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World Cup Roster Changes: Keith, Bouwmeester, Kronwall, Lindholm

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Earlier today Hockey Canada added St. Louis Blues defenseman Jay Bouwmeester to its World Cup team to replace Chicago blue liner Duncan Keith. Keith is still not 100% as he continues to rehab from a right knee injury suffered last season. Blackhawks team physician, Dr. Michael Terry, had this to say about Keith’s recovery:

“As Duncan continues offseason rehabilitation on the right knee injury that he sustained last season, we understand his decision not to participate in next month’s World Cup of Hockey. We believe it is in his best interests to focus on getting stronger and not risk further injury.”

Bouwmeester joins Marc-Edouard Vlasic and Jake Muzzin as the only left-handed shooters on Canada’s blue line. That’s likely the primary reason Bouwmeester was chosen over right-handed options such as Kris Letang and P.K. Subban. It was also somewhat surprising that Bouwmeester was added over Mark Giordano of the Flames.

Giordano tallied 21 goals and 56 points while playing a full slate of games for Calgary. He has developed into one of the league’s best offensive defenseman over the last three seasons and like Bouweester, is a left-handed shot.

Bouwmeester, conversely, recorded just 19 points and was had a plus-minus rating of -4 in 72 games for the Blues. In all probability, Hockey Canada favored Bouwmeester’s extensive experience representing his home country. He was a part of the 2004 World Cup-winning team and also won a gold with Team Canada at the 2014 Sochi Olympics.

This is the second change in as many days to Team Canada’s roster. Yesterday, Logan Couture was added to replace Jamie Benn.

Team Canada is obviously still going to be one of the tournament’s favorites but if there is a weakness, it may well be the team’s blue line.

Elsehwere, Anaheim Ducks defender Hampus Lindholm, currently a RFA, has been named to Team Sweden to replace Niklas Kronwall. Kronwall is still recovering from knee surgery performed in January.

Lindholm, 22, scored 10 goals and 28 points last season for the Ducks and is considered one of the up-and-coming young defensemen in the league. He’ll join an excellent blue line group anchored by Erik Karlsson from Ottawa and Victor Hedman of Tampa Bay.

Sweden is expected, along with Team USA, to be one of the biggest threats to Canada’s chances in this tournament. In addition to an excellent defense corps, Sweden will have Henrik Lundqvist between the pipes. Up front they have plenty of skill led by the Sedin twins, Daniel and Henrik, Filip Forsberg and Nicklas Backstrom. Obviously Sweden boasts a formidable roster with plenty of talent.

Hudler Agrees To Deal With Stars

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It appears Jiri Hudler’s long wait is finally over as the 11-year veteran winger has reportedly agreed to a one-year deal with the Dallas Stars. Sonny Sachdeva of Today’s Slap Shot – the hockey division of Fan Rag Sports – initially broke the news via Twitter after receiving the word directly from Hudler’s agent, former NHL defenseman Petr Svoboda. Sachdeva later tweeted that Hudler would receive $2MM for the 2016-17 season.

Mike Heika of the Dallas Morning News has confirmed the agreement and the terms, indicating only that the contract has yet to be officially signed.

Hudler was one of the top remaining unrestricted free agents on the market ranking 18th on Pro Hockey Rumors’ Top-50 List. He netted 10 goals and 25 assists in 53 games with Calgary in 2015-16 before being dealt to Florida for two draft choices at the trade deadline. He would then contribute six goals and 11 points in 19 regular season contests with the Panthers but would struggle in the postseason, recording a single assist in Florida’s six-game first-round playoff loss to the Islanders.

His 2015-16 campaign was a step down from his performance the previous year when Hudler tied for eighth in scoring with a career best 76 points. He made $4MM in the final year of the four-year deal he inked with Calgary and will see his salary cut in half with his new contract.

The Stars may seem an odd fit for Hudler on the surface as they already boast one of the league’s best offenses and after losing three regular defensemen – Kris Russell, Alex Goligoski and Jason Demers – to free agency, it would have made more sense if any late summer addition was made on the blue line. But clearly Stars management is comfortable allowing a few of their young players to compete for regular roles on defense. Plus the opportunity to add a skilled winger of Hudler’s caliber on the cheap had to be appealing.

