Tampa Bay Lightning Agree To Terms With Peter Budaj
Thursday: Now that the transaction freeze has lifted, the Lightning have made the signing official.
Monday: According to Bob McKenzie of TSN, the Tampa Bay Lightning have agreed to terms with goaltender Peter Budaj on a two-year extension worth $1.025MM per season. Since the league is technically in a signing moratorium at present, the contract will not likely be announced until Thursday. Budaj was set to become an unrestricted free agent this summer.
Amazingly, Budaj had been on a two-way contract as recently as last season when he was summoned from the AHL to try and save the Los Angeles Kings season. When Jonathan Quick and Jeff Zatkoff both went down to injuries early in the year, Budaj was brought up and performed quite well in the Los Angeles net. At the deadline, he was dealt to the Lightning for Ben Bishop, who couldn’t help the Kings scrape their way into the playoffs and was eventually dealt to the Dallas Stars this offseason.
Budaj on the other hand will now be the full-time backup for starter Andrei Vasilevskiy in Tampa Bay, and help the young netminder try and get the Lightning back into the playoff hunt. Expected once again to be a Stanley Cup contender, Budaj’s experience is almost entirely limited to the regular season, but after a year in which he put up a .915 mark his low cap hit is still a nice value for the team. The duo will only cost GM Steve Yzerman ~$4.5MM per season combined over the next couple of years, one of the lowest numbers in the league.
35 by the time the 2017-18 season starts, Budaj is no lock to provide the above-average goaltending he put up this year but should still be able to provide ample value for this contract.
Vegas Golden Knights Trade Breakdown
The Vegas Golden Knights have already completed ten trades this offseason, wheeling and dealing around the expansion draft with a third of the NHL. While more deals will undoubtedly drop tomorrow and in the next few days, these first ten transactions have set the team up for success. We’ll take a moment to break down why each trade happened, though there may be more dominoes to fall regarding some of them.
Buffalo sends their 2017 sixth-round pick to Vegas
In the first trade of the night, Vegas acquires a late round pick in order to not select G Linus Ullmark from the Sabres. Golden Knights GM George McPhee explained on the Awards broadcast that they were down to two players, Ullmark and William Carrier and the Sabres made their decision for them with a pick. For what it’s worth, our mock draft had the same split decision over the two players with Ullmark eventually ending up as the selection.
NHL Awards Preview
Caught up in the excitement of the Expansion Draft, it’s easy to forget that there is also an awards show tonight. Yes, the best trophy in all of sports, the Stanley Cup, has already been presented to the Pittsburgh Penguins, as has the Conn Smythe Trophy for playoff MVP to their captain, Sidney Crosby. Crosby also already locked up the Maurice “Rocket” Richard Trophy for the most regular season goals. Edmonton Oilers wunderkind Connor McDavid captured the Art Ross Trophy for the most regular season points as well. Braden Holtby locked up the William M. Jennings Trophy already too, as the Washington Capitals allowed the least amount of goals against in the regular season. Yet, all three of these players and many more still have a lot on the line tonight. Here are the nominees for tonight’s NHL Awards:
Hart Trophy – Most Valuable Player
Sergei Bobrovsky, Columbus Blue Jackets
- Star goalie helped to lead the Blue Jackets to their best record in franchise history, all while topping the league in save percentage (.931) and goals against average (2.06)
Sidney Crosby, Pittsburgh Penguins
- The NHL’s leading goal-scorer and back-to-back winner of the Stanley Cup and Conn Smythe Trophy
Connor McDavid, Edmonton Oilers
- 20-year-old phenom led the league in points and assists and took his team from the draft lottery to the second round of the playoffs
Norris Trophy – Best Defenseman
Brent Burns, San Jose Sharks
- Not only led all defenseman in scoring with 76 points, but finished ninth overall among some of the league’s most dynamic forwards. Can check with the best of them as well.
