carter Yakemchuk
10) NJ – F Tij Iginla

Meanwhile, we released our Round One Mock Draft earlier today so be sure to check that out if you haven’t already done so.

I don’t see a full-scale blow-up coming from Florida.  Obviously, they’re not going to be able to afford to keep all of their pending free agents so they will probably take a small step back from that.  But even if that happens, they should still be viewed as a contender.  If you have a shot at contending, you probably won’t be blowing things up.  Besides, they don’t have control of their next two first-round picks so if they were going to take a step back, they wouldn’t even be able to benefit from it in the form of adding high-end prospects.  It’s full steam ahead for them as a result.

Emoney123: How would you rate the Flyers’ rebuild? Besides the hype of Michkov, how soon might Gendron, Bonk, Barkey, Tuomaala, Rizzo, and McDonald play in the NHL? How would you rate the farm system overall? Thanks!

I think they’re off to a good start to their rebuild but there is still some work to be done.  If it’s a larger-scale teardown which I think is what they were aiming for at least, they don’t have enough pieces yet.  I’m answering out of order but I think this is a mid-pack system at the moment.  If you’re planning to exit a rebuild, you don’t want a mid-pack system to start from; obviously, you want to be at least somewhere in the top ten.

Of the players you listed, the only ones that might be close to seeing NHL action is Massimo Rizzo.  A good showing to start next season with Lehigh Valley would get him on the recall radar.  Samu Tuomaala could also get into that mix as well.  I’m not convinced Alexis Gendron will be an NHL regular; I need to see some sustained pro success to show that he’s not just a high-end junior scorer.  Denver Barkey has another year of major junior left and, like Gendron, will probably need time to adjust in the minors so he’s not on the short-term horizon either.

On the back end, I like Oliver Bonk as an all-around dependable piece.  He may not be flashy but he will be effective.  But he has another OHL year left and probably some time in the minors after that; many teams don’t bring blueliners straight to the NHL from junior.  As for Hunter McDonald, I feel like he’s more of an organizational filler prospect than someone they should be counting on for meaningful NHL contributions.  He can certainly change that assessment with a good showing for a couple of years in the minors but at a minimum, he’s probably not a short-term option.

Philadelphia needs more high-end prospects and frankly, more depth before emerging from this rebuild.  They’re off to a good start but that’s all it is, a start.

@iwtfwc: How do things play out for the @Avalanche this offseason?

– Landeskog? (I’m not confident)
– Nichushkin? (Seems they’re stuck unless he fails Stage 3)
– Drouin contact?
– Mittelstadt contract?
– Roster fill out?
– Chances of adding Nedeljkovic?

I’m not overly confident either that Gabriel Landeskog will be able to have any sort of successful extended comeback.  However, I do think he’s going to give it an honest try and will start the season with the Avs.  That will limit them this summer but if he shuts it down midseason, they’ll have plenty of in-year flexibility.  I agree on Valeri Nichushkin, their hands are tied right now.  He needs to get through the third stage of the program and then they can assess things from there.  But they basically have to reserve space to activate him when he’s cleared.

If Jonathan Drouin comes back, it might be after free agency starts.  I don’t think the Avalanche are willing to get to his number at this point, barring a cap-clearing move needing to be made first.  If they were ready and able to make a deal, it’d be done already.  But if Drouin’s market isn’t the strongest (and with how things went in Montreal, it might not be as robust as his camp hopes), I could see them circling back.  I had him at three years at $4.375MM per season in our free agent predictions and they might be able to afford that.

I talked a lot about Casey Mittelstadt in Colorado’s offseason checklist the other day so I won’t get into that in much detail again here.  I can’t see them affording a long-term deal so something in the four-to-six-year range around $5.5MM or so is where I see that falling.  In terms of filling out their roster, that was also a topic in their checklist.  It’s going to be a bunch of minimum-salary signings or close to it.  Your guess is as good as mine as to which players will accept it a few hours into free agency.

I don’t see Colorado adding another goalie for the big club this summer (obviously not Nedeljkovic now).  Justus Annunen did quite well in limited duty last year and has earned a longer look behind Alexandar Georgiev.  Perhaps more importantly, he’s slotted in at less than $840K for the next two years so it’s his spot to lose.  I do expect a signing for the Eagles, however.

RipperMagoo: Are the Devils better or worse after?

Sign Anthony Stolarz: three years, $8.25MM @ AAV $2.75MMl
Sign Nikita Zadorov: five years, $30MM @ AAV $6MM
Sign Dakota Joshua: three years, $9MM @ AAV $3MM
Trade Holtz and Bahl to SEA for Adam Larsson
Draft Cole Eiserman @ 10th

Before even looking at the options, the answer is yes.  Are the Devils better…yes.  If they did nothing, they’d be better than they were in 2023-24 as long as they don’t get slammed by injuries again.  We know they’ve addressed the goalie situation so let’s skip that one but here are some thoughts on the others.

Zadorov: I don’t agree with him being a $6MM player but it feels like someone’s going to give it to him.  Here’s the thing, how much do they want to spend on the back end?  They’re at nearly $20MM now which is fine but Simon Nemec and Luke Hughes are a year away from getting a lot more expensive.  If they get big second contracts and you add Zadorov, now we’re talking $30MM-plus and not by a little bit.  That might be too much spending on the blueline.  If they go for a defenseman this summer, I think it’ll be someone on a short-term contract and it might be by trade over free agency.

Larsson: I’m going out of order here but the two are related.  At least this is a short-term contract which better fits their salary structure but giving up Alexander Holtz and let’s say another young roster player (since Kevin Bahl is gone now) for a one-year rental to fill a fourth defenseman role seems steep.  And if you’re acquiring him with the idea of extending him, now you have three right-shot blueliners making at least $4.4MM for 2025-26 with Nemec still to sign.  Again, this feels like too much money on the back end.

Joshua: I think they’d happily take him at that price tag but I have a hunch he’s getting a bit more than that and possibly another year.  Think four years, $14MM in total.