Dallas has Tyler Seguin and Jason Spezza slotted as their numbers one and two centers with Hudler likely to line up next to one of the talented pivots. He’s also a good bet to see plenty of power play time for the Stars and could be set up for a nice bounce-back season playing with all of the talent in Dallas. A good campaign with the Stars would put Hudler in a better position to hit the free agent market next summer in search of a multiyear deal.

Our friends at Roster Resource have already updated the Stars depth chart based on the reports of the signing.

Central Division: Remaining RFAs

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We are less than a month away from the start of the World Cup and training camps. However, there are still 15 restricted free agents remaining, and many of them are not who you would expect to be unsigned at this point. Two NHL teams’ leading scorers, four top-four defensemen, and several other high quality players are still looking for new deals.

Let’s continue our break down of the remaining RFAs by taking a look at the Central Division:

Dallas Stars – $7.98MM in cap space, according to Cap Friendly – The Stars have yet to re-sign their first round pick from 2013, Valeri Nichushkin. As we reported yesterday, the Stars and Nichushkin are continuing to talk. A trip to the KHL was speculated earlier in the off-season after Nichushkin said he would “perhaps consider”  leaving the NHL because he felt head coach Lindy Ruff didn’t trust him to play big minutes. Nichushkin scored 34 points in his rookie year, 2013-14, but has only posted 30 points in the two seasons since, having missed all but eight games of his sophomore season.

Winnipeg Jets – $9.37MM in cap space, according to Cap Friendly – The right-handed defenseman is one of the hottest commodities in the NHL these days, so the Winnipeg Jets have quite a nice problem on their hands. Jacob Trouba is a big, mobile, two-way defenseman who is right handed and should be making huge steps forward in the coming seasons. However, he’s blocked from playing big minutes by other big right-handed defensemen Dustin Byflugien and Tyler Myers. Trouba can play the left side, but performs better on his natural right side. According to Gary Lawless of TSN, Trouba feels he should be playing bigger minutes, and negotiations aren’t going well – the two sides are apart on “everything”. Despite all that, Lawless said a trade was unlikely; no team is likely to want to pay the asking price to acquire Trouba after a down season. Trouba will be playing for Team North America in the next month’s World Cup of Hockey, so like Johnny Gaudreau, expect both sides to try get this resolved before then.

Nashville Predators – $5.41MM in cap space, according to Cap Friendly – The Predators NHL roster appears to be set, but they still have one last minor league signing to go; Stefan Elliott is without a contract. The Predators acquired him from Arizona as part of a bizarre three-way trade that sent Pacific Division All Star Captain John Scott to Montreal. Elliott played 21 games in the big leagues last year, but figures to be a solid AHLer who can step in to the NHL if injuries arise.

Related: our reviews of remaining RFAs in the Pacific and Atlantic Divisions.

Atlantic Division: Remaining RFAs

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We are less than a month away from the start of the World Cup and training camps. However, there are still 15 restricted free agents remaining, and many of them are not who you would expect to be unsigned at this point. Two NHL teams’ leading scorers, four top-four defensemen, and several other high quality players are still looking for new deals.

Let’s continue our break down of the remaining RFAs by taking a look at the Atlantic Division:

Buffalo Sabres – $8.15MM in cap space, according to Cap Friendly – Like the Anaheim Ducks, the Sabres have two RFAs remaining; also like the Ducks, it’s their third line center and number one defenseman. Zemgus Girgensons and Rasmus Ristolainen were the Sabres’ first round picks in 2012 and 2013 respectively. Ristolainen lead all Sabres defensemen with 41 points (good for fourth in team scoring) and averaged nearly three more minutes of ice time per game than the next skater. Over his three-year career he has been counted on to be an all-situation defender, starting more than 57% of his shifts in the defensive zone and still leading all Sabres defensemen in scoring over the last two seasons. The Sabres will want to lock him up long-term.

Meanwhile, Girgensons had something of a down year in 2015-16, dropping from 30 points to 18 despite playing 10 more games. Expect a one-year contract in the $1MM range as he looks to rebound.

Tampa Bay Lightning – $6.59MM in cap space, according to Cap Friendly – Lightning GM Steve Yzerman managed to re-sign Steven Stamkos and extend Victor Hedman, but has yet to sign their leading scorer from last season: Nikita Kucherov. Kucherov has put up seasons of 65 and 66 points and will be looking for a Filip Forsberg-type contract. Forsberg also was coming off back-to-back mid-60 point seasons and signed long-term in Nashville for six years at $6MM per. While the Lightning could likely make that salary work this season, it’s next summer that has to be looming large for Yzerman. The other two members of the Triplet Line, Tyler Johnson and Ondrej Palat, and starting goalie Ben Bishop all need to be re-signed, though Bishop figures to be traded to avoid losing him for nothing in the expansion draft.

