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Latest On Kevin Shattenkirk

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As we learned yesterday, the St. Louis Blues have had three different deals fall through for Kevin Shattenkirk in the last nine or so months, starting with one that could have taken the star defenseman to Edmonton before they eventually dealt for Adam Larsson. As Bob McKenzie of TSN reported, the latest trade would have had Shattenkirk sign a seven year, $42MM extension upon the completion of the deal, and Jeremy Rutherford of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch thinks he knows which team it was.

While he can’t be sure, Rutherford writes that it was likely the Tampa Bay Lightning who had the deal completed in principal but needed the extension to pull the trigger. Just six weeks ago Shattenkirk vetoed it, which would have been right around the time the Lightning were 19-19-4 and struggling to get anything going in the Eastern Conference. It’s unclear what they would have given up, but Rutherford does mention that the Blues have shown interest in both Tyler Johnson and Jonathan Drouin in past discussions.

All this while Darren Dreger of TSN very much believes that the Toronto Maple Leafs are still involved in discussions about the right-handed defenseman, recently saying that they’ve had consistent interest in him. As yesterday, they still are balking at the asking price which has been talked about as a first round pick, prospect and perhaps even more. Dreger says that Shattenkirk has played himself into a perfect spot, where he can either stay where he is “comfortable” in St. Louis, or head to a playoff team—which St. Louis is currently—and then hit the open market in a few months.

For any player, signing a long-term extension with a team before you’ve set foot in their organization would be a tough decision. In free agency you can take your time and have several meetings, be shown the facilities and talk about the state of the club going forward. During the season none of that can take place, and agreeing to go live and work in a city that you may not know very well would be a life-changing decision. Shattenkirk looks more and more like a rental piece that you’ll have a few months to try and convince to stay, rather than get an extension done prior.

Many teams in the league should be happy with that, as even rentals of his caliber don’t come around very often. The bidding will be high, but likely will include some conditional picks hinging on the team’s ability to re-sign him. What we know though is that he obviously doesn’t want to rush into an extension, if he’s already turned down three.

Shattenkirk “More And More Likely” To Be Dealt As A Rental

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We’ve now seen four trades made in the past week as the trade market picks up before next Wednesday’s trade deadline. On the latest edition of Insider Trading, TSN’s Bob McKenzie, Darren Dreger, and Pierre LeBrun dropped some tidbits about potential trade activity.

The main topic of discussion was the consensus best player available in St. Louis Blues defenseman Kevin Shattenkirk. McKenzie believes that the likelihood of Shattenkirk being dealt as a rental is becoming “more and more likely” as the days pass. Beginning with the Edmonton Oilers last June, three teams have had trades fall through because Shattenkirk wasn’t willing to sign long-term. The most recent team to have a deal in place was offering a seven-year, $42MM contract, according to McKenzie.

That’s a hefty price to pay for Shattenkirk, taking into account the acquisition cost. Blues GM Doug Armstrong is not wavering on his asking price of a first round pick, a top prospect, plus “something else.” While some teams may balk at that cost, Dreger reports that teams will continue to kick tires until the deadline. Dreger believes the Toronto Maple Leafs, New York Rangers, and Tampa Bay Lightning have already been in touch but have concerns about the price.

While Shattenkirk may view himself as a rental, that’s not to say a team couldn’t acquire Shattenkirk with the intention of pitching him on staying beyond this year. As we reported earlier today, TSN’s Frank Seravalli believes that Oilers GM Peter Chiarelli should be confident in his ability to pitch his team to Shattenkirk, as they appear poised to be a top-ten team in the NHL for the next decade.

In other notes from the TSN insiders, the Minnesota Wild, Florida Panthers, and Chicago Blackhawks are all interested in bolstering their forward cores before the trade deadline. Minnesota and Chicago are likely pretty happy with their rosters as they sit atop the Western Conference. While neither team will be looking at making a big splash, both would like to add a depth forward. Specifically, the Blackhawks would like a player with a low cap hit who could be acquired with just a draft pick. That’s not likely to be a high draft pick, however, as Blackhawks GM Stan Bowman wants to keep picks for the upcoming draft, which will be held in Chicago. The suddenly hot Panthers aren’t necessarily buyers, despite winning eight of their last 10 games. If they do make a move, LeBrun believe they would be interested in adding a top nine forward in a rental capacity.

Those three teams will likely have interest in Dallas Stars winger Patrick Eaves. With 21 goals in 59 games and a $1MM cap hit, Eaves is drawing plenty of interest from around the NHL. There are as many as 10-12 teams inquiring about the gritty winger according to Dreger.