Eiserman: With how his stock has slipped, I’m not sure he’d be their choice at 10 but it wouldn’t be a bad one.  Especially if Holtz isn’t in the long-term plans, another scoring winger isn’t a bad thing to have.

New Jersey has enough money to try to take a big swing this summer.  I think they’ll try to land a big fish up front and then add a veteran blueliner or two on short-term deals, giving them some shorter-term stability while leaving spots and salary slots for Nemec and Hughes to take on bigger roles a year later.

DevilShark: Which team that made the playoffs this year is in for the biggest hurt over the next 10 years when you look at a combo of current roster, prospect pool, and draft pick stock?

I’ll pick the Islanders here.  In an effort to hang around the playoff picture every year, they haven’t made many moves to add to their pick and prospect cupboards and unfortunately for them, they haven’t had much to show for it aside from their run in 2021.

If you look at their current roster, they’re a mid-pack team at best on paper.  They don’t have enough cap space to go after an impact player or two that could give them the boost they need.  As it is, they might have to buy someone out or pay an asset to get out of an undesirable contract for the second year in a row.  That’s not good.

Prospect-wise, they have one of the weakest systems in the NHL.  That’s a by-product of moving first-round picks (their last one was back in 2019, used on Simon Holmstrom) and some of their better prospects for win-now options.  Granted, moving some of those pieces helped them land Bo Horvat on a contract GM Lou Lamoriello wasn’t a fan of which isn’t nothing but sacrificing the future for the present will eventually catch up with teams.  Meanwhile, they don’t have their own first three picks in the upcoming draft (although they do have some selections from other teams at least).

I don’t see a path for them to drastically improve, nor do I see one that sees them bottom out.  The floor of their team is good but the ceiling isn’t much better.  At some point, they’re going to have to take some steps back to move more steps forward but I don’t see Lamoriello pivoting to that approach anytime soon.

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Offseason Checklist: Dallas Stars

at CDT | by Leave a Comment

The offseason has arrived for all but the two teams who are still taking part in the playoffs.  For the rest, it’s time to examine what they will need to accomplish over the coming months.  Next up is a look at the Stars.

A quiet 2023 offseason outside of the addition of Matt Duchene yielded the same results for the Stars – a Western Conference Final elimination. Improvement from their budding stars like Wyatt Johnston and a true breakout season on the blue line from Thomas Harley helped Dallas reach 113 points in the regular season, their second-most in franchise history. They’re already facing one significant loss heading into next season, though, with veteran fixture Joe Pavelski expected to retire. Accordingly, it’s likely another summer of minor surgery for general manager Jim Nill, coming off his second Jim Gregory GM of the Year Award.

Fill A Top-Six Forward Spot

At first glance, this doesn’t seem like a pressing team for a Stars offense that finished third in the NHL last season. But Pavelski and Duchene, who’s a pending UFA, were big parts of that, contributing 52 goals and 132 points between the two of them. They can’t lose both and expect to still be the team they were this season. While the production of one could be replaced by continued improvement from Johnston or strong rookie campaigns from Mavrik Bourque and Logan Stankoven, asking them to offset the loss of both is a tough ask to put on the young future of your franchise.

There’s an easy way to check this box – re-up Duchene, who was more than effective for his $3MM cap hit. He’ll earn a slight raise on it this offseason, but there’s mutual interest in an extension, and he’s expressed a willingness to take a discount on his market value to stay in Dallas. It certainly helps that he’s still receiving $1.56MM per year from the Predators, who bought out the final three seasons of his prior contract last summer, through 2028-29.

In case they can’t keep Duchene from going to market, though, they’ll need to find somebody who can slot into a top-six spot on the right wing, preferably for under $5MM a season against the cap. Even at 32, Tyler Seguin still has enough juice in the tank to comfortably handle a top-six role, especially if the center responsibilities are being dedicated to Johnston and Roope Hintz. They will need an upgrade on someone like Evgenii Dadonov, though, who currently projects as their second-line RW but had only 23 points in 51 games this year. If they do need to hit the free agent market for a Duchene replacement, someone like Anthony Duclair, Anthony Mantha or Vladimir Tarasenko could be an appropriately priced option.

Start Oettinger Extension Talks

Things have been a tad up-and-down for Jake Oettinger since he took over the Dallas crease from Anton Khudobin in 2021, but a good playoff showing has him back to being a largely consensus top-ten netminder in the league. Even at his worst, he’s a slightly above-average goalie, evidenced by his career-low .905 SV% this season. Injuries were a bit of a concern, limiting him to 53 starts, but at his peak, he’s a game-altering talent.

He’s shown it multiple times, whether it be his .919 SV% and 37-11-11 record in 2022-23 that earned him fifth place in Vezina Trophy voting or his .954 SV% in a seven-game loss to the Flames in the first round in 2022 that has gone down as one of the better netminding performances in a series loss in league history. He’s worth shelling out for among a current crop of goalies that, aside from the very few elite, tend to have real stinker seasons at least every once in a while.

Now, as he enters the final season of a respectable three-year, $4MM AAV bridge deal, Nill needs to decide how far he’s willing to go on a long-term deal for his star netminder. If he gets it done early this summer – a realistic scenario given his otherwise light free-agent workload – it could come in a tad north of $8MM annually on a long-year deal. That’s a lower percentage of the cap than recent long-term deals for more highly-regarded netminders like Connor Hellebuyck and Ilya Sorokin and a good bit below what it’s expected to take for the Rangers to retain Igor Shesterkin.

New Deal For Harley

While the Stars have only a few impact UFAs to deal with, the list is even smaller for impact RFAs. Only two saw consistent playing time in the playoffs, and only one was deployed in high-usage situations – Thomas Harley.