The Lightning also have defenseman Nikita Nesterov to sign. The young depth defenseman will be looking for a bigger role after the team bought out Matt Carle in June. He’ll likely sign for a short “show-me” contract to prove he can continue to be a regular on a Cup contending team.

You can read our review of the Pacific Division RFAs here.

Ottawa Senators Sign Cody Ceci To Two-Year Deal

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Feb 13, 2016; Columbus, OH, USA; Ottawa Senators defenseman <a rel=After negotiating for most of the summer, the Ottawa Senators have reached an agreement with restricted free agent defenseman Cody Ceci on a new two-year contract. The deal is worth $5.6MM in total, giving Ceci a $2.8MM cap-hit.

Ceci, 22, hit RFA status for the first time in his career after putting up back to back impressive seasons. His 26 points in 2015-16 ranked him second among Senators’ defensemen (only trailing superstar Erik Karlsson) while skating with Patrick Wiercioch or Dion Phaneuf for most of the season. With Phaneuf signed long-term, expect Ceci to form a duo with the former Maple Leaf for years to come.

The deal is just for two years, as was reported months ago by Bruce Garrioch of the Ottawa Sun, and represents a bridge deal for the young defenseman. Still an RFA at the contract’s end, Ceci will try to prove that he deserves a big-money deal to buy out a number of his free agent years. The problem is, that he’ll almost assuredly never climb higher than the second pairing because he plays the same side as Karlsson. This may cause problems for the internal budget of the Senators down the road, with Phaneuf signed through 2020-21 at $7MM and Karlsson needing a new, even bigger deal after the 2018-19 season.

[Related: Ottawa Senators Updated Depth Chart]

According to Garrioch, Ceci’s camp was looking for a six-year deal this time around, to lock up their client long-term with the club and buyout a few of his free agent years – the hesitation by the Senators is probably not due to a lack of trust in the player, but an uncertainty when it comes to their financial future. Owner Eugene Melnyk spoke at the end of the season about how important playoff revenues were to the team:

I’m looking at all of it, right across the board, nobody is safe when you have a year like we just did. The status quo would just get us there again next year and this team cannot survive not making the playoffs.

You can’t just throw money at these things. We all know other teams that would just throw money at things for decades and they’ve gotten nowhere. We need to do it a different way and I think we are.

However the picture shakes out down the line, for now the Senators have locked up an important part of their blueline for the immediate future. With Marc Methot, the top four is essentially written in pen going into camp, with Ceci sure to see some time on the second powerplay unit as well.

Image courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Pacific Division: Remaining RFAs

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We’re now in the dying days of August, less than a month away from the start of the World Cup and training camps. However, there are still 15 restricted free agents remaining, and many of them are not who you would expect to be unsigned at this point. Two NHL teams’ leading scorers, four top-four defensemen, and several other high quality players are still looking for new deals.

Let’s break down the remaining RFAs by division, starting out west in the Pacific Division:

Anaheim Ducks – $7.52MM in cap space, according to Cap Friendly – The Ducks have mostly stood pat this summer after bringing back Randy Carlyle to replace the fired Bruce Boudreau. However, the budget-bound Ducks still have some work to do – their best defenseman, Hampus Lindholm, and World Cup-bound center Rickard Rakell still need new contracts. Lindholm logged the most minutes on the Ducks and put up 28 points as a dependable two-way force. Rakell is behind Ryan Getzlaf and Ryan Kesler on the center depth chart, but finished fourth on the Ducks in points with 43. The Ducks would like to get both signed long term, but will need to get creative to fit it all under their self-imposed budget. Cam Fowler has been the subject of trade rumors throughout the summer as the Ducks ready themselves for these two contracts and next summer’s expansion draft.

Arizona Coyotes – $7.85MM in cap space, according to Cap Friendly – Arizona has been locked in tough negotiations with Tobias Rieder all summer. It’s believed the talented scorer and reliable two-way winger is looking for a contract similar to new Coyotes forward Jamie McGinn, who signed a three-year, $10MM contract. However, new GM John Chayka isn’t budging, and Rieder has threatened to head to the KHL if the two sides can’t come to an agreement.