[Related: PHR’s profile of Patrick Eaves]

Another forward likely on the move is Martin Hanzal; LeBrun reports that most of the teams inquiring about the 6’6 center are from the Western Conference, but Montreal is one of the most interested clubs. Despite missing nine games this season, Hanzal already has 15 goals, which is one off his career-high from 2010-11. The Coyotes would like to move Hanzal by the end of the weekend, according to LeBrun. Of course, that’s depending of the offers available to rookie GM John Chayka.

[Related: PHR’s profile of Martin Hanzal]

The Vancouver Canucks are among the growing group of sellers, but the player drawing the most interest from rival teams is not a rental. Jannik Hansen has one year left at $2.5MM and has lots of teams interested in acquiring him. However, the Canucks aren’t looking for a draft pick in return; GM Jim Benning is asking for a top prospect or young NHLer in return for the long-time Canuck. That’s a steep price for a middle-six player who’s never scored more than 39 points in a season.

Poll: Who Will Be The Next Player To Be Dealt?

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The trade deadline festivities are kicking off, with a couple of moves for rental defensemen already being completed. Calgary sent a couple of picks to the Arizona Coyotes on Monday for Michael Stone, a player that jumped in to fire with 17 minutes in his first game and will move up to the second pairing tonight against the Tampa Bay Lightning. The Flames scratched Dennis Wideman, who is now open to a trade if it means he’ll be “wanted” in his new locale.

Then today, the Pittsburgh Penguins showed the league how much a second-round pick is really worth in this “weak” draft class, acquiring 35-year old Ron Hainsey from Carolina. Hainsey couldn’t be happier about the deal, as reported by Jason Mackay of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.

If you could pick a place, this would be the place. The group that they have coming off last year, there’s a lot of excitement when you hear you’re going to Pittsburgh. Not having a great opportunity like this for so long, it’s something to get pretty excited about.

Hainsey hasn’t seen the playoffs once in his entire 15-year career, but now is set to hit the postseason as one of the favorites in the Eastern Conference. The team will need him too, they announced that Trevor Daley would be out for six weeks just a few moments after the deal.

So now we ask you, the reader, who you think will be the next on the move in the NHL. Will we see another Arizona rental head to a contender, or will Colorado start selling off their whole team? Vote now, and make sure you let us know where you think they’re headed in the comments below.

(Mobile users click here to vote)

Ben Bishop Has A Limited No-Trade Clause In His Current Contract

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During the blitz of this morning’s Ron Hainsey deal that saw the defenseman move to the Pittsburgh Penguins, CapFriendly tweeted out a bombshell about pending UFA Ben Bishop. Bishop has been long thought of to be on the move at the deadline if the Tampa Bay Lightning feel they’re out of the playoff race, but it may be harder for Steve Yzerman and company to do that than previously believed. According to the site, Bishop actually has an eight-team list that he cannot be traded to. While there isn’t any clarification on which teams those may be, it definitely makes it harder to trade him. Ben Bishop

The goalie market is more robust than year’s past because of the sheer number of teams that are still in the mix for the postseason, but if that list contains some specific teams it could completely tie the Lightning’s hands at the deadline.

New York (Islanders), Calgary, St. Louis, Philadelphia and Winnipeg could all have various interest in the goaltender, depending on how the next week shakes out for them and their own confidence in their current situation. His recent play has looked more like the Vezina-quality netminder than the one we saw earlier this season, including a shutout of the Los Angeles Kings earlier this month. The Lightning, who are making a case for their own playoff spot, may choose they are better off with him but risk losing him for nothing this summer.

The 30-year old netminder ranked fifth among our Top Midseason UFAs, and he is destined to be sought after this summer by multiple teams looking for a change in goal. All this NTC does is make it even tougher for the Bolts to move him, should any of the above teams fall on his list. He could, however choose to waive the clause to go after a Stanley Cup somewhere else if the Lightning fall out of it—with just two games before the deadline, it could very well hinge on Monday night’s tilt against the Ottawa Senators to decide which way the team goes at the deadline.

Evening Snapshots: Callahan, Conacher, Kerdiles

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News and notes from around the NHL this evening:

  • The Tampa Bay Lightning will be without Ryan Callahan indefinitely, reports Bryan Burns of TampaBayLightning.com. Callahan suffered a hip injury in January but was expected to return last week. There is now no new date for his return as Callahan gets ready for a second procedure to try and fix the issue. GM Steve Yzerman intimated that Callahan will miss the remainder of the season and some of the playoffs, should the Lightning go on a run. The veteran winger has 2G and 2A in 18 games so far. The Lightning—should they put Callahan on LTIR—would be able to exceed the cap by Callahan’s $5.8MM cap hit if they want to load up on trade deadline rentals. They are only 4 points out of a wild card spot with 22 games left to play.
  • Continuing with the Tampa Bay Lightning, the team called up forward Cory Conacher, reports Joe Smith of the Tampa Bay Times. Conacher is currently 9th overall in AHL scoring, and fresh off a two-goal performance last night with the Syracuse Crunch. So far Conacher hasn’t had a proper chance to translate his AHL success to the NHL, but has 1G and 1A in seven games with the big club. Joe Smith speculates that Conacher was recalled just in case Jonathan Drouin cannot play tonight. Lightning Insider Erik Erlendsson reported that Drouin did not practice with the team today.
  • Anaheim Ducks forward Nicolas Kerdiles is set to make his NHL debut tonight against the Boston Bruins, reports Curtis Zupke of the Los Angeles Times. The Ducks drafted Kerdiles 36th overall in 2012, but the Texas native placed in the NCAA for the next two years. He’s played only ten games with the AHL San Diego Gulls this season after suffering his second concussion, but he’s managed to record 4G and 5A those ten games. Early reports have him skating with Rickard Rakell and Corey Perry.

Lightning Notes: Deadline, Playoffs, Stamkos

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Joe Smith of the Tampa Bay Times caught up with Lightning GM Steve Yzerman for his latest column and discussed things from expiring contracts to injured players. When broaching the subject of the trade deadline and the possibility of moving upcoming free agents like Ben Bishop and Brian Boyle, Yzerman wasn’t willing to give up on his squad.

We’re competing for a playoff spot so if I’m going to move people.. I’m not just giving people away here. If it makes sense, I’ll do it. If it doesn’t make sense, I’m not. It’s not a firesale.

That’s a common opinion among GMs across the league, who are finding the deadline this year extremely difficult. The looming expansion draft is changing the way teams operate this year, and as Yzerman notes “protection issues, that is a factor in acquiring and trading players.” Indeed, adding a player who might have to be left exposed is just another complication to a deadline that has become more and more difficult since the salary cap debuted.

  • The other thing to note about the Tampa Bay deadline is that playoff spot that Yzerman mentions. Even though the team is just two games over .500 and four points out of last place in the entire Eastern Conference, he’s right when he says they’re still in a playoff race. The Atlantic division in particular is still wide open, with only 12 points separating first and last place. The Lightning find themselves just five points out of the final wildcard spot, and six out of third in the Atlantic.
  • Yzerman is still operating as if Steven Stamkos and Ryan Callahan will return at some point this season, which would greatly affect their salary cap situation. If the two can get back though, they’ll be a bigger addition than any trade deadline acquisition. Stamkos has reportedly begun some light skating, and is still on his 4-6 month timeline—that leaves much speculation though, as four months would be mid-March and six would be the end of the playoffs.
  • Even if a firesale isn’t happening, the Lightning will have some tough decisions up front. As we’ve detailed before, they have an expansion draft crunch and a salary situation that will make for a tough summer. With Tyler Johnson, Ondrej Palat and Jonathan Drouin all needing new deals, it looks like at least one of their forwards will need to be shipped out. Alex Killorn looks like a natural possibility, but it may have to be the diminutive Johnson depending on the offers that come in.

Garrioch’s Latest: Shattenkirk, Lightning, Jurco, Vegas

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The recent run of the St. Louis Blues has all of a sudden made their decision regarding pending unrestricted free agent defenseman Kevin Shattenkirk a much more difficult one, writes Bruce Garrioch of the Ottawa Sun in his latest Insider Trading column.  It has long been believed that the Blues – who aren’t expected to re-sign him – were hoping to move him in an effort to avoid losing him for nothing in July but with the team now sitting somewhat comfortably in a playoff spot, it’s a much tougher sell as moving him would hurt their fortunes considerably.

The asking price from GM Doug Armstrong remains quite high, including a first round pick, a high quality prospect, plus a third element.  If he can get all of that in a return, moving him even while in a playoff spot would be a lot more palatable but there’s little indication at this time that anyone is willing to meet that price for a rental player, even the top one on the market.

Garrioch also has updates on several other goings-on around the league.  As usual, the full column is worth a read but here are a handful of the highlights:

  • Lightning GM Steve Yzerman is looking to free up some cap space beyond this season with players like Ondrej Palat, Tyler Johnson, and Jonathan Drouin all headed for restricted free agency. A couple of players they’d like to move are defensemen Braydon Coburn and Jason Garrison.  Coburn has two years left on his deal after this one with a $3.75MM cap hit while Garrison has one year remaining at $4.7MM.  However, Yzerman will need to provide some sort of incentive to get a team to take on one of those deals and while it appears he’s willing to do so, the question becomes how much of a sweetener would they be willing to part with?
  • On top of pending UFA Thomas Vanek, the Red Wings are looking to find a new home for winger Tomas Jurco. It came out last month that the 24 year was hoping to be dealt as he has spent a significant portion of this season as a healthy scratch.  While it’s likely that GM Ken Holland would like to move some players with term left on their deals, that will be quite difficult as quite a few are on long-term pacts and are underachieving this season.
  • Golden Knights GM George McPhee reached out to now-Canadiens coach Claude Julien after he was let go by the Bruins but clearly no deal was reached. Considering Julien was primed to be in a spot to be very selective about where he went if he waited until the offseason and the likelihood that the expansion team struggles out of the gate, he likely wouldn’t have been the right fit in Vegas anyways.  The scribe suggests that former Florida bench boss Gerard Gallant remains the favorite to get the job although ex-Islanders coach Jack Capuano has also been interviewed.

