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2018 Offer Sheet Compensation

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Though it is almost never used in today’s NHL, the idea of an offer sheet still intrigues fans and media alike. Signing a restricted free agent out from under the nose of a rival, taking a superstar away in his prime. We’ve seen examples of offer sheets in the past, with Shea Weber signing a 14-year contract with Philadelphia in 2012, only to have it matched by Nashville. The Predators would have received four first-round picks had they let the then-26-year old Norris runner-up walk away.

Offer sheet compensation is based on the average salary of the league, and CapFriendly has released the final numbers for this summer. Below is the full breakdown, with the contract’s average annual value placing it in one of seven tiers:

$1,339,575 or less No compensation
$1,339,576 to $2,029,659 Third-round pick
$2,029,660 to $4,059,322 Second-round pick
$4,059,323 to $6,088,980 First and third-round picks
$6,088,981 to $8,118,641 First, second and third-round picks
$8,118,642 to $10,148,302 Two firsts, a second and third-round picks
Over $10,148,302 Four first-round picks

It is important to note that any team trying to sign a player to an applicable offer sheet must use their own draft picks for compensation, not ones that have been acquired. That rules several teams out already from signing high profile RFAs, unless they were to work to reacquire their picks before submitting the contract.

Several players, including William Karlsson and Mark Stone are scheduled to become restricted free agents this summer and have generated offer sheet speculation. Though they don’t happen regularly, some people around the NHL believe that the day is coming when teams use the option more often. We’ll have to wait to find out if that begins this summer. For more information about the details of offer sheets, check out CapFriendly’s FAQ.

Non-Playoff To Do List: Restricted Free Agents

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For 15 of the NHL’s teams, the season is over. While the Stanley Cup playoffs grab the attention of hockey fans around the world, the teams disappointed by regular season failure will start working on a plan to improve for next season. One of the biggest things on any team’s to do list is new contracts for their restricted free agents. These are some of the most important negotiations of the offseason, and can drastically influence other decisions depending on how they are resolved—see Evgeny Kuznetsov’s massive deal with the Washington Capitals for an example.

To retain the exclusive negotiating rights with an RFA, a team must issue a qualifying offer by the deadline (last year’s was 4pm on June 26th). To see how much the qualifying offer must be, and some more information on how they are issued, check out CapFriendly’s Qualifying Offer Calculator.

RFAs become free agents on July 1st like any other, and can negotiate a deal up to eight years with their current team. For the non-playoff clubs, that list is already front and center on the offseason task board. Here is a list of all the players who will become restricted free agents this summer for every team not involved in the 2018 Stanley Cup Playoffs. Any of these players could sign a new deal in the coming weeks or months, and avoid the process altogether.

Removed from the list are those players scheduled to become Group VI Unrestricted Free Agents.

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Markus Nutivaara Signs Four-Year Extension

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The Columbus Blue Jackets have signed Markus Nutivaara to a four-year extension, worth an average annual value of $2.7MM. Nutivaara was scheduled to become a restricted free agent at the end of the season. The salary breakdown is as follows:

  • 2018-19: $2.5MM
  • 2019-20: $2.5MM
  • 2020-21: $2.5MM
  • 2021-22: $3.3MM

Nutivaara, 23, was selected in the seventh round three years ago and has burst onto the scene as a full-time player for the Blue Jackets. Through 59 games this season, he’s recorded 22 points and could see even more ice time in the coming years. With Jack Johnson and Ian Cole likely leaving through free agency, it wouldn’t be surprising to see Nutivaara given more responsibility. With Ryan Murray still scheduled to become an RFA and rumored to be included in trade talks in the past, getting Nutivaara under contract was important.

It’s a very nice raise for the left-handed defenseman, but it does buy out one of his unrestricted free agent years. That obviously bumped up the cap hit a bit, but it is still low enough to be an inexpensive deal for the Blue Jackets if Nutivaara continues to develop. He’ll be just 28 when it expires, and could demand another solid contract on the open market.

