Lightning Re-Sign Nikita Nesterov
The Tampa Bay Lightning announced that they have re-signed restricted free agent defenseman Nikita Nesterov to a one year, $725K contract. The deal actually represents a small pay cut for Nesterov, who made just under $800K last year although he was previously on a two-way deal while this is a one-way pact.
Last season, Nesterov played in 57 games with Tampa Bay, recording three goals and six assists while averaging 14:53 of ice time per game. He also got into nine postseason contests, picking up a single assist but saw his ice time drop nearly three minutes down to 11:59 per night.
[Related: Lightning Depth Chart]
Nesterov was the Lightning’s fifth round pick (148th overall) back in 2011. In 84 career NHL games, all with the Bolts, he has five goals and 11 assists.
The 23 year old was named to Team Russia at the World Cup of Hockey and got into Russia’s semi-final game against Canada, recording a single shot on goal in 6:47 of ice time as their seventh defenseman.
With the signing, the Lightning have just over $5.5MM in remaining cap space according to Cap Friendly. Of course, the team still needs to re-sign fellow RFA and leading scorer Nikita Kucherov, who remains one of 11 remaining restricted free agents.
Snapshots: Panthers, Girardi, Tlusty
Fresh off a team record 103-point season and just the franchise’s fifth playoff appearance, the Florida Panthers were not content to rest on their laurels. After a surprising front office shakeup highlighted by the promotions of Dale Tallon and Tom Rowe, to president of hockey operations and general manager respectively, the Panthers hit the ground running in the offseason. Looking to add puck-moving and skill to the team’s blue line, Florida dealt veteran stay-at-home defenseman Erik Gudbranson to Vancouver while acquiring Keith Yandle and Mark Pysyk in separate trades. They topped off the summer shopping spree by signing Jason Demers as a free agent.
With Jaromir Jagr, Reilly Smith, Aleksander Barkov, Jonathan Huberdeau and Aaron Ekblad all returning plus the club’s new additions, expectations have never been higher in the South Florida hockey market, as George Richards of the Miami Herald writes. The Panthers organization, from ownership on down is embracing those expectations.
“We all expect to win, have a winning mentality that has been introduced the past couple of years. Us younger guys have learned it’s not acceptable to miss the playoffs. That has been instilled by our veteran guys, our coaches, our organization. We’re all buying in. Everyone wants to win here, not just the players.”
“We had our best season ever, so the guys are confident and aware. They feel good about themselves and know they can get to the next level.”
- Prior to the 2015-16 campaign, New York Rangers defenseman Dan Girardi was known to be a reliable and steady defense-first blue liner on a team noted for being among the stingiest defensive clubs. The Blueshirts finished in the top five in goals allowed in each season from 2010-11 through 2014-15. Last season the club ranked 15th overall and the decline in play from Girardi and fellow defenseman Marc Staal attracted much of the blame for the drop-off. The question the Rangers had to ask themselves was whether Girardi’s regression was injury-related – he played much of the season with a cracked knee cap – or the result of years of wear-and-tear finally catching up. The team is banking on the former and Girardi himself is confident he will play at a much higher level in 2016-17, according to Steve Zipay of Newsday. The Rangers will need the 10-year vet to be much better this season if they plan to contend for a Stanley Cup.
- Avalanche head coach Jared Bednar (via the team’s Twitter account) broke the news that Jiri Tlusty, recently inked to a PTO to attend camp with the club, had failed his physical. It’s unclear at this point what caused the veteran forward to flunk the physical but it could be related to the wrist surgery he underwent in January. Obviously this is a setback for Tlusty, who coming off a disappointing season in New Jersey was likely facing an uphill battle to make Colorado’s roster. It’s feasible the two parties could look to renew the relationship once Tlusty is healthy or he could look to latch on somewhere else if the opportunity with the Avalanche closes.
