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Coyotes, Connor Murphy Agree To Six-Year Pact

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The Arizona Coyotes and first-year GM John Chayka continue to put the finishing touches on what has been a busy offseason in the desert. Today the club has agreed to a six-year deal with RFA defenseman Connor Murphy that comes with an AAV of $3.85MM. It appears the deal covers Murphy’s remaining RFA seasons along with at least one unrestricted year.

The player’s agent, Brian Bartlett, first indicated that the two sides were nearing an agreement yesterday.

Murphy, who turned 23 in March, finished third among Coyotes blue liners in points (17) and tied for 2nd in goals with six. Arizona is clearly buying into Murphy’s upside as despite his relatively modest offensive contributions to date, his new contract places him in the company of some more accomplished defenseman. Comparable contracts, according to General Fanager, include: Roman Josi ($4MM AAV), Travis Hamonic ($3.857MM AAV), Jake Muzzin ($4MM AAV) and Mattias Ekholm ($3.75MM AAV). Each of those players posted superior offensive numbers in their platform years.

Chayka recently explained the organization’s defensive philosophy in an interview with Dan Rosen of NHL.com when discussing the acquisitions of Luke Schenn and Alex Goligoski, stating: “Defense isn’t about defending, it’s about getting the puck in the forwards’ hands and getting the puck moving into the offensive zone. It’s about transitioning. That’s the philosophy and that’s been the theme behind the moves that we’re making, let’s get players who can get pucks back and get pucks up to forwards in an efficient and effective manner.”

It would seem then given the length commitment that Chayka and his staff view Murphy as an up-and-comer and someone who can help in the transition game both now and well into the future.

The six-foot-four, 212-pound Murphy was the Coyotes first-round selection (20th overall) in the 2011 Entry Draft. He’s appeared in 181 NHL regular season contests, tallying 11 goals and 32 points while also accumulating 100 minutes in penalties.

Chayka now can cross off another item on his to-do list but still has work to do before calling it a summer. The Coyotes are still working on new deals with RFA’s Michael Stone and Tobias Reider. The Reider negotiations could drag on through the summer as the two sides are evidently not close to agreeing on the forward’s market value.

Latest On Connor Murphy

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While news has started trickling out about the Coyotes’ inability to sign RFA Tobias Rieder, Arizona may be closing in on one of their other remaining unsigned players. Craig Morgan of AZSports reports that Brian Bartlett, the agent for restricted free agent Connor Murphy expects to have a deal done by the end of the week.

Murphy, 23, saw his role with the Coyotes improve drastically last season especially following the trade of Keith Yandle. After the trade, he logged over 22:30 per night (up from 19:50 pre-trade) and held his own against tougher opponents. The bone-crushing hitter isn’t an offensive or possession dynamo, though he did contribute 17 points last season, and saw some limited powerplay action.

Even with the addition of Luke Schenn, Murphy will probably slot in beside another newcomer in Alex Goligoski on the second pairing next season, with fellow unsigned RFA Michael Stone skating alongside superstar Oliver Ekman-Larsson. Obviously, these pairings will be settled in camp, but Murphy will try to continue his strong development from first-round pick (20th overall in 2011) to top-four defenseman.

Atlantic Notes: Kane, Ceci, Leafs

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After turning himself in for arrest on July 22nd, Evander Kane was charged with four counts of non-criminal harassment and one count of criminal trespass which, according to Kane’s attorney Paul Cambria, he plans to plead not guilty to. Now, police documents acquired by WKBW Buffalo show (via Deadspin) sworn statements from multiple women and the bouncer at the club which the incident occurred.

“He grabbed my hair. He pulled it so hard he pulled my whole head. It hurt a lot.” claims one of the women, who also says Kane tried to force her to kiss his hand. Another woman claims that this is “how he always treats women. Aggressive and disrespectful.”