The Blue Jackets are heading to the playoffs again if they can hold off the last few challengers, and you can bet that Nutivaara will play a larger role this time around. Last season, he played just two games in the postseason and averaged fewer than 12 minutes. Where he’ll slot in this time around isn’t set in stone, but with the way he has been playing lately there’s no way he should see the press box very often.

Injury Notes: Marchand, Duclair, Vatrano, Klefbom, Smith, Avalanche, Seeler

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Boston Bruins forward Brad Marchand could miss some time — not due to injury — but after another incident in which the forward collided with Chicago Blackhawks winger Anthony Duclair in Saturday’s game. You can see the video here. While on the surface it does look as if Marchand was attempting to avoid Duclair, one has to wonder how the Department of Player Safety will treat the incident after numerous incidents this season. A repeat offender, Marchand served a five-game suspension back in January for concussing New Jersey Devils forward Marcus Johansson.

Marchand was given a two-minute interference penalty on the play, but Duclair was forced to exit the game as he suffered a knee injury. The Blackhawks later announced that he will not return for the rest of the game and Mark Lazerus of the Chicago Sun-Times reports that he will miss one-to-two weeks.

  • Matthew DeFranks of the SunSentinel writes the Florida Panthers have activated forward Frank Vatrano and will make his Panthers debut Saturday night. Vatrano, who was acquired a week before the trade deadline from the Boston Bruins for a third-round pick, will attempt to find his game with the rising Panthers despite missing some time with a high ankle sprain. He is slated to appear on the team’s second line alongside Vincent Trocheck and Jonathan Huberdeau as the team hopes Vatrano could be a valuable addition to their core. After putting up 39 goals in 45 career AHL games, he has struggled in the NHL. With Boston, the 23-year-old had just two goals in 25 games this year and often found himself scratched.
  • Edmonton Oilers head coach Todd MacLellan said defenseman Oscar Klefbom will miss the next two games to undergo a “minor procedure.” With rumors that Klefbom was been playing injured for much of the year, the eventual question will be whether the team should shut him down in the near future.
  • Las Vegas Review-Journal’s Steve Carp writes that center Reilly Smith was sent back to Las Vegas after he sustained an upper body injury during Tuesday’s game against the Columbus Blue Jackets. He is not playing today and is not expected to be ready for Monday’s game against the Philadelphia Flyers. Smith is having a career year with 22 goals and 38 assists in his first year with Vegas.
  • Kyle Fredrickson of the Denver Post writes that the team intends to start Jonathan Bernier today after Bernier has missed the past 10 games with a head injury. Starter Semyon Varlamov has struggled recently having allowed 11 goals in the past three games. The scribe also writes that defenseman Erik Johnson skated Friday in a non-contact jersey. He hasn’t played in a game since Feb. 18. There is no timeline for Johnson, according to head coach Jared Bednar. Forward Vladislav Kamenev, who broke his arm in November after being acquired from Nashville, practiced Friday and is likely to be sent to the AHL for a couple of games on a conditioning stint.
  • Sarah McLellan of the StarTribune writes that defenseman Nick Seeler, who has been dealing with a right bicep strain and the flu, is improving, but did not travel with the team to Vancouver and would only join the team in Edmonton if there is an injury on defense before then.

Trade Deadline Notes: Flames, Plekanec, Neal

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“Will GM Brad Treliving and the Calgary Flames ’pull a Hextall’?”, wonders the Calgary Sun’s Eric Francis with mere days left before the NHL Trade Deadline. Francis is referring to Philadelphia Flyers GM Ron Hextall, who recently acted quickly to acquire goaltender Petr Mrazek from the Detroit Red Wings when his top two goalies went down with long-term injuries. Treliving and the Flames are now in a similar position, with their one experienced keeper, Mike Smith, out with a groin injury and a return not imminent. Calgary is currently working with two rookie goalies, David Rittich and Jon Gillies, as they try to keep up in the Western Conference playoff race. If Treliving, like Hextall, feels that he owes his team a true starting-caliber goalie, he could hit the rental market for some help down the stretch. Options could include Buffalo’s Robin Lehner, an impending RFA and likely the top available target, Arizona’s Antti Raanta, if the Coyotes are willing to move him, a reunion with Chad Johnson, or even a lesser option albeit with more experience such as Michael Hutchinson or Andrew Hammond. However, as Francis points out after his conversation with Treliving, if the team continues to put forward lackluster performances in front of their young goalie tandem, perhaps paying the steep price to bring in an upgrade won’t be worth it. The situation is one worth monitoring as the deadline fast approaches.