Snapshots: Franson, Conacher, Cleary, Bradford
Cody Franson is hoping that a number change might bring him better luck in his second (and final) season with the Buffalo Sabres. Last summer’s Kris Russell, the negotiation war for Franson lasted until mid-September, when he finally signed a two-year, $6.65MM pact with Buffalo. Expected to be a big piece of their back end, Franson was instead a huge disappointment, playing in just 59 games and scoring a career-low 17 points. Franson stated earlier today that his first season with the Sabres, wearing #46, was the “worst” of his career. Now switching over to #6, Franson looks to get back on track with a number that he “likes”.
More probable than the luck of a jersey number is that Franson’s struggles in 2015-16 were medical. Sabres beat writer Bill Hoppe reports that the big defenseman was in fact having visual processing problems on the ice, with his right eye tracking faster than his left. This makes sense given Franson’s specific issues on the ice last season, as a normally-skilled possession defenseman had a hard time moving the puck and making and receiving passes. With the medical problem now fixed, Franson seems likely to have a comeback season in a contract year.
Elsewhere around the league:
- As training camp begins for the Tampa Bay Lightning, Cory Conacher acknowledges that this may be his ” last chance” at the NHL. The former “future star” is happy to be back with the Tampa Bay Lightning, where his NHL career got off to a hot start with 24 points in his first 35 games in 2012-13, before he was traded to the Ottawa Senators for Ben Bishop in one of the more lopsided deals in recent history. After struggling to find success with several different teams over the past few years, Conacher is back where it all began, looking to carve out a role for himself in the Tampa system the fit him so well.
- Dan Cleary is also getting another chance to extend his playing career, as he has signed a one-year deal with the AHL Grand Rapids Griffins, the team announced. Clearly had previously been invited to Detroit Red Wings camp, but after signing with their affiliate, he is guaranteed a contract for the coming year, while keeping his hopes alive of returning to the NHL. A veteran of almost 1,000 NHL games, Cleary played for Detroit for a decade, from 2005 to 2015, before being relegated down to the AHL level last season. While the numbers have certainly tailed off for the old two-way forward, he still brings leadership, a great hockey sense, and a genuine love of the game to the ice. While it seems unlikely that Cleary will make it back to the big leagues, fans should root for one of hockey’s great guys as he keeps living the dream.
- One athlete who never got his chance to play pro hockey, but has found success (and plenty of money) elsewhere is new Minnesota Vikings quarterback Sam Bradford. In a story by Chris Tomasson of Pioneer Press, he outlines how Bradford is “right at home in the State of Hockey”. As a great young hockey player, Bradford had NHL aspirations that some believed were actually reasonable. However, the struggles of making hockey fit into the life of a multi-sport student-athlete in Oklahoma were too much. Travel and time constraints eventually led to Bradford committing to football. A Heisman Trophy, number one overall selection, NFL Rookie of the Year Award, and more money already than most NHLers make in their whole career seem to prove that he made the right call, but Bradford’s love for hockey is still alive. While the Minnesota Wild likely won’t need his services this season, if he can lead the Vikings to success this season while supporting and frequently showing up at Wild games, he’ll soon make people forget all about Teddy Bridgewater.
Rookie Notes: Shmaltz, Puljujarvi, Erne
Rookie tournaments around the league are underway, with various teams putting their youngesters up against each other to determine readiness and sometimes NHL futures. For Chicago, today is the second of back-to-back matchups, and one of the notable names isn’t participating in the game. Nick Schmaltz, the recently signed NCAA standout was a late scratch from today’s matchup, as Scott Powers of The Athletic reports. Schmaltz was a big part of the game last night against the Blues, and is expected to make his NHL debut at some point this season.
After two seasons at the University of North Dakota, Schmaltz (the Hawks’ first round pick from 2014) is set to make an impact for a Chicago team that has seen many home grown talents leave due to salary cap restraints over the past few years. If he can slide into a scoring role like he did with North Dakota – the 20-year old put up 46 points in his sophomore year in only 37 games – he’ll help to replace the offense that Teuvo Teravainen and Andrew Shaw will be taking with them.