Lightning’s Brian Boyle Discusses Trade Rumors

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We’ve heard Brian Boyle’s name come up several times as we approach the March 1st trade deadline, but the Lightning center told Joe Smith of TampaBay.com that he’d prefer to stay with the organization.

May 13, 2016; Pittsburgh, PA, USA; Tampa Bay Lightning center Brian Boyle (11) moves the puck against the Pittsburgh Penguins during the first period in game one of the Eastern Conference Final of the 2016 Stanley Cup Playoffs at the CONSOL Energy Center. The Lightning won 3-1. Mandatory Credit: Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY Sports

“We’re really blessed to be able to play here,” Boyle said. “We’ve talked about it plenty of times, how wonderful it is to be playing in Tampa, being close to her family. The community here. We want to keep playing here.”

The rumors make plenty of sense, as the impending free agent would be an excellent acquisition for those seeking some offensive reinforcement. Smith mentions that the Maple Leafs, Blue Jackets, and Oilers as the teams that have been connected to the 32-year-old veteran. The writer also notes that the organization is currently seeking a haul for the forward, with other teams being hesitant regarding the high asking price. Of course, Boyle is more interested in helping his current squad.

“If teams want you, it means you’re doing something right,” Boyle said. “I want to add something to this team. I want to be an impact player, help us get to where we want to go. That’s the way I’ve approached (the trade rumors). It’s what’s best for our team. Stuff like that, you have no control over.”

Boyle has played in 51 games this year, his third with the organization. The forward has compiled 13 goals and eight assists this season. Tampa Bay is currently sitting 16 points out from the final wild card spot.

“I want to stay here,” Boyle said. “We’ve been on a mission for a few years now and haven’t accomplished it yet. We want to do it here.”

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

 

Morning Transactions: Blackhawks, Lightning

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Assorted transactions from around the NHL this morning…

  • The Blackhawks announced (via Twitter) that they’ve recalled forward Vinnie Hinostroza from the Rockford IceHogs. In 46 games this season for the big-league club, the former sixth-rounder compiled six goals and eight assists. The 22-year-old ultimately played in three games for the AHL affiliate, collecting a single assist.
  • With Tyler Johnson set to return from injury, the Lightning announced that they have re-assigned forward Cory Conacher to the Syracuse Crunch. In seven games with Tampa Bay this season, the 27-year-old recorded one goal and one assist. The former undrafted free agent played 41 games in the AHL this season, collecting 10 goals and 32 assists.

Morning Snapshots: Bruins, Penguins, Leafs, Lightning

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News and notes from around the NHL this morning:

  • The Boston Bruins recalled forward Peter Cehlarik from the AHL Providence Bruins this morning, reports the Providence Journal’s Mark Divver. Cehlarik was sent down during the Bruins’ bye week to get more ice time. He didn’t actually play in any games, but practiced with the team and worked on his game. The Slovak prospect has impressed in his short stint with the Bruins, recording 2 assists in his second NHL game. Cehlarik currently has 18G and 15A in 40 AHL games.
  • The Pittsburgh Penguins have reassigned forward Josh Archibald to the AHL Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins this morning, reports the Post-Gazette’s Dave Molinari. Archibald scored two goals in his season debut with the Penguins on February 11th, but followed it up the next night with no points and only 8 minutes played. The small forward returns to the AHL where he has 11G and 11A in 48 games.
  • Sportsnet’s Chris Johnston speculates that Toronto Maple Leaf forward Mitch Marner is out tonight against the Ottawa Senators. The Leafs expect prospect Nikita Soshnikov to play tonight, implying that Marner is out of the lineup. Marner suffered a shoulder injury Wednesday against the Columbus Blue Jackets, and is listed as day-to-day. Soshnikov is coming off an upper-body injury himself, and looks to make the most of his return.
  • The Tampa Bay Lightning have recalled Cory Conacher, reports the Tampa Bay Times Joe Smith. Conacher is lighting up the AHL right now, with 10G and 32A in 41 games. He’s been less productive at the NHL level, recording only 1G and 1A in 7 games. Smith speculates that the recall acts as insurance in case Lightning forward Tyler Johnson cannot play. Johnson missed the last two games with a lower-body injury.

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