  • One player expected to move before the deadline is career Canadien Tomas Plekanec. TSN’s Pierre LeBrun reports that calls have been flooding in to Montreal GM Marc Bergevin, especially following the Derick Brassard news, inquiring into the cost of trading for the veteran center. Plekanec, 35, has seen his offense fall off dramatically over the past two seasons, but still plays a reliable two-way game and can still be an experienced asset for many teams. With the Canadiens far outside the playoff picture and Plekanec on an expiring contract, possibly headed for retirement, a deal will almost certainly be struck with an interested team. It seems the days are numbered on a relationship that began in 2003-04.
  • The Vegas Golden Knights placed James Neal on injured reserve today, per beat writer Steve Carp. While Neal is simply suffering from an illness right now, an undisclosed illness has also kept teammate Shea Theodore out of the lineup for more than a week. With forwards Pierre-Edouard Bellemare and William Carrier also on IR and an unclear picture of when Neal will return to action, one has to wonder if the Knights will take a longer look at the forward market before the deadline passes them by.

How Flyers Can Deal With Injuries In Net

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Things have been going well for the Philadelphia Flyers. The team has won six of their past ten games and are firmly engaged in a battle for a Metropolitan Division playoff spot. However, the one shortcoming of the Flyers for years now has again reared its ugly head: goaltending. Philly’s goalies have performed well this season, with starter Brian Elliott holding 21 wins and backup Michal Neuvirth performing statistically even better as Elliott’s understudy. For the first time in years, goalie performance has not been a defining issue for the Flyers. However, Elliott is now out of the picture for the time being after suffering a core muscle injury earlier in the month which required surgery and could keep him sidelined through the end of March. Meanwhile, Neuvirth succumbed to a lower-body injury earlier today and had to leave the Flyers’ match-up with the rival New York Rangers. While young Alex Lyon performed admirably in relief, allowing only one goal en route to his first NHL win, the Flyers face a real possibility of being without their top two goalies for some time. So what do they do?

1) Stand Pat

It’s too early to know how long Neuvirth will be out, so the Flyers could let cooler heads prevail and wait to see what the prognosis is on his injury. If Neuvirth will simply miss a few games, the team could rely on Lyon and veteran journeyman Dustin Tokarski, acquired in October for this exact emergency situation, for the time being. Lyon, a former phenom at Yale University, has struggled in limited NHL action this season, but has been good for the AHL’s Lehigh Valley Phantoms in each of the last two seasons. Now could be a good time to see what the 25-year-old brings to the table.

2) Acquire a stopgap

Perhaps if Lyon had more than three NHL appearances or Tokarski had more than 10 minutes of NHL action in the past two years, the Flyers would be willing to stick with this tandem, even if Neuvirth remains out for a week or two. Maybe if Anthony Stolarz, shut down for the season after knee surgery in September, was available they would be fine with waiting for Elliott and Neuvirth to return to health. However, the Flyers are in the middle of a playoff race and cannot afford to stick with such inexperienced options for more than a handful of games nor wait on injury timelines with the NHL Trade Deadline a week away. Instead, they could turn to the trade market and look for a short-term option. There isn’t much goalie talk on the rumor mill right now, other than the fact that the Flyers turned down a recent offer from the Detroit Red Wings of Petr Mrazek for a third-round pick. They could certainly revisit bringing in the impending restricted free agent for a tryout down the stretch. The team could also look at trading for San Jose Sharks backup Aaron Dell, who’s having a breakout year and comes with a cheap price tag for the remainder of the season. However, the Sharks are a fellow playoff-chaser and might be hesitant to move their backup unless they were getting another in return, either Neuvirth or Elliott. Other options could include Michael Hutchinson from the Winnipeg Jets (though they too have injury issues in net), Andrew Hammond from the Colorado Avalanche, or one of the many minor league keepers from Toronto or Calgary, if those teams are willing to deal.