The 22-year-old isn’t eligible for arbitration but is due a significant raise coming off his entry-level contract. Drafted 18th overall in 2019, Harley dethroned Ryan Suter for top-pairing duties alongside Miro Heiskanen early in the season and never looked back. He finished the campaign with 15 goals and 47 points in 79 games, finishing second among Dallas defenders in average time on ice with 21:01. His possession game with Heiskanen was strong, controlling 55.6% of shot attempts when on the ice at even strength.

He’s a core piece of their team and could very well serve as Heiskanen’s partner for the next decade if their results together this season are any indication. With the Stars in a bit of a cap crunch, though, expect them to opt for a bridge deal while they load up in a continued effort to make their second Stanley Cup Final appearance of the decade. Evolving Hockey pegs his new contract at a two-year term with an AAV close to $4MM, a safe bet for positive value considering his showing this year.

Add RD Depth

The Stars still have Esa Lindell and Suter signed next season behind Harley, so their left side is likely already locked in. But behind Heiskanen, who’s a lefty playing the right side anyway, there’s a lot of uncertainty.

Like Duchene, Nill is expected to make a big push to keep trade deadline acquisition Chris Tanev from heading to market next week. He was stellar in a second-pairing shutdown role alongside Lindell, controlling play well and posting two assists and a +7 rating in 19 playoff games. Even if he comes back, though, there’s a tossup behind him.

Jani Hakanpää is a cheap candidate to re-sign, but he provides much of the same services as Tanev and would likely be ruled expendable if the latter is extended. Nils Lundkvist had 13 points in 59 regular-season games but struggled early in postseason action and was a frequent healthy scratch in the later rounds. It’s fair to assume he won’t be relied upon for much of anything by head coach Peter DeBoer if he’s qualified and brought back next season. Lian Bichsel, while a strong prospect who could challenge for a roster spot out of camp, is also a lefty. Asking him to play his off side, even alongside a veteran like Suter, is an irresponsible ask.

That makes it clear that, even outside of Tanev, adding a right-shot defender will be a priority for Nill when the UFA market opens on July 1.

Image courtesy of USA Today Sports.

Free Agent Focus: Dallas Stars

at CDT | by 3 Comments

Free agency is now just a month away and teams are looking ahead to when it opens.  There will be several impact players set to hit the open market in July while many teams have key restricted free agents to re-sign as well.  We continue our look around the NHL with an overview of the free agent situation for the Stars.

Key Restricted Free Agents

D Thomas Harley – Harley broke out in a big way last season, and it couldn’t have come at a better time for the 22-year-old as he could be in line for a big payday this summer. Harley had played just 40 NHL games before last season, but dressed in 79 games last year averaging over 21 minutes a game and posting 15 goals and 32 assists. The Syracuse, New York native is mobile for his size and keeps things simple with the puck but does have an offensive pulse. He has played mostly even-strength minutes in Dallas, and likely has more to offer on special teams should he be given an opportunity. Harley could be in line for a long-term extension with an AAV in the range of $5.5MM to $6MM, however, given the Stars’ cap crunch, he might need to settle for a bridge deal.

D Nils Lundkvist – Lundkvist is another two-way defenseman on the Stars’ backend and like many of the others he is mobile and plays a simple offensive game. Lundkvist won’t light up the scoresheet but his a good in the offensive zone keeping plays alive and getting pucks to the net. He is also a solid passer and plays a relatively safe style, taking care of his duties with and without the puck. Depending on the status of Tanev, Lundkvist could see a promotion next season and will likely receive a bridge deal this summer given the Stars’ cap crunch.

F Sam Steel – Steel was expected to be an offensive player in the NHL when he was drafted in the first round back in 2016. However, he’s never been able to find much scoring success, topping out at 28 points in 65 games last season. He’s bounced around to three organizations in the past few seasons but is still just 26 years old and has carved out an NHL role as a bottom-six forward who can provide energy and plays a fast game. Steel signed last summer for one year and $850K, however, this summer he should be able to find a multi-year deal and double his salary.

Other RFAs:  F Oskar Back, G Matt Murray

Key Unrestricted Free Agents

F Matt Duchene – Duchene bounced back to form in 2023-24 and delivered everything that Dallas was hoping for when they signed him to a one-year $3MM deal last summer. Duchene can still skate, and remains a threat on the power play, off the rush and in tight areas. He posted 25 goals and 40 assists in 80 games last year and has expressed an interest in returning to the Stars. The interest is mutual according to reports and it seems very likely that both sides can reach a multi-year deal in the range of $4MM – $5MM per season.

D Jani Hakanpää – Hakanpää had the unfortunate luck of having a career-worst season as he approached unrestricted free agency. The 32-year-old Finnish defenseman has been a solid contributor on the Stars’ blueline since the 2021-22 season but dressed in just 64 games in the regular season and wasn’t available in the playoffs due to injury. When he was healthy, he remained a solid third-pair defenseman and an excellent penalty killer as his big body can disrupt passing and block shots. Hakanpää isn’t a great skater and isn’t particularly good with the puck, but for a team looking for a safe, stay-at-home defenseman, he could be a good option.

D Chris Tanev – Tanev fit in seamlessly with the Stars after he came over to the team on February 28. He played predominantly at even strength and on the penalty kill and remained one of the best shot blockers in the NHL. Tanev can still skate and remains a good option to take on the other team’s best players, he leads by example and isn’t afraid to get physical. Any team that signs Tanev to a multi-year deal may have to contend with the backend of his contract becoming an albatross as players that play the same style as Tanev typically don’t age that well. That being said, Tanev will still fetch a few years on his next deal, likely north of $3MM per season.

Other UFAs: D Gavin Bayreuther, F Nicholas Caamano, C Fredrik Karlstrom, RW Joe Pavelski, D Alex Petrovic, D Derrick Pouliot, C Scott Reedy, D Jerad Rosburg, RW Craig Smith, G Scott Wedgewood

Projected Cap Space

Dallas has been a great team for a long time, but this summer might be the one in which they take a step back. The Stars have just over $16MM available under the salary cap and will have multiple holes to fill. If they are to sign a few of their pending free agents, that will leave them with very little space to plug holes in the lineup. However, the Stars are fortunate to have players like Mavrik Bourque in the AHL who are ready to step into an NHL lineup. This summer will be crucial for Stars general manager Jim Nill to maximize the window in which Dallas can continue to be a Stanley Cup contender.