Immediately after news of the incident broke, trade speculation surrounding the former fourth-overall pick heated up, with many believing that his hometown of Vancouver would be a natural destination as they look to rebuild their club. Canucks’ beat writer Jason Botchford (The Province) fanned the flames today when he told TSN 1040 “there is no doubt about it. The Vancouver Canucks are going to be in on Evander Kane. Ownership loves Kane. Jim Benning really likes Kane. Trevor (Linden) is maybe a little ambivalent, but he can be won over.” Kane has two seasons remaining at $5.25MM, and scored just 35 points last season.

  • The Ottawa Senators addressed one problem today when they re-signed RFA Mike Hoffman to a four-year deal, and will now turn their attention to defenseman Cody Ceci. Bruce Garrioch of the Ottawa Sun reports what many have thought, that Ceci is amiably working towards a deal with the Sens and will work something out before camp starts.  Garrioch goes on to report that the sides are working on a two-year deal at the moment, though obviously anything can change before ink goes to paper. Ceci scored a career-high 10 goals last season and is a big part of the Senators’ top four.
  • Martin Marincin represents the Toronto Maple Leafs’ last remaining arbitration case after re-signing Peter Holland and Frankie Corrado on Monday.  While Marincin offers some intrigue to Leaf fans because of his improved play last year as Morgan Rielly’s partner, there is more to his signing than meets the eye. Three days after Marincin signs (or has the arbitration dispute resolved at his August 2nd hearing), the Leafs will be awarded a second buyout window which they could use to free up some more cap space.  With Jared Cowen having filed a grievance over the attempted buyout from the first window (he maintains that he’s still rehabbing an injury sustained during the season, which would make him exempt from any buyout), the team may be waiting until it’s resolved in order to use the second buyout to terminate his contract. Joffrey Lupul, Milan Michalek, Colin Greening and Brooks Laich all remain as other possible options for the second buyout window, should the Maple Leafs choose to use it.

Flames Notes: RFAs, Injuries, Tuulola

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Calgary Flames GM Brad Treliving spoke to reporters today and gave some insight into a few situations, including the ongoing negotiations with star restricted free agents Sean Monahan and Johnny Gaudreau. Darren Haynes of the Canadian Press tells us that with a grin, Treliving said “the only hold-up is term and money“.

Despite the tongue-in-cheek joke from Treliving, Flames fans are getting nervous about their two young forwards; the duo combined for 57 goals and 141 points last season, and are both still under the age of 23. After the youngsters were benched earlier this year for being late to practice, both are looking for long-term deals that would let them become the professionals they hope to be, and stay in Calgary together for at least a decade.

  • On the health front, Treliving reports (via Haynes), that Ladislav Smid is nearing a decision on playing status for next season, after lingering neck issues have put his 2016-17 in jeopardy.  Smid underwent surgery in February of this year.  Daniel Pribyl, a Czech prospect signed earlier this year, is progressing well in his ACL recovery. The big-bodied winger underwent surgery to repair the ligament after signing with the team in late April.  Jyrki Jokipakka, part of the return for Kris Russell in February, is still nursing an injured hip and his place on team Finland in the upcoming World Cup is up in the air.
  • Eetu Tuulola, the Flames sixth-round pick from this year’s draft will be heading to the WHL for 2016-17, Treliving confirms.  Previous reports had the Finnish winger joining the Silvertips for the upcoming season, where he’ll find himself under the tutelage of former NHL head coach Kevin Constantine.

Arbitration Tracker

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Ten days ago, the NHLPA released the schedule for player and team-elected arbitration hearings. Since then, four hearing dates have come and gone with no hearings, with eight players agreeing to contracts to avoid the unpleasant process.

Here’s an updated list of all 24 players who were scheduled for an arbitration hearing:

Player Elected Filings:

Arizona Coyotes
Michael Stone – Stone and the tough-negotiating Coyotes have a hearing set for August 4.

Colorado Avalanche
Tyson Barrie – Hearing set for July 29. Barrie has been the subject of near-constant trade rumors this summer.
Mikhail Grigorenko – Agreed to a one-year, $1.3MM contract on July 20, just two days before the scheduled hearing.