3) Acquire a starter

Of course, the Flyers could also take this opportunity to bring in a starting-caliber goalie; one who could eliminate the worry of whether Elliott will be healthy by playoff time. Philadelphia could look at short-term starter, such as impending free agents Antti Raanta from Arizona or Robin Lehner (RFA) from Buffalo. However, more interestingly, they could also look for a long-term fit. Both Elliott and Neuvirth are only signed through next season. If they could send one or the other back in a trade, they could look to acquire a starter with term on his contract. That could be as easy as bringing in Lehner or Mrazek with the intention of extending them. Either one could do the job for a few years, bridging the gap to star prospect Carter Hart. It could also open the door to Detroit’s other goalie, Jimmy Howard, who could benefit from a change of scenery with one year left on his deal. The Vancouver Canucks could entertain moving Jacob Markstrom during a down year, though he may not be much of an upgrade over Philly’s current stable and is signed for two more seasons. One possible dark horse candidate would be Colorado starter Semyon Varlamov, who has been outplayed by backup Jonathan Bernier this season and is signed through 2018-19 at an expensive $5.9MM cap hit. For those of you thinking Carey Price though, think again.

Could Calgary Flames Make Pitch For Karlsson?

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The Calgary Flames seem to be producing in all facets of the game despite a shootout loss today as they still haven’t had a regulation loss in eight straight games. Their top lines are producing, their defense seems to be beginning to develop the chemistry that everyone had hoped and goaltender Mike Smith has been a great acquisition. With everything going right for Calgary, it seems like the team isn’t likely to be too active at the trade deadline this year.

Yet, Sportsnet’s Eric Francis writes that despite all that, he wonders if the Flames should consider looking for an even bigger prize. With the recent rumblings about the possible availability of Ottawa Senators star defenseman Erik Karlsson, Francis wonders if Calgary should go for it all and trade for him now. While on the surface, a deal might seem unlikely as the Flames are already loaded with a group of solid defenders and have few draft picks to trade (just two picks in the first three rounds over the next two years).

The scribe writes that finding a spot for Karlsson would be the least of the team’s problems. He would be a welcome addition no matter how good their defense of Mark Giordano, T.J. Brodie, Dougie Hamilton, Travis Hamonic and Michael Stone is. He would immediately help an average power play and could offer the team a multi-dimensional player. With some cap room to play with, Calgary could afford most of Karlsson’s contract ($6.5MM AAV) already, although that could end the team’s bid to re-sign Mikael Backlund during the offseason this year.

What could they offer? Quite a bit. While the team might lack draft picks after going out and acquiring Hamonic in the offseason, the team has a number of quality prospects, including Harvard University defenseman Adam Fox, considered to be one of the top college blueliners. They have two quality goaltending prospects in Jon Gillies and Tyler Parsons as well as defensive prospects like Rasmus Andersson and Oliver Kylington as pieces they can offer Ottawa.

Fox, who many believe may choose to stay at Harvard for four years and take the unrestricted free agency route to avoid Calgary’s already crowded blueline, might be the perfect trade chip while he still has value. Add in Andersson, Kylington and last year’s 2016 first-rounder in Juuso Valamaki and the team has quite a bit of defensive depth — perhaps too much.

Francis believes that the team might want to consider making a big move like acquiring a future Hall of Famer, who could take the Flames to another level as they start climbing up the Pacific Division and get ready for the playoffs. General manager Brad Treliving already once this year went out and acquired Hamonic as a big defensive addition. Why not one more?

Red Wings Notes: Howard, Larkin, Holland

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MLive’s Ansar Khan reports that Detroit Red Wings goalie Jimmy Howard is slated to return for Saturday’s contest against the Pittsburgh Penguins. Howard was shelved with a lower body injury but Detroit’s bye week was a fortuitous opportunity for the veteran net minder to recover. Howard told DetroitRedWings.com’s Dana Wakiji that he’ll be ready for tomorrow’s game. In his last six starts, Howard has been 4-2 with a .952 save percentage, and a main reason the Red Wings have seen their fortunes trend up. Though they’re still out of the playoff hunt (and will stay that way most likely), Howard has been excellent for a team short on defense and elite talent.