Victor Hedman, Tampa Bay Lightning
- A down year for the Bolts was a career year for Hedman, who finished just four points behind Burns with 72, and led all blue liners with 56 assists
Erik Karlsson, Ottawa Senators
- If this award had been voted on after the playoffs, it might have been a different result. The NHL’s best puck-mover may still pull it off behind a 71-point campaign and an improved defensive game
Rumored Vegas Golden Knights Expansion Selections
The Vegas Golden Knights will reveal their expansion selections at tonight’s NHL Awards show, but details have started to come in on who each team will lose. There are many rumors floating around, but these are the most reputable. As with anything, nothing is final until the actual selections are announced tonight. This page will be updated with new information as it comes in.
Here are the latest rumored selections along with their source:
Anaheim Ducks: Clayton Stoner — Bob McKenzie of TSN
Arizona Coyotes:
Boston Bruins: Colin Miller — Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet
Buffalo Sabres: William Carrier — Frank Seravalli of TSN
Calgary Flames: Deryk Engelland — John Shannon of Sportsnet
Carolina Hurricanes:
Chicago Blackhawks: Trevor van Riemsdyk — Frank Seravalli of TSN
Colorado Avalanche:
Columbus Blue Jackets: William Karlsson — Aaron Portzline of the Columbus Dispatch
Dallas Stars: Cody Eakin — Jim Toth of TSN
Detroit Red Wings: Tomas Nosek — Craig Custance of The Athletic.
Edmonton Oilers: Griffin Reinhart — John Shannon of Sportsnet
Florida Panthers: Jon Marchessault — Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet
Los Angeles Kings: Brayden McNabb — John Shannon of Sportsnet
Minnesota Wild: Erik Haula — Michael Russo of the Star Tribune
Montreal Canadiens: Alexei Emelin — Eric Engels of Sportsnet
Nashville Predators: James Neal — Bob McKenzie of TSN
New Jersey Devils: Jon Merrill — Frank Seravalli of TSN
New York Islanders: Jean-Francois Berube — Bob McKenzie of TSN
New York Rangers: Oscar Lindberg — Larry Brooks of the New York Post and Frank Seravalli of TSN.
Ottawa Senators: Marc Methot — Pierre LeBrun of TSN
Philadelphia Flyers: Pierre-Edouard Bellemare — Craig Custance of The Athletic
Pittsburgh Penguins: Marc-Andre Fleury – Bob McKenzie of TSN
San Jose Sharks: David Schlemko — Pierre LeBrun of TSN
St. Louis Blues: David Perron — James Mirtle of The Athletic
Tampa Bay Lightning:
Toronto Maple Leafs: Brendan Leipsic — Darren Dreger of TSN
Vancouver Canucks:
Washington Capitals: Nate Schmidt — Pierre LeBrun of TSN
Winnipeg Jets:
Golden Knights Will Not Select Young Lightning Defensemen
It has been rumored for some time that the Tampa Bay Lightning and GM Steve Yzerman had struck a deal with the Vegas Golden Knights and GM George McPhee to steer them away from certain players. The Tampa Bay Times’ Joe Smith has added some concrete names to that speculation this afternoon, reporting that Vegas would not select young Bolts’ defensemen Jake Dotchin and Slater Koekkoek. The pair were left exposed as Tampa Bay chose to protect Norris Trophy finalist Victor Hedman, his partner Anton Stralman, and veteran Braydon Coburn.
Dotchin, 23, skated in 35 games with the Lightning as a rookie in 2016-17 and recorded 11 points along the way. At 6’3″, 210-lbs., the bruising blue liner played major minutes for Tampa and proved to be a reliable stay-at-home option. Koekkoek, also 23, was the tenth overall pick in the 2012 NHL Draft by the Bolts, and has played in 41 career NHL games over the past three season, including 29 this past year. Although Koekkoek has been able to move the puck well and score at the AHL level, he has yet to find the same consistency and success at the NHL level. Nevertheless, he has shown promise and the Lightning were not willing to lose he or Dotchin for nothing
So what is the deal that protected the pair? Speculation earlier today from Smith was that the Lightning may be offering up the rights to prominent Russian prospect Nikita Gusev as part of the deal. Smith pondered if that would be in exchange for protecting the young defenseman or in exchange for selecting the bad contract of veteran blue liner Jason Garrison. While it still remains unknown who the Knights will take from Tampa, the confirmation that it will not be Dotchin or Koekkoek alone could mean that Gusev is on his way to Vegas, where former SKA St. Petersburg teammate Vadim Shipachyov has already signed.