Detroit Red Wings
Jared Coreau – Agreed to a two-year, $1.25MM contract on July 6, well before any hearings were scheduled.
Danny DeKeyser – Signed a six-year deal on July 26th, locking him up long-term for the Red Wings.

Minnesota Wild
Jordan Schroeder – The Wild signed Schroeder to a one-year, two-way deal on July 23rd worth $675K in the NHL and $275K in the AHL.

Nashville Predators
Petter Granberg – Signed a two-year, two-way deal worth $575K / $175K (300K guaranteed) in the first year, and $650K / $175K in the second.
Calle Jarnkrok – Signed a six-year, $12MM deal July 27th.

New York Rangers
Kevin Hayes – Signed a two-year, $5.2MM deal Friday afternoon, hours after Kreider.
Chris Kreider – The Rangers and Kreider agreed to a four-year, $18.5MM contract Friday morning, beating the scheduled 9am arbitration meeting.
Dylan McIlrath – The massive defender signed a one-year, $800k contract last week, beating his hearing by a week.
J.T. Miller – World Cup-bound Miller and the Rangers settled on a two-year, $2.75MM contract on July 13.

Ottawa Senators
Mike Hoffman – After a long negotiation, the Senators and Hoffman agreed to a four-year, $20.75MM deal on July 27th.

Philadelphia Flyers
Brandon Manning – Manning got an unexpected second year in his two-year, $1.95MM deal he signed on July 26th.
Brayden Schenn – Schenn and the Flyers agreed to a four-year deal worth $5.125MM AAV.
Jordan Weal – Acquired by the Flyers in the Vincent Lecavalier trade, Weal signed a one-year, two-way, $650K contract the day the arbitration schedule was released.

St. Louis Blues
Jaden Schwartz – The Blues signed their young star to a five-year, $5.5MM contract last week.

Tampa Bay Lightning
Alex Killorn – The clutch playoff performer signed a long-term extension over the weekend, agreeing to $4.45MM per year for seven seasons.
Vladislav Namestnikov – World Cup-bound forward signed a two-year deal worth $1.9375MM on July 26th, three days before arbitration hearing.

Toronto Maple Leafs
Frank Corrado – Toronto signed Corrado to a one-year, one-way deal worth $600K on July 25.
Peter Holland – Holland signed a one-year deal worth $1.3MM on July 25.
Martin Marincin – The promising young shut-down defenseman is scheduled for arbitration on August 2.

Washington Capitals
Marcus Johansson – Johansson agreed to a three-year, $4.58MM contract just minutes before his hearing was set to begin.

CLUB ELECTED FILINGS:

Detroit Red Wings
Petr Mrazek – Just before his hearing on July 27th, Mrazek and the Red Wings inked a two-year, $8MM deal. With Jimmy Howard still earning $5.3MM for next season, the duo is one of the more expensive in the league.

We’ve previously explained the arbitration process as part of our Capology 101 series. Check out our Mike Furlano’s articles on eligibility and the arbitration process.

Grigorenko, Avalanche Settle On Terms

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According to Tim Wharnsby of CBC, the Colorado Avalanche and RFA forward Mikhail Grigorenko have agreed to terms on a contract for 2016-17. Grigorenko, who had an arbitration hearing scheduled for Friday and who just exchanged numbers with the club this morning, will receive $1.3MM for the upcoming campaign. The Avalanche had offered $950K with Grigorenko’s camp countering at $1.65MM. The settlement comes in at exactly the midpoint.

Grigorenko finished with six goals and 27 points in his first season with the Avalanche after coming over from Buffalo as part of the return in the blockbuster Ryan O’Reilly trade. The 22-year-old natural center has 12 goals and 41 points in 142 NHL contests.

The Sabres selected Grigorenko in the first-round, 12th overall, of the 2012 entry draft. Grigerenko played his junior hockey for Quebec in the QMJHL under current Avalanche head coach Patrick Roy. That likely played a role in his inclusion in the trad package for O’Reilly.