Calgary Flames – $8.59MM in cap space, according to Cap Friendly – The Flames have been in an unenviable situation this summer, with their two top forwards needing new contracts. GM Brad Treliving locked up center Sean Monahan to a seven-year, $44.625MM contract last week, but has yet to sign the team’s leading scorer Johnny Gaudreau. Gaudreau has said he won’t negotiate during the upcoming World Cup, where he’ll suit up for Team North America. Their camp starts on the long weekend, so there’s just two weeks remaining for Gaudreau and the Flames to put pen to paper. The Flames also have to sign Freddie Hamilton, minor league center and brother of Dougie. Hamilton played four NHL games last season, potting a goal and an assist.

West Notes: Rakell, Rattie, Gaudreau

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With the World Cup of Hockey fast approaching, another unsigned restricted free agent is headed to Toronto. According to Stephen Whyno of the Associated Press (who we interviewed just yesterday on PHR) Rickard Rakell will join the Swedish club replacing the injured Alexander Steen.  Steen had surgery in June on his shoulder, and is still trying to be ready for the opening of the regular season.

Rakell will be rewarded for last season’s breakout that saw him score 20 goals and 43 points in his second full season. Rakell remains one of the Ducks priorities this summer, along with fellow unsigned RFA Hampus Lindholm. The team, with only $6.6MM in cap space at the moment, may not have enough to sign both to long-term deals and may have to settle for the player-friendly bridge deal.

  • Among the news at Pro Hockey Talk’s St. Louis Blues day is that Ty Rattie will be given a real chance to stick with the big club this season.  Adam Gretz writes that with the team losing veteran forwards like David Backes, Steve Ott and Troy Brouwer to free agency, there is plenty of opportunities for young players like Rattie. This is in line with a similar article on NHL.com today, that quoted GM Doug Armstrong: “I think the game is getting faster, and youth is being served. I think we were going to transfer to this (youth movement) regardless.” Rattie has suited up for just 26 NHL games, but has proven his scoring ability at the AHL level with three straight 40+ point seasons.
  • After signing Sean Monahan earlier today to a seven-year deal, the Calgary Flames will now turn their attention to Johnny Gaudreau. Craig Custance of ESPN thinks that his deal will come in very close to Monahan’s, as the team views the situation as similar to Jonathan Toews and Patrick Kane in Chicago. The Blackhawk stars signed identical $84MM deals in July of 2014, despite Kane having more career points (493 vs. 440). Monahan also has a full season more of NHL duty under his belt than Gaudreau, despite being more than a year younger than him. If the Flames can get both on long-term deals under $7MM, they’ll be set up nicely for the future with two underpaid superstars.

Calgary Flames Sign Tyler Wotherspoon

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Mar 9, 2016; Calgary, Alberta, CAN; Calgary Flames defenseman Tyler Wotherspoon (26) during the face off against the Nashville Predators during the second period at Scotiabank Saddledome. Calgary Flames won 3-2. Mandatory Credit: Sergei Belski-USA TODAY SportsWhile Calgary Flames fans wait with bated breath for word on their star restricted free agents Johnny Gaudreau and Sean Monahan, they’ve come to an agreement with a lesser known player. Tyler Wotherspoon has been signed by the club to a one-year, two-way deal. General Fanager reports that the deal is worth $625K at the NHL level.

Wotherspoon, 23, was the Flames’ second-round pick in the 2011 draft, 57th overall. While spending most of the past three seasons in the AHL with the ever-changing Flames affiliate (Abbotsford, Adirondack and now Stockton), Wotherspoon has been called up to the NHL on multiple occasions, suiting up in 26 career games.

Not expected to be much more than a seventh defenseman this season, Wotherspoon is no longer waiver-exempt, meaning that he won’t be able to be shuffled up and down without clearing waivers each time.  While he’s not a huge risk to be stolen, it’s probably something the Flames would still rather avoid.