- After surprisingly dropping to fourth overall in this year’s entry draft, Jesse Puljujarvi is already making an impact for the Oilers at their rookie camp. After a three point outburst last night against Vancouver, Puljujarvi is one of the hottest topics in the city of champions. He’ll sit out today though against Calgary, though it’s believed he’s not out with an injury. If the Finnish winger develops as most expect him to, Edmonton may have another franchise forward on their team to step into the shoes of the recently departed Taylor Hall.
- As Bryan Burns of NHL.com writes, Adam Erne will be heading into his fourth rookie camp with the Lightning, after injuries have derailed the early part of the former second-round pick’s career. This time, the winger isn’t just trying to make an impact on the NHL club, but stay healthy enough to compete in a full professional season. An elite scoring threat at the junior level, Erne put up 29 points in 59 games last season with the Syracuse Crunch of the AHL.
Snapahots: Gibbons, Lindback, Sobotka
The New Jersey Devils have extended PTO agreements to veteran goaltender Anders Linback – per Henrik Sjoberg of Sport Expressen (link in Swedish) – and speedy forward Brian Gibbons – via tweet from the Devils PR department. The two will attend camp with the Devils in search of an NHL job.
Lindback has led a nomadic NHL career to date. He has already suited up for five different franchises in his six-year career, including four in the last three seasons. He was originally a seventh-round draft choice of Nashville, with whom he spent the first two years of his NHL career. In an ultimately one-sided move, Lindback was acquired from Nashville by Tampa Bay in a deal that saw the Lightning give up three draft choices – two seconds and a third.
After two mostly lackluster seasons with the Lightning, Lindback has served as a backup with Dallas, Buffalo and Arizona. Last season with the Coyotes, Lindback appeared in 19 games, starting 13, and posted a GAA of 3.11 and a Save % of 89.4%. Lindback will likely be given a chance to compete with Keith Kinkaid for the #2 job behind Cory Schneider. Kinkaid would seem to have the upper-hand at the outset given his superior career numbers but Lindback could also provide experienced support in the minor leagues.
Gibbons is a diminutive yet quick forward who has so far been unable to earn a regular role in the NHL. Last season was spent in the Rangers organization where he contributed 23 points in 63 games. He’s appeared in a total of 66 NHL contests with Pittsburgh and Columbus where he has combined to score five goals and 22 points while averaging 12:39 of ice time per game. As with Lindback, Gibbons will likely see little NHL action but should serve as a quality organizational depth piece.
Elsewhere in the NHL:
- Earlier today, PHR provided an update on the status of Vladimir Sobotka, who has been actively seeking to terminate the final season of his KHL deal in order to return to the St. Louis Blues. In a piece appearing on Yahoo Sports, Stephen Whyno has added that Sobotka is no longer confident a resolution will be reached despite talks continuing between the two sides. ”It’s been going on for five months, so I’ve had enough of it. I’m not thinking about it. It’s just getting ready for workouts. I don’t want to think about it anymore.” Player transfers between the KHL and NHL have often been acrimonious and the guess is Sobotka’s current employer, Avangard Omsk, is seeking some sort of compensation for releasing the player. The Blues have been expecting Sobotka’s return and after losing both David Backes and Troy Brouwer as free agents, they could use the veteran Czech. Still, St. Louis has guarded themselves somewhat by inviting four free agent forwards to camp on a tryout basis. That may well have been done in case there was an issue with Sobotka’s return.
Lightning Hoping To Sign Kucherov By End Of World Cup
Lightning GM Steve Yzerman is hopeful that he will be able to sign restricted free agent right winger Nikita Kucherov by the end of the World Cup, writes Joe Smith of the Tampa Bay Times.
Kucherov led Tampa Bay in scoring last season, picking up a career high 30 goals with 36 assists while seeing his ice time jump by over three minutes per night to an average of 18:13. He also led the team in postseason scoring with 19 points in just 17 games while logging just over 20 minutes per game.