The signing leaves Tyson Barrie as the club’s lone remaining RFA. With more than $6MM in space left according to General Fanager, the Avalanche should have the necessary room to get a deal done with the defenseman, even if negotiations have reportedly not gone smoothly.

Arbitration Breakdown: Chris Kreider

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With the clock ticking down, the New York Rangers and the camp for Chris Kreider have filed their respective briefs in advance of Friday’s scheduled arbitration hearing, as we earlier reported on Pro Hockey Rumors. The Rangers offered a figure of $3.2MM while Kreider has requested $4.75MM in salary for the 2016-17 campaign.

The apparently wide gulf is indicative of a typical negotiating ploy being utilized by both parties. Kreider’s side comes in on the high end while the club submits a lower number, each with the knowledge that arbitrators typically award a number comfortably between the two positions. Should this actually go to a hearing, and there is every reason to believe negotiations on a long-term deal are being conducted as we speak, the arbitrator likely would award a one-year salary of around $4MM, roughly near the midpoint of the figures exchanged.

If we operate under the supposition both sides are willing to do a long term deal, what would Kreider then be worth?

Kreider’s is an interesting case. Still just 25, the former Boston College standout and former first-round pick possesses a rare blend of size, speed and skill. The six-foot-three, 226-pound winger is among the fastest straight line skaters in the game today and creates numerous scoring chances due solely to his physical skills. When fully engaged, Kreider has the ability to dominate entire games with his speed and physicality.

Following a 21-goal performance during the 2014-15 campaign, it was believed Kreider might finally be realizing his vast potential and a 30-goal season was considered the logical next step in his development. But Kreider struggled with consistency in 2015-16, an all-too-frequent experience during his burgeoning career (and frankly one shared by many young players), and needed five tallies in his final eight games to match his 2014-15 output.

Still, 20-goal scorers in their prime and with additional offensive upside are not cheap. Fortunately, a couple of recent RFA signings can be used for comparative purposes to help determine just how much Kreider may be worth.

Kyle Palmieri recently inked a five-year deal with New Jersey that comes with an AAV of $4.65MM per season. Palmieri is coming off a better platform campaign than Kreider, tallying career highs in both goals with 30 and points with 57.

Meanwhile, Washington Capitals forward Marcus Johansson, avoided arbitration by agreeing to a three-year, $13.75MM contract which averages out to just under $4.6MM annually. Johansson finished the 2015-16 season with 17 goals and 46 points.

On the surface both would seem to serve as obvious comparables. And while their contracts certainly help us hone in on Kreider’s potential value, the big winger has some advantages over his peers that could boost his value.

First, even though Kreider’s 43-point 2015-16 output falls short of Palmieri (57) and Johansson (46), his 1.85 points/60 at five-on-five (5v5) scoring rate over the last two seasons is superior. Johansson has recorded a 1.68 points/60 at 5v5 and Palmieri comes in at 1.55 over that same time frame.

Second, Kreider already has extensive postseason experience and has excelled when it matters most. He’s potted 20 goals in 65 playoff contests since debuting during the 2011-12 postseason, scoring his first playoff goal a week before his 21st birthday. Palmieri has tallied seven goals in 33 postseason games. Johansson also has seven playoff goals, albeit in 56 contests.

The New York Rangers relatively quiet foray into free agency, and the recent trade of Derick Brassard to Ottawa for Mika Zibanejad, has left the Rangers with $10.65MM in cap space according to General Fanager. With only Kevin Hayes and Marek Hrivik remaining unsigned as RFAs, it seems reasonable to conclude the Rangers have the financial wherewithal to offer a deal in the range of $5MM annually for five years. This would allow the club to buy three unrestricted free agent seasons and lock up one of their top young players through his prime years at what could be a very affordable price should he ever meet his 30-goal potential. Even as a 20-goal scorer, the cost wouldn’t be too out of line with what is paid on the open market.