Photos courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.  Contract information courtesy of CapFriendly.

Free Agent Focus: Detroit Red Wings

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Free agency is now just a bit more than a month away and teams are looking ahead to when it opens. There will be several impact players set to hit the open market in July while many teams have key restricted free agents to re-sign as well. We continue our look around the NHL with an overview of the free agent situation for the Red Wings. 

Key Restricted Free Agents

F Lucas Raymond – The Red Wings have the never-exciting privilege of putting a price to their leading scorer this summer, with Raymond set for a substantial pay raise after posting 31 goals and 72 points in 82 games this season. He was incredibly productive on his entry-level contract, totaling 71 goals and 174 points in 238 games and quickly vindicating his top-five selection in the 2020 NHL Draft. The Red Wings intend to take their time in negotiating with both Raymond and Seider, which could drag negotiations through the summer, though it seems inevitable that Detroit will soon be locking up a their top winger for the foreseeable future.

F Joe Veleno – Joe Veleno hasn’t yet vindicated his first-round selection in the 2018 NHL Draft, though he did seem much more comfortable handling a daily NHL role this season – his third full-time year in the league. Veleno scored a career-high 12 goals and 28 points in 80 games this season, while serving a quaint role on the team’s third line. He hasn’t done much to warrant a particularly expensive new deal but he filled a role worth re-signing. At 24, a mid-term deal would take Veleno through his remaining RFA years and give him a chance to solidify his role with the team amidst his prime.

D Moritz Seider – Detroit’s summer will be co-headlined by Moritz Seider, after he spent all three seasons of his entry-level contract as the team’s top defenseman. He’s averaged nearly 23 minutes of ice time through the first 246 games of his career – not missing a single game, scoring 134 points, and earning one Calder Trophy as the NHL’s top rookie in 2022 along the way. That’s a dazzling way to spend the first contract of a career, and Seider will be due for a confident raise as a result. While he’s yet to reach the heights of his 50-point rookie year – scoring 42 in each of the last two seasons – Seider has accomplished enough before his 23rd birthday to place himself among the league’s highest paid defenders.

Other RFAs: F Jonatan Berggren, D Jared McIsaac

Key Unrestricted Free Agents

F Patrick Kane – Future Hall of Fame winger Patrick Kane joined the Red Wings in December after a dramatic return from hip resurfacing surgery this season. His return from injury was bumpy, with Kane in and out of the lineup with day-to-day issues as he beefed up his conditioning. But Kane returned to his usual self soon after, ultimately scoring 20 goals and 47 points in 50 games with the Red Wings – though plagued by ineffectiveness on defense. The 35-year-old legend has an unclear future ahead, with Detroit saying they’ll keep in touch ahead of July 1st and Chicago Blackhawks general manager Kyle Davidson confirming they aren’t looking for a reunion. His scoring is still encouraging – and his precedence is no doubt impressive – but too high of an asking price could make Kane hard for many teams to budget for.

F Daniel Sprong – Daniel Sprong vindicated a one-year, $2MM contract with the Red Wings with 18 goals and 43 points in 76 games this season. The performance was plenty of an encore to Sprong’s 21 goals and 46 points in 66 games with the Seattle Kraken last year, and seems to have finally solidified Sprong as an impactful middle-six winger years after his highly-discussed second-round selection in 2015. Sprong is due a raise from his $2MM salary this summer but he’ll likely not be able to demand much, with still little to show for his 344 games in the league. He seems set for a hardy extension this summer, and a return to an impactful role on Detroit’s second line next season.

D Shayne Gostisbehere – Shayne Gostisbehere joined Sprong in vindicating his signing this season, posting 10 goals and 56 points in 81 games while serving out a one-year, $4.125MM contract. Gostisbehere returned to his 50-point form after a runaround season last year that saw Gostisbehere traded from the Arizona Coyotes to the Carolina Hurricanes mid-year. But through all of the moves, Gostisbehere has continued his run as a stout second-pair defenseman, playing well enough to earn added salary and term this summer. Locking him up will go a long way towards solidifying Detroit’s depth throughout their defense.

Other UFAs: F David Perron, F Christian Fischer, F Zach Aston-Reese, F Austin Czarnik, F Taro Hirose, F Matt Luff, D Wyatt Newpower, G James Reimer, G Michael Hutchinson

Projected Cap Space

The Red Wings are entering the summer with plenty to do – but they’ll thankfully also have plenty to spend, with $29.367MM in projected cap space. There’s a very good chance that Raymond and Seider could eat into the majority of that space, though even $10MM should be enough to let Detroit sure up their depth pieces. Detroit could also choose to prioritize a few flashier free agency additions, with the promise of top prospects like Nate Danielson and Simon Edvinsson sure to help round out the offense soon.

List Of Players Getting Trade Protection On July 1st

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In the current Collective Bargaining Agreement between the NHL and NHLPA, the league players can procure three types of No-Move Clauses in their contracts. The only stipulations to these clauses are that the player in question must be 27 years of age or older and must have accrued seven years of service time at the NHL level. The three types of No-Move Clauses are as follows: No Movement Clause (NMC), No Trade Clause (NTC), and Modified NMC or NTC.

Per the current CBA, an NMC means that a player cannot be waived, assigned to minors, or traded without their consent, and they also must be protected in the event of an Expansion Draft. An NTC is straightforward — giving the player protection from being traded without their approval. Lastly, a modified NMC or NTC sets an arbitrary number of teams and a time frame when a player can use this protection. In just over a week, an assortment of players will receive trade protection on their current contracts, and CapFriendly has broken it down.