  • Khan takes questions in a mailbag next, indicating that he doesn’t expect any hitches as they did when Andreas Athanasiou held out as an RFA. Khan continues, writing that the Red Wings have $10MM  with Mike Green and Petr Mrazek set to be free agents. With the cap rising as well, Khan doesn’t foresee any issues getting the important younger players, namely Dylan Larkin, Anthony Mantha and Athanasiou. Martin Frk and Tyler Bertuzzi are both in their final year of a contract but will come at a lower price than the aforementioned three.
  • In another question, Khan writes that Henrik Zetterberg might have one season left before a new captain will have to be named. He sees Justin Abdelkader being the next Red Wing to wear the C while Larkin a future captain as well. Larkin was an alternate captain while playing in the World Juniors last May, but it wouldn’t be crazy to think that Larkin could be the next in line. Steve Yzerman was named captain at the ripe old age of 21, which just happens to be Larkin’s current age.
  • The Detroit Free Press’ Helene St. James has a mailbag of her own, and gives her thoughts on the future of general manager Ken Holland. She believes he will still be around, either in the GM chair or as an adviser. She also believes that Larkin will be the first of the three young building blocks (Larkin-Mantha-Athanasiou) to be re-signed by Detroit.

More Interest In Petr Mrazek; Detroit Could Retain Salary

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After hearing that there were at least some passing glances out of Edmonton for Detroit Red Wings goaltender Petr Mrazek, Craig Custance of The Athletic reports that there are still teams with “lukewarm” interest in pending RFA goaltender. Bob McKenzie of TSN adds that Detroit could be willing to retain salary in any Mrazek trade, in order to get the best deal.

Peter MrazekAs we discussed when hearing about the initial interest in Mrazek, his $4MM cap hit is an expensive add for any team, and essentially makes him an unrestricted free agent unless he shows something spectacular down the stretch. The $4.15MM qualifying offer that he’d need to remain under team control doesn’t look like it will be extended, regardless of which team he ends up on.

Custance has been told the likely price is either a third-round pick, or a second if the Red Wings were to retain a full 50% of Mrazek’s salary this season. That seems like a reasonable asset to spend on a goaltender that was once seen as an up-and-comer, but they’d need to see him “showcased” as Custance puts it. Mrazek has just an .888 save percentage this season, and hasn’t won a game for the Red Wings in more than a month.

Still, as we discussed in the linked article above, the goaltending market isn’t overflowing with talent at the moment and Mrazek still does have that intriguing past. In 2015-16 he posted a .921 save percentage in 54 appearances, a number most teams would take for their starter let alone a backup.

Remember that Detroit is right up against the cap, so retaining any salary is a tricky proposition. While moving Mrazek out of town would clear some room, they wouldn’t really be able to take any bodies back unless they made near the league minimum. Remember that they’ll need to pay someone to back up Jimmy Howard, even if that is Jared Coreau’s $612K cap hit.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images

Bo Horvat Potentially Out Long-Term; Canucks Recall Chaput, Demko

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As if our “Thankful For” series was a jinx, Bo Horvat was injured in Tuesday’s Vancouver Canucks game and will be out long-term. The team announced the injury is a broken foot, and that he will be out at least “multiple weeks.” Horvat is seeing a specialist to get a more accurate timeline. In light of that, the team has recalled Michael Chaput from the AHL along with Thatcher Demko.

The reason for Demko’s call-up is less obvious. As Patrick Johnson of The Province explains, it most likely is a move to get the Canucks as close to the salary cap as possible before placing Derek Dorsett on long-term injured reserve. That way they can receive the largest benefit from his injury status, and use his entire $2.65MM cap space if need be.

Horvat has been excellent for the Canucks this season, and with Brandon Sutter also currently on injured reserve the team’s depth at center will be tested. The pair were leading the team in ice time among forwards, meaning others like Sam Gagner and Henrik Sedin will need to step up in their absence. Vancouver, who have had an admirable start to the season, will have to find a new way to shut down their opponent’s top players.

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