Nikita Gusev May Be Included In Any Vegas Expansion Deal
The rumblings over who will be selected in tonight’s expansion draft are coming fast and furious, and though many are highly speculative Jim Toth of TSN 1290 is reporting that Cody Eakin will be the selection from the Dallas Stars. While it’s not clear who Toth’s sources are, Eakin would make sense as the Dallas selection. Not only did he show that he’s capable of putting up 35-40 points before this season but he’s only 26-years old and was drafted by new Vegas GM George McPhee back in Washington.
We projected Eakin as the selection out of Dallas in our mock expansion draft, mostly because of the lack of exciting options available among their exposed players. Eakin is coming off a disastrous season in which he scored just 12 points despite spending substantial time with the Stars’ big guns up front. His faceoffs improved and he could still be a valuable piece, but there is no guarantee he’ll ever get back to the highs earlier in his career.
- Joe Smith of the Tampa Bay Times thinks that Nikita Gusev may be part of any trade with the Vegas Golden Knights to either protect young defensemen or move Jason Garrison‘s hefty contract. Gusev was a linemate of Vadim Shipachyov last season in the KHL and has shown that he can be an incredible offensive performer despite his relatively small stature. The 24-year old still has one year remaining on his contract with SKA St. Petersburg, meaning it would just be a deal of negotiating rights to the Golden Knights. Gusev could also work out a mutual termination or buyout of his KHL contract and come to North America right away, though the interest in that option is unclear.
- Darren Dreger of TSN gave us an update on Evander Kane trade talks amid all the expansion news, reporting that there are still ongoing discussions with teams in “win now” mode. While those teams aren’t clear, there is likely quite a bit of interest in the 28-goal man who may have turned a corner after his recent legal drama. Kane was by all accounts a much more consistent teammate this season, and showed it on the scoresheet with his best season since 2011-12. Amazingly still just 25-years old, Kane has one year left on his contract and could be among next summer’s top free agents with a repeat performance.
Tampa Bay Expected To Have Side Deal With Vegas
Joe Smith of the Tampa Bay Times is reporting that the Tampa Bay Lightning have a side deal with the Vegas Golden Knights to protect their young defensemen, and Bob McKenzie was on TSN 1050 in Toronto confirming that he’s heard for a while that Steve Yzerman has had a deal in place. With Jake Dotchin and Slater Koekkoek both left unprotected, it seemed as though there must be something coming from the Lightning to steer the Vegas pick. 
The Lightning instead decided to protect Braydon Coburn, which was a huge surprise to everyone. In our mock draft, Dotchin garnered an easy majority as the Tampa Bay pick with his upside and late play for the team showing he’s ready for an NHL role next season. James Mirtle of The Athletic notes that the Lightning may be looking to move salary out, which seems to point directly at Jason Garrison. The 32-year old has one year left on his contract for $4.6MM and has a full no-trade clause. Having the Golden Knights choose him in the expansion draft is an easy way around that clause, with some sort of asset going back the other way in return.
If first-round picks are the going currency to dump your problems on the Golden Knights, the Lightning would be giving up the 14th-overall selection. That’s a hefty price to pay, and Smith speculates a deal may be centered around a forward prospect or the team’s two second-round picks instead. It also could be that the team simply wanted to keep Coburn as well, and will give up an asset without any salary heading the other way. With Tyler Johnson and Ondrej Palat leading a large group of RFAs for the team this summer, clearing more salary room out would allow them to be players in free agency. Before trading Jonathan Drouin it wasn’t even clear they’d be able to sign all of their forwards, but within a matter of days cap space could turn into an asset for the Lightning instead of a burden.