 

No Movement Clauses
D Charlie McAvoy (Boston)
F Sebastian Aho (Carolina)
D Devon Toews (Colorado)
F Roope Hintz (Dallas)
D Gustav Forsling (Florida)
F Kirill Kaprizov (Minnesota)
F Joel Eriksson Ek (Minnesota)
F Jesper Bratt (New Jersey)
F Timo Meier (New Jersey)
G Ilya Sorokin (NY Islanders)
F Pierre-Luc Dubois (Washington)

No Trade Clauses
F Ross Colton (Colorado)
D Nick Seeler (Philadelphia)
D Vince Dunn (Seattle)
F Clayton Keller (Utah)
D Erik Cernak (Tampa Bay)
D Mikhail Sergachev (Tampa Bay)

Modified No Trade Clauses
F Jordan Greenway (Buffalo) – eight-team no-trade list
F Tage Thompson (Buffal0) – five-team no-trade list
D Rasmus Andersson (Calgary) – six-team no-trade list
D Samuel Girard (Colorado) – nine-team no-trade list
F Miles Wood (Colorado) – six-team no-trade list
F Alex DeBrincat (Detroit) – 16-team no-trade list
F Adrian Kempe (Los Angeles) – 10-team no-trade list
F Nico Hischier (New Jersey) – 10-team no-trade list
D John Marino (New Jersey) – eight-team no-trade list
D Jonas Siegenthaler (New Jersey) – 10-team no-trade list
F Mathew Barzal (NY Islanders) – 22-team no-trade list
D Thomas Chabot (Ottawa) – 10-team no-trade list
F Tanner Jeannot (Tampa Bay) – 16-team no-trade list
F Kyle Connor (Winnipeg) – 10-team no-trade list

Free Agent Focus: Edmonton Oilers

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Free agency is now just a bit more than a month away and teams are looking ahead to when it opens. There will be several impact players set to hit the open market in July while many teams have key restricted free agents to re-sign as well. We continue our look around the NHL with an overview of the free agent situation for the Oilers. 

Key Restricted Free Agents

F Dylan Holloway – Dylan Holloway has spent most of the last three seasons posting high scoring in the minor leagues but failing to follow up in NHL call-ups. That seemed to come to a peak this year, with Holloway netting 10 goals and 16 points in 18 AHL games but then totaling just nine points in 38 NHL regular-season games. It was looking like another disappointing year until Holloway stepped up in the postseason – tallying a handful of timely goals and putting in the work to make an impact even if his name isn’t on the scoresheet. Still, he has just seven points in 23 playoff games, not doing too much to warrant a prime contract next season. There are reasons for Edmonton to hold onto faith with the 2020 14th-overall pick, though he’s likely set for a short-term ‘prove it’ deal before anything substantial.

D Philip Broberg – Broberg’s career has followed a very similar track record to Holloway’s, featuring strong minor league scoring followed by weak performances at the top level. That has equated to 13 points in 81 NHL games for Broberg – though, like Holloway, he’s earned some stake back with strong appearances in the postseason, though he’s only played in eight games. The Oilers have been publicly shopping Broberg around for some time now, and seem destined for a breakup this summer – with a looming change of scenery hopefully sparking some offense in the former eighth-overall pick.

Other RFAs: F James Hamblin, F Raphael Lavoie, F Carter Savoie, D Noel Hoefenmayer, G Ryan Fanti

Key Unrestricted Free Agents

F Warren Foegele – The Oilers are facing a massive outflux of depth forwards this summer, headlined by Warren Foegele, who posted a career-high 20 goals and 41 points this season. Foegele has always found a way to be impactful but he seemed to find an added gear this year, fighting his way to confident third-line minutes and strong scoring amidst an Oilers bottom-six that was otherwise fairly tame. Foegele chose to have a career year at the right time, and will likely vie for a respectable price tag this summer with teams looking to prioritize depth scoring. But there’s no question that his strength shined best in the Oilers lineup, and he should be a popular candidate to re-sign.

F Connor Brown – Connor Brown was signed to replace Klim Kostin’s role of rough-and-tumble bruiser lined up next to Connor McDavid. But Brown couldn’t fill the role, managing just 12 points in 71 games this season and seeing his role dwindle from top-line minutes to healthy scratches. Brown has earned some merit back with six points in 17 postseason games, though he’s still filling a role much less than originally designed. That fact could make him expendable come the summer, among a long list of depth options hitting the open market.

F Adam Henrique – The Oilers must make judgment calls on multiple veteran forwards, including Henrique, Corey Perry, Sam Gagner, and Mattias Janmark. Of the bunch, it appears Henrique would have the best case to return. He posted a measly nine points in 22 games – and six points in 15 playoff games – after joining the Oilers at the Trade Deadline, but has still found a way to offer prominent depth at both wing and center. Flexibility and leadership are Henrique’s defining traits and it could prove invaluable as the Oilers look to turn a one-season run to the Stanley Cup Finals into a routine spot among the NHL’s top teams. At 34, it’s likely Henrique has a few years left in the tank without being able to command too pricey of a cap hit.

D Vincent Desharnais – Desharnais has filled the important role of team-bruiser for the Oilers, leading him to 78 appearances during the regular season, even though he potted just 11 points. He’s a hefty 6-foot-7, 226lbs, and knows how to throw around his weight without racking up the penalty minutes – totaling just 85 across his first 114 NHL games. Desharnais has distinctly shown what kind of player he is and will likely be due a cheap contract as a result, but his ability to serve as the brawn behind the skilled Oilers lineup sets him up to become a consistent of the team’s bottom lines.

Other UFAs: F Sam Carrick, F  Sam Gagner, F Mattias Janmark, F Corey Perry, F Adam Erne, F Greg McKegg, D Troy Stecher, D Cam Dineen, D Markus Niemelainen, G Calvin Pickard

Projected Cap Space

The Oilers are entering the summer with just $10.03MM in projected cap space. That’s likely enough to bring back a few depth pieces – and both of their notable RFAs – but it won’t be enough for the team to make any notable improvements after making a run to Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Finals. They’ll have to hope their current makeup can find similar success next season – and will soon need to lean on young depth pieces like Xavier Bourgault and Beau Akey as they continue to be priced out of consistency down the lineup.