[Related: Calgary Flames Depth Chart]

After re-starting their hearts (“Flames sign” is a good way to get attention at the moment), Calgary fans will now continue to wait for the inevitable contracts given to Gaudreau and Monahan. Both have expressed the desire to remain in Calgary long-term, but with each passing day the fanbase becomes more frantic. With just under $15MM in current cap space, the team should be able to fit both players in without making any subsequent moves.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Remaining Restricted Free Agents

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At the beginning of free agency on July 1st, there were 126 restricted free agents.  As we approach the middle of August, that number is down to just 20.  Here is a look at who still needs to be re-signed.  This list excludes RFA’s that have already signed a contract overseas or a minor league deal.

Anaheim: C/RW Rickard Rakell, D Hampus Lindholm
Arizona: RW/LW Tobias Rieder
Boston: None
Buffalo: C/LW Zemgus Girgensons, D Rasmus Ristolainen
Calgary: LW Johnny Gaudreau, C Freddie Hamilton, C Sean Monahan, D Tyler Wotherspoon
Carolina: None
Chicago: None
Colorado: None
Columbus: None
Dallas: RW Valeri Nichushkin
Detroit: C Louis-Marc Aubry, D Ryan Sproul
Edmonton: None
Florida: None
Los Angeles: None
Minnesota: None
Montreal: None
Nashville: D Stefan Elliott
New Jersey: None
NY Islanders: G Christopher Gibson, C Ryan Strome
NY Rangers: None
Ottawa: D Cody Ceci
Philadelphia: None
Pittsburgh: None
San Jose: None
St. Louis: None
Tampa Bay: RW Nikita Kucherov, D Nikita Nesterov
Toronto: None
Vancouver: None
Washington: D Dmitry Orlov
Winnipeg: D Jacob Trouba

At this point, the holdups for many of these deals can be classified into three categories: 1) Star players working on long-term deals, 2) Good players that are likely to sign short-term ‘bridge’ contracts, and 3) Depth players who are likely looking for the right balance of NHL vs AHL pay.

The deadline for signing restricted free agents is still three and a half months from now (they must be signed by 4:00pm CST on December 1st).  However, the players on this list that will be participating in next month’s World Cup of Hockey may want to get their deals done before the tournament starts so that talks aren’t being held during the event.  For the rest, training camps don’t open for another month so mid-September is really the first notable deadline to get something done if the hope is to have the player signed, sealed, and delivered before the first day of camp.

Snapshots: Gagner, Saunders Tributes, Arbitration History

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Sam Gagner’s contract with the Columbus Blue Jackets is right on the money reports the Columbus Post Dispatch’s Michael Arace. Gagner, Arace writes, is a player with a perception who does not live up to his given abilities. He also says it’s not entirely fair. Coming in at cap friendly one-year, $650K deal, Arace notes that it’s a chance for Gagner to prove who he really is as a hockey player at a very low cost. Gagner believes that his “best hockey is ahead of him,” and at the price of $650K, Arace writes that the deal is “one of the best deals (Blue Jackets general manager) Jarmo Kekalainen has made.” Further, Arace indicates that Gagner worked his way back from a demotion and hung on to play meaningful playoff hockey for the Flyers. The low risk, high reward for Gagner seems to serve a purpose for both the Jackets and Gagner.

In other NHL news:

  • Scores of hockey reporters, and analysts paid their respects to the late John Saunders, who passed away earlier today at the age of 61. Saunders was known as one of the most down to earth professionals in the business of sports. Mike Tirico gave a long tribute to his former colleague while Scott Van Pelt tweeted a very heartfelt, and emotional response to the shocking news.  Linda Cohn, a longtime ESPN anchor, and hardcore hockey fan, called  Saunders “a friend” while Steve Levy tweeted that Saunders was “the most generous, charitable, caring person I knew.” Finally, ESPN included a long tribute to Saunders’ work and personality.
  • Sean McIndoe includes a very interesting piece on the history of arbitration in the NHL. While cases went to arbitration this season, none were solved by an arbitrator, instead being concluded by contract extensions between the team and player. McIndoe writes about the infamous ruling–back in the “older days” of the NHL, that involved Scott Stevens and Brendan Shanahan. McIndoe explains the previous RFA rules, where if restricted free agents were targeted, both teams would offer what they felt was proper compensation for the targeted RFA–in the way of players. As history would have it, the Devils requested then Blues captain Scott Stevens, who at the time, was already considered a premier NHL defenseman. Of course, it was granted by the arbitrator, and all hell broke loose. McIndoe goes on to tell some other great stories that include hall of fame bound Eric Lindros.

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