While the Golden Knights apparently don’t have a deal in place with Ottawa, it could have as many as nine other trades in place with teams around the league. Their position as the only expansion team in the new salary cap NHL has given them a lot of leverage in trade talks. While it may not be five first-round picks this year, it’s clear that George McPhee and the Golden Knights will collect a strong stable of assets this offseason.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images
Joel Vermin Signs In Switzerland
Though it was unlikely he’d be brought back to the Tampa Bay Lightning, Joel Vermin has put the matter to bed by signing a five-year contract with Lausanne HC of the Swiss NLA. Vermin was set to become a Group VI unrestricted free agent this summer, due to playing just 24 NHL games over more than three professional seasons in North America.
Vermin, 25, was selected in the seventh round of the 2013 draft after a breakout campaign in Switzerland. Scoring 35 points in 47 games he would be selected as a 21-year old after passing through the draft several times. It would be tough for him to repeat that both in the NLA or the AHL after coming over to North America, until this year. In 46 games for the Syracuse Crunch, Vermin scored 32 games and would help them get all the way to the Calder Cup Final as one of their best forwards. In his 18 games with the Lightning, he’d contribute three points and generally be used as an insurance policy, bouncing up and down between leagues regularly.
The undersized forward has a lot of offensive skill, but disappears at times on the ice. He did represent a depth option for an NHL team next year, but will instead sign the long-term deal in his home country and gain some sort of security. If his career progresses, perhaps we’ll be talking about him as a potential free agent at age-30, but that is still a long way away. Instead, we’ll likely see him as part of the Switzerland team at international events throughout the next few years.
Tortorella, Blue Jackets Discuss Extension
Aaron Portzline of the Columbus Dispatch reports that Jackets’ head coach John Tortorella has spoken with Columbus management about an extension. The Blue Jackets’ 108 point season in 2016-17 shocked nearly everyone, setting the franchise record for most points in a season. They also had the second longest winning streak in NHL history, at 14-0-0, before settling back into a more pedestrian clip. They were felled by the eventual champions from Pittsburgh in an incredibly disadvantageous divisional matchup in the first round. Still, Tortorella turned the team around to see 16 more wins overall while guiding the growth of many standouts, such as rookie Zach Werenski and sudden goal-scoring force Cam Atkinson.
Tortorella coached the 2003-04 Tampa Bay Lightning to a Game 7 victory over the Calgary Flames in the Stanley Cup Final to earn his only championship behind the bench. He coached for 4 seasons with the New York Rangers and 1 disappointing season in Vancouver before landing in Columbus. Tortorella is league-renowned for his abrasive demeanor in press conferences and preaching a hard-nosed style of play. There is a solid chance Tortorella takes home the Jack Adams at the NHL Awards – he is nominated alongside Toronto’s Mike Babcock and Edmonton’s Todd McLellan.
If Tortorella were extended, it is unclear for how many years the contract would be. His current deal expires at the end of the 2017-18 season, and he is still being compensated by the Canucks after his termination there. Portzline suggests that a contract could be in excess of $2 MM.
Expansion Primer: Tampa Bay Lightning
We’re continuing to break down each team’s situation as it pertains to the 2017 NHL Expansion Draft, coming up next week: which players are eligible, and which will likely warrant protection or may be on the block. Each team is required to submit their protection lists by 4pm CDT on June 17th. The full rules on eligibility can be found here, and CapFriendly has provided a handy expansion tool to make your own lists.
Steve Yzerman fired the first shot in the pre-expansion draft trade market by acquiring Mikhail Sergachev from Montreal for Jonathan Drouin, a move that gave the Lightning flexibility both with the cap and their expansion protection list. It also filled a need with the Bolts on defense. With that in mind, it makes Yzerman and the Lightning’s decisions slightly easier as to who to protect and who to expose. But there are still some tough choices to make.