Free Agent Focus: Florida Panthers

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Free agency is now just a bit more than a month away and teams are looking ahead to when it opens. There will be several impact players set to hit the open market in July while many teams have key restricted free agents to re-sign as well. We continue our look around the NHL with an overview of the free agent situation for the Panthers.

Key Restricted Free Agents

F Anton Lundell – This summer marks the first chance for Anton Lundell to negotiate a raise, after paving his way into a strong role on the team’s middle-six after making his NHL debut in 2021-22, at the age of 19. Lundell scored 18 goals and 44 points in 65 games in his rookie years, both tallies that remain career-highs, though he’s since combined for 112 points through his first 216 career games and shown plenty of value off of the puck. To boot, Lundell has found an extra scoring touch this postseason, so far posting 16 points in 22 playoff games as the Panthers look to win the first Stanley Cup in club history. That renewed scoring will surely necessitate a bump in Lundell’s looming pay raise, though his impressive two-way ability and role on both special teams already warrant a hefty contract. At 22, a long-term deal would take Lundell through the bulk of his prime years – likely exactly what the Panthers will hope to guarantee this summer.

D Josh Mahura – Florida claimed Mahura off of waivers from the Anaheim Ducks ahead of the 2022-23 season, and quickly awarded him a routine role on the third pairing. Mahura played in all 82 games of Florida’s last season, posting 16 points in what was the first full year of his career. The performance was enough to earn him a one-year, $925K contract extension last summer, though Mahura didn’t get much of a chance for an encore, with a lower-body injury limiting him to just 30 games and nine points this season. He’s been replaced by a rotation of Dmitry Kulikov, Tobias Bjornfot, and Uvis Balinskis – with Kulikov nabbing the day-to-day role. Luckily, Kulikov is also facing free agency, which could give Mahura a chance to reclaim his role on a cheap contract next season.

Other RFAs: F Rasmus Asplund, F Patrick Giles, D Santtu Kinnunen, G Evan Cormier, G Mack Guzda

Key Unrestricted Free Agents

F Sam Reinhart – Adding to the headache of extending their hopeful second-line center of the future, Florida will also need to find a price for Sam Reinhart after an explosive season. Reinhart scored 57 goals and 94 points this season – the most goals any Panther has managed any Panther since Pavel Bure in the 2000-01 season. The performance will warrant a significant reward this summer, though it’s hard to price Reinhart after a near-30-point jump in scoring between last year and this year. But while he may not always rival 60 goals a season, Reinhart has found goal-scoring consistency over his three seasons with Florida and should garner the price tag of a top-line scorer as a result.

F Vladimir Tarasenko – The Panthers acquired Tarasenko at the Trade Deadline, with Florida sending one conditional pick, either a third or fourth rounder, and a 2025 third round pick back to the Ottawa Senators. And despite some cold streaks, Tarasenko ultimately vindicated the acquisition with 14 points in 19 regular season games and nine aptly timed points in 22 postseason games. He’s been a strong addition to the team’s middle-six, though looking much more slowed than in his prime years. Tarasenko has offered great depth scoring in his veteran years, though he could be a casuality of Florida’s limited cap space, with two much more notable free agents higher on the team’s priority list. He’ll be hotly coveted should he enter the open market, offering 119 career playoff games and Stanley Cup-winning precedent.

D Brandon Montour – Keeping up the important role-players facing the market, Florida will need to find a way to price out their defensive group, with Brandon Montour due for a new deal this summer and Aaron Ekblad entering free agency next summer. The duo have combined with Gustav Forsling to create a defensive corps that’s served as Florida’s unrelenting consistent as the year has gone on. One of the three defenders is able to step up no matter what situation the team is facing, playing a major role in the team’s drive to a second Stanley Cup Finals. Montour even managed a career-year last season, posting 16 goals, 73 points, and 107 penalty minutes in 80 games. He quieted down quite a bit this year, returning to just 33 points in 66 games. Montour’s impactful role will make him hard to let go, though a precedent of high scoring and plenty of outside interest could be enough to price Montour out of Florida’s budget.

D Oliver Ekman-Larsson – Among the stars needing new deals, Florida also has seven depth skaters set to enter unrestricted free agency. The list includes important pieces of Florida’s postseason run, including Nick Cousins, Ryan Lomberg, and Kyle Okposo. But among the punch, it’s Ekman-Larsson who seems to have made the biggest case for a new deal. The veteran defender saw a small return to form this season, recording 32 points in 80 games, the most he’s managed since the 2018-19 season. He looked more confident in the process, better filling a smaller role than what he had in Vancouver. Florida will have to comb through their depth for viable NHL talent with so many depth pieces entering the market, and the existence of Mahura and Balinskis could be enough to push Ekman-Larsson out of a role. But with a strong performance following his move, and likely just a few years left in his career, it’s hard to think Ekman-Larsson would ask a hefty price to stay with a playoff team.

G Anthony Stolarz – Stolarz filled Florida’s backup role all season long, stepping up while Spencer Knight spent time in the AHL and NHL Player’s Assistance Program. Knight is expected to be back at full force next season, though Stolarz has certainly done enough to show his NHL value – posting 16 wins and a .925 save percentage in 27 appearances this season. The Panthers have $4.5MM committed to Knight in each of the next two seasons and will want to reap some kind of return for that price tag soon. But Stolarz’s strong performance behind Sergei Bobrovsky should be enough to warrant attention in a year with plenty of teams looking for goaltending support.