 

 

Calgary Notes: Monahan And Gaudreau

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Restricted free agent (RFA) center Sean Monahan says contract talks with Calgary are “getting there”.

Monahan told TSN’s Gino Reda “I definitely want to be there for a long time”, adding he wants to play in Calgary for the rest of his career. He said his preference is a long-term deal, but noted that’s not up to him. The Flames are currently in negotiations with both Monahan and fellow RFA (and leading scorer) Johnny Gaudreau, but will need to be careful with regards to the salary cap.

Currently, the Flames have over $14MM in cap space before signing Gaudreau and Monahan. They should get some relief next summer, with pending UFAs Dennis Wideman, Ladislav Smid, and Deryk Engelland freeing up $11.66MM. However, newly-acquired starting goalie Brian Elliott and young forward Sam Bennett will need new contracts. The Flames also need to improve their team, following their fifth place finish in the Pacific Division.

When asked about the possibility of taking a hometown discount to help build a contender, Monahan agreed that it was part of his thought process, saying “if you’re a high-end player and you’re playing somewhere at a young age, that’s where your heart is and where you want to win.”

Monahan says he’s been in contact with Gaudreau and was scheduled to meet with him Monday night to “have a little chat”. The two are good friends and not battling about salary negotiations, according to Monahan.

“Our goal is to bring the Stanley Cup to Calgary… if we can bring other players in and have a little extra money… to help us be a better team, that’s the idea.

Monahan is coming off back to back 60-plus point seasons, while Gaudreau has scored 64 and 78 points in his first two NHL seasons.

Columbus Notes: Harrington; Tynan; Broadhurst

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Aaron Portzline of the Columbus Dispatch reports that the Columbus Blue Jackets are close to new deals with three RFAs: Scott Harrington, T.J. Tynan, and Alex Broadhurst. Those three are Columbus’s only remaining RFAs.

  • Harrington remains the biggest name of the bunch. Columbus acquired the big defenseman from Toronto for Kerby Rychel on June 26, 2016. Toronto initially received Harrington in the Phil Kessel trade with Pittsburgh. He tallied only one assist in 15 games with the Leafs while scoring 1G and 2A with the AHL Toronto Marlies. Harrington is expected to battle for the 5/6 defensive slots in camp this fall as the Blue Jackets only have six experienced defensemen on the roster.
  • Tynan racked up 6G and 40A last year with the AHL Lake Erie Monsters, and is looking to make the jump to the NHL. The small forward—listed at 5’8″—has to compensate for his lack of size, but the Blue Jackets are familiar with the potential skill set from smaller players. Top-line forward Cam Atkinson is also listed at 5’8″, and he’s scored at least 20 goals in the last three seasons.
  • Alex Broadhurst came over from the Chicago Blackhawks in the deal for Brandon Saad. The center tallied 10G and 26A with the Lake Erie Monsters last season, and 3G and 9A in the Monsters’ Calder Cup-winning run.

We’ve previously reported that Columbus has been quiet this off-season, and these signings do little to quell the notion that they will be a lottery team come 2017. Fans can take solace in the fact that the Blue Jackets’ AHL affiliate are Calder Cup champions, something that bodes well for the future of the big league team.

[Columbus Blue Jackets Depth Chart]

 

Chicago Blackhawks Sign Mark McNeill

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According to a team release, the Chicago Blackhawks have come to terms with pending RFA Mark McNeill on a new one-year contract.  The 23-year old will stay another season with the team that drafted him 18th overall in 2013.

After being a prolific scorer for the Prince Albert Raiders of the WHL, McNeill has brought those soft hands to the AHL where he has recorded back-to-back 20-goal seasons. The 23-year old made his NHL debut this past season, suiting up for a single game for the Blackhawks.

Though McNeill has shown he can dominate in the AHL, he may still need to wait for a real opportunity with the Blackhawks, after they brought in names like Jordin Tootoo and Nick Schmaltz for this season. He’ll head to camp trying to force his way onto the roster, and prove that he can continue to produce at the next level.

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