Eligible Players (Non-UFA)
Forwards: Steven Stamkos (NMC), Ryan Callahan (NMC), Nikita Kucherov, Alex Killorn, Vladislav Namestnikov, J.T. Brown, Erik Condra, Cedric Paquette, Ondrej Palat (RFA), Tyler Johnson
Defensemen: Victor Hedman (NMC), Jason Garrison, Anton Stralman, Braydon Coburn, Andrej Sustr (RFA), Slater Koekkoek, Jake Dotchin
Goaltender: Andrei Vasilevskiy, Kristers Gudlevskis (RFA)
Notable Exemptions
Mikhail Sergachev, Brett Howden
Key Decisions
Unloading Drouin certainly helped from a financial and expansion list aspect. This makes it somewhat easier for forwards to put on the protected list.
Ondrej Palat and Alex Killorn are both choices that benefitted from Drouin being moved. Killorn netted 19 goals while Palat will continue to get better. Stamkos and Callahan both have NMCs. Despite fighting injury and not matching his production from 2014-15, Johnson is too good of a talent to leave exposed.
It’s on defense where tougher decisions need to be made, and it will come down to three players. Hedman and Stralman will both be protected, Hedman because he has a no-movement clause and Stralman is key to the Lightning blueline. Jason Garrison and Braydon Coburn are both carrying heavier hits for the cap and will most likely be left alone when they’re exposed. Garrison could hypothetically be taken with his deal ending at the conclusion of the 2017-18 season, but the $4.6MM hit would probably scare Vegas away.
That leaves three choices to protect: Andrej Sustr, Jake Dotchin, and Slater Koekkoek. Sustr is a restricted free agent and won’t be able to command much in the way of money after having a down year. That doesn’t make him exempt from being exposed. If anything, seeing his numbers drop with a number of other options pounding on the door for the big club could make him the odd man out. However, he’s still an economical option and any leverage he had took a hit with the acquisition of Sergachev, who if scouting is correct, should find time on the Tampa blueline next season. But the problem with protecting Sustr is that Tampa would risk losing two young, and talented defensemen for nothing. In the same breath, would the Bolts want to possibly lose a steady defenseman who is only 26?
That leads to Dotchin and Koekkoek. Dotchin just turned 23, and registered 11 points in 35 games this season. The problem is, as Lightning blog Raw Charge pointed out, his sample size was limited compared to Koekkoek while being paired with Hedman. The 23-year-old Koekkoek logged 41 games over the past two seasons, but played strong for AHL affiliate Syracuse during the Calder Cup playoffs. Picking between them is essentially splitting hairs. Koekkoek appears to have the higher ceiling, and plays a cleaner game than Dotchin. Though they play different games, Yzerman might prefer a more disciplined, puck moving defenseman when choosing who to protect. At the same time, Dotchin plays a physical game, and can move the puck as well. He’s not afraid to muck it up, and provides a presence that protects his teammates on the ice–while still contributing on the score sheet. As Tampa Bay Times beat writer Joe Smith wrote, Dotchin has stood out to management, especially in the NHL and AHL during Syracuse’s Calder Cup Final run.
With two younger defensive prospects and after having a less than stellar season, predict Sustr to be exposed and Koekkoek protected. Don’t be surprised, as many others have written, if Yzerman pulls something off to keep all of his young defensemen so Dotchin remains in the fold.
Projected Protection List
F – Steven Stamkos (NMC)
F – Ryan Callahan (NMC)
F – Tyler Johnson (RFA)
F – Nikita Kucherov
F – Vladislav Namestnikov
F – Alex Killorn
F – Ondrej Palat (RFA)
D – Victor Hedman (NMC)
D – Anton Stralman
D –Slater Koekkoek (RFA)
Vasilevskiy is truly the only option to protect as 24-year-old netminder Kristers Gudlevskis is unlikely to be taken with other options presumably available from other teams. Of the decisions, it seems to be the least of Tampa’s worries.
The Lightning, despite missing the playoffs and sustaining injuries to one key player after another, still have a strong lineup that will absolutely compete next season. Peddling Drouin off certainly helped matters, but the third player to protect defensively is a tough decision to make. At the end of the day, though, Yzerman has shown skills deft enough to take a challenging situation and somehow make it work out. Don’t be surprised if he finds a way to do it again.
Photos courtesy of USA Today Sports Images