Other UFAs: F Nick Cousins, F Ryan Lomberg, F Steven Lorentz, F Kyle Okposo, F Kevin Stenlund, F Gerald Mayhew, F Alex True, D Dmitry Kulikov, D Lucas Carlsson, D Casey Fitzgerald, D Matt Kiersted, G Magnus Hellberg

Projected Cap Space

The Panthers are set to enter the summer with just $20.02MM in projected cap space. That should be plenty to renew Lundell and one other top-line player, whether it be Reinhart or Montour, though the need to fill so many depth positions will likely quickly run up Florida’s budget. They’ll need one of their top names to take a miracle discount if they want to get through the summer without any major losses – though the heft of pending free agents could provide great opportunity for young players like Mackie Samoskevich, Justin Sourdif, and Balinskis to earn daily roles.

Photos courtesy of USA Today Sports Network. Cap details via CapFriendly.

Offseason Checklist: New York Rangers

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The offseason has arrived for all but the two teams who are still taking part in the playoffs.  For the rest, it’s time to examine what they will need to accomplish over the coming months.  Next up is a look at the Rangers.

After getting eliminated in the first round in 2022-23, the Rangers shook things up last offseason, bringing in Peter Laviolette behind the bench.  He helped lead New York to their highest point total in franchise history while they made it to the Eastern Conference Final before falling to Florida.  GM Chris Drury has already made one move of significance with Barclay Goodrow moving on to San Jose via waiver claim but he still has some work to do in the coming weeks.

Add Scoring RW

This has been an area of need for several years now after Pavel Buchnevich was moved out with the Rangers ultimately trying to get creative to try to fill it.  They’ve brought in rentals like Patrick Kane and Vladimir Tarasenko.  They’ve moved Alexis Lafreniere to his off-wing after Kaapo Kakko wasn’t able to play his way into that spot.  They’ve tried moving Filip Chytil there as well.  While Lafreniere showed some signs of a breakout this season, the other options haven’t worked quite as well so it remains a spot to be addressed.

While it’s possible that they could leave Lafreniere there longer (allowing him to see time on the top line more frequently), it stands to reason that they’d prefer to have him on his natural side regularly.  That means that Drury will once again be trying to fill this spot in the weeks ahead.

However, one of the challenges here will be their cap situation.  While they have a little under $13MM in cap space per CapFriendly, a good chunk of that will be going to their restricted free agents.  There won’t be enough money left to go after the likes of Sam Reinhart or even Steven Stamkos should he actually test free agency.  Instead, turning to someone like Tyler Toffoli could be a suitable Plan B although fitting him into their cap structure could be difficult as well.  In a perfect world, they’ll find a way to get what they hope will be a more consistently viable top-six option, be it through free agency or a trade.

Shesterkin Extension Talks

Goaltender Igor Shesterkin has more than proven to be a quality successor to long-time franchise icon Henrik Lundqvist between the pipes, giving New York the type of long-term high-end goaltending that many franchises could only dream about.  They’ve also benefitted from having Shesterkin on a contract that quickly became a team-friendly one as it was signed just 47 games into his NHL career.

That deal, which carries a $5.667MM AAV, will be entering its final year next season, making Shesterkin eligible for a contract extension as early as July 1st.  It’s fair to say the top end of the goaltending market has slowed down in recent years after big contracts were given to Carey Price ($10.5MM per season) and Sergei Bobrovsky ($10MM per year) but this feels like the next goalie deal that could push past the double-digit AAV mark.

Bobrovsky’s contract counted as 12.27% of the salary cap at the time it was signed while Price’s deal checked in at 14%.  There is a strong case to be made that Shesterkin should be in that range as well.  Based on next year’s $88MM Upper Limit, that would put his range between $10.798MM and $12.32MM.  Of course, this contract doesn’t kick in until 2025-26 when the salary cap will be even higher.

Let’s re-run those numbers with a hypothetical $92MM cap ceiling.  Using Bobrovsky and Price’s percentages, the new range is between $11.288MM and $12.88MM.  It’s safe to say these are the comparables that his camp will be bringing up in discussions while Drury’s camp will obviously be trying to get the number a little lower.

Still, the possibility exists that Shesterkin will double his current AAV on his next contract.  Getting some certainty regarding just how much that’s going to cost would be helpful for their summer planning considering his likely raise will potentially more than cover the increase in the cap for 2025-26.

Re-Sign RFA Defensemen

With Kakko already re-signed to what would have been his qualifying offer, the list of pending restricted free agents that Drury has to contend with is pretty limited.  At this point, their two main ones are both defensemen in Ryan Lindgren and Braden Schneider.

Lindgren is coming off his bridge deal, a back-loaded pact that carried a $3MM AAV but has a $3.6MM qualifying offer with salary arbitration rights.  He’s also a year away from UFA eligibility.  He’s someone whose long-term value is a little harder to peg as he lacks the offensive numbers to command top dollar; he has yet to record 20 points in a season.  Instead, he’s more of a capable defensive second-pairing player so the asking price shouldn’t be exorbitant.  A long-term agreement likely pushes past $5MM per season but it’s also possible they work out what amounts to effectively a second bridge deal (potentially another three-year pact), allowing them to keep the price tag closer to $4.5MM which would give them a bit more breathing room to try to add up front.

As for Schneider, he’s exiting his entry-level deal and doesn’t have arbitration rights just yet.  He has been limited to playing on the third pairing for most of his career which doesn’t make him a strong candidate for a long-term agreement.  Generally speaking, a blueliner who has yet to average 16 minutes per game in a season will be heading for a bridge deal and this case should be no exception.  Schneider should be in line to double his $925K cap hit from his entry-level agreement on what might be a two-year agreement instead of the three-year bridge that Lindgren received when he was in this situation a few years ago.

Add Center Depth

In theory, with Mika Zibanejad and Vincent Trocheck in place as their top two middlemen and Chytil recovering to play in the playoffs, this isn’t necessarily a significant need.  However, with Chytil’s long track record of concussion trouble, they likely can’t simply assume that he’ll be healthy for all of next season.  Finding some injury insurance for him would be beneficial as a result.

Jonny Brodzinski spent a good chunk of the year down the middle but in an ideal scenario, he’s likely not on the third line with regularity.  Alexander Wennberg was brought in at the trade deadline and did relatively well but he’s probably too expensive to keep around.  Jack Roslovic, their other deadline pickup, can also play down the middle but is also unlikely to return.  Meanwhile, Nick Bonino, brought in to be their fourth center last summer, was released midseason and wasn’t replaced either.

At a minimum, a bottom-six addition down the middle would be beneficial, one who can kill penalties and fill the role that Bonino was supposed to cover this season.  Someone a tier below that who can be a serviceable recall wouldn’t hurt either.  But getting a third-line option would be some worthwhile insurance for Chytil’s concussion concerns while also allowing Chytil to play on the wing if it’s deemed a better fit for him.  They can’t do that, re-sign their blueliners, and add an impact right winger but if the latter doesn’t happen, this could be their Plan B.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Free Agent Focus: Los Angeles Kings

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Free agency is now less than two weeks away and teams are looking ahead to when it opens.  There will be several impact players set to hit the open market in July while many teams have key restricted free agents to re-sign as well.  We continue our look around the NHL with an overview of the free agent situation for the Kings.

Key Restricted Free Agents

F Quinton Byfield – The Kings were hoping that the 2020 second-overall pick would take a big step forward and become a key top-six threat for them in 2023-24.  Mission accomplished on that front.  After being more of a role player in his first couple of years, he was regularly in the top six while taking a regular turn on the power play.  Byfield also did so while playing primarily on the wing which isn’t his natural position.  That could change moving forward now with Pierre-Luc Dubois in Washington, opening up a path for Byfield to move back down the middle.  A bridge contract might be the safer route here, checking in somewhere around the $4MM mark but if GM Rob Blake thinks that Byfield has another level to get to, he could try to pursue a long-term agreement, one that would likely push past $7MM per season.

F Arthur Kaliyev – In his first two seasons, Kaliyev was a decent secondary scorer, albeit an inconsistent one.  However, he struggled considerably in 2023-24 and following the midseason coaching change that saw Jim Hiller take over, the 22-year-old hardly played after that.  With a qualifying offer of just $874K, he shouldn’t be a non-tender risk but it’s more than evident at this point that a change of scenery would be a good idea for both sides.

F Blake Lizotte – After a breakout showing in 2022-23, Lizotte saw his output drop this season, tallying just 15 points in 62 games.  He’s a regular on the penalty kill and plays with some jam despite his smaller stature but he’s owed a $1.675MM qualifying offer, one that also carries arbitration rights.  With a 34-point effort the year before, it’s probable that the award would check in over $2MM.  For the limited role he fills, is that the best use of their money or would a non-tender make more sense while they look to fill that role with someone cheaper?

D Jordan Spence – The 23-year-old was basically a full-time NHLer for the first time this season, getting into 71 games.  He was predominantly limited to playing on the third pairing with a bit of power play time but he still managed a respectable 24 points which will definitely help his case in negotiations.  Given the limited role, it doesn’t make much sense for a long-term agreement to be worked out but a short-term bridge deal worth a little over $2MM might be the right fit.

Other RFAs: F Samuel Fagemo, F Carl Grundstrom, G Jacob Ingham, F Tyler Madden, G Erik Portillo, F Alex Turcotte

Key Unrestricted Free Agents

F Viktor Arvidsson – Suffice it to say, this was not the ideal walk year for the 31-year-old.  Arvidsson missed the first 50 games of the season after undergoing back surgery, then landed back on LTIR just four games after returning.  He did come back to finish off the year and played in the playoffs but suited up just 21 times combined.  Still, Arvidsson has a track record of being a quality top-six piece with five 20-goal seasons under his belt while being a strong possession player which helps.  But with the injuries, it’s hard to see teams offering up a long-term deal.  Instead, the offers might be more of the three-year variety while he’s a candidate to opt for a one-year pillow contract in the hopes of showing he’s fully healthy, thereby bolstering his value for the 2025 open market.

F Trevor Lewis – A veteran of 16 NHL seasons, Lewis has been an effective fourth liner for quite some time.  His production has dropped compared to his first stint with the Kings when he was more in his prime but he’s still worth signing to fill the role he has the last few years.  That will be a contract at or close to the league minimum salary but he should get another deal to give him a shot at reaching 1,000 career regular season games, a number he’s 26 shy of at the moment.

D Matt Roy – Roy has been one of the more under-the-radar blueliners over the past few years.  He’s a stable second-pairing player who can move up when needed while also helping to anchor the penalty kill.  On top of that, he’s a right-hand shot, the side that’s always in high demand.  Los Angeles would undoubtedly love to bring him back but the 29-year-old is well-positioned to cash in and this is his best shot at a big long-term deal.  After making $3.15MM the last three seasons, he could come close to doubling that on the open market.

G Cam Talbot – The veteran wound up settling for a low-cost contract that ultimately paid him $2MM with bonuses; $1MM of that will be on the Kings’ books in 2024-25.  Still, the move worked out well for both sides as the 36-year-old made 52 starts, posting a 2.50 GAA with a .913 SV%, more than respectable numbers for someone at that price point.  With their acquisition of Darcy Kuemper, it’s likely that Talbot moves on but as one of the more proven netminders on the market, he should be able to land another one-year deal, perhaps with a bit more guaranteed money this time around.

Other UFAs: D Kevin Connauton, G Pheonix Copley, G Aaron Dell, F Hayden Hodgson, F Mikhail Maltsev, D Steven Santini, F T.J. Tynan

Projected Cap Space

After being rather limited spending-wise last summer, the Kings have $23.45MM in flexibility for next season.  Granted, they have as many as ten players to sign with that money with a fair-sized chunk of that being earmarked for Byfield’s contract and the re-signing or replacing of Arvidsson and potentially Roy.  Nonetheless, Blake has a chance to make another splash this summer, one he’ll be hoping works out a lot better than the one he made around this time a year ago.

Photos courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.  Cap information courtesy of CapFriendly.

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