CSKA Moscow of the KHL reportedly offered Kucherov a contract this offseason although it doesn’t sound like that option has received any sort of real consideration. His agent, Scott Greenspun, has declined to publicly comment on negotiations.
Kucherov is coming off of his entry level deal that saw him earn an NHL salary of just $700K last season. There’s no doubt that he will be in line for a major raise, potentially as high as ten times that amount depending on how long the contract is for.
Currently, Tampa Bay has just shy of $6.3MM in cap space according to Cap Friendly. However, not only do they have to re-sign Kucherov, defenseman Nikita Nesterov is also in need of a new deal. When you factor in that teams like to not spend right to the cap at the beginning of the year to give themselves some wiggle room, it seems likely that a trade will need to happen at some point.
However, Yzerman doesn’t believe that a trade is mandatory before the start of the season. When Smith asked if both RFA’s could be signed without making a trade, his response was simply, “No question”. For that to work, the Lightning may have to settle for getting a bridge deal done with Kucherov although Ryan Callahan’s injury that will carry over into November can also provide a short-term solution via LTIR.
Further creating complications for Yzerman is the pending RFA status of Tyler Johnson, Ondrej Palat, and Jonathan Drouin following the 2016-17 season. All three of those will also be primed for significant raises and the team already has roughly $55MM in cap hits for 2017-18. While Yzerman may believe that a trade isn’t necessary right away, it certainly looks like they will need to move some players (and money) out sooner rather than later.
Snapshots: Tampa’s Goalies, Lindberg, Kane, Fraser
While it has long been speculated that the Tampa Bay Lightning will have to move one of their two goalies in the near future, GM Steve Yzerman isn’t ruling out keeping both around in the hopes of having above average goaltending for every game this season, writes Joe Smith of the Tampa Bay Times.
After signing Andrei Vasilevskiy to a three year, $10.5MM extension that begins in 2017-18, Bishop has been speculated as being the odd one out. Those thoughts have become even more prevalent recently with the report that Bishop was close to being dealt to Calgary back at the draft. Yzerman did add that he expects both goalies to be available when they open their season on October 13th.
With Bishop projected to be the top goaltender in next summer’s UFA market, the Lightning could be faced with a situation where they lose him for nothing if they don’t trade him. However, as we saw last season with Steven Stamkos, Yzerman isn’t afraid to hold on to his pending free agents and use them as internal rentals to aid in what they hope to be a lengthy postseason run.
With the goalie market pretty well dried up at this point, they’ll likely have to wait until midseason to see if anyone struggles out of the gate or gets injured before determining whether or not it’s worth pursuing dealing Bishop who has been the Lightning’s starter each of the last three seasons.
Other news and notes from around the hockey world:
- Rangers center Oscar Lindberg has been skating for the past three weeks as he continues to rehab from hip surgery back in May, reports Newsday’s Steve Zipay. The 24 year old had a quality rookie campaign with New York last season, recording 13 goals and 15 assists in 68 games. With the team adding extra forward depth in players like Michael Grabner, Josh Jooris, Brandon Pirri, and Nathan Gerbe, Lindberg will be in a tough battle for a spot in the lineup when he returns to the lineup.
- Prosecutors have submitted additional evidence against Sabres winger Evander Kane in his pending court case, writes John Wawrow of the Associated Press. Kane is facing four counts of non-criminal harassment, one count of disorderly conduct, and one count of misdemeanour trespass. He pled not guilty to all charges back in August and is scheduled to next appear in ourt on October 31st.
- Chicago UFA winger Matt Fraser has signed a one year deal with Rogle BK of the SHL, the Swedish team announced (link in Swedish). The Blackhawks acquired him as part of the Andrew Ladd trade prior to the last trade deadline although he never got into a game with the team; he last suited up in the NHL in 2014-15 where he played 60 games between Edmonton and Boston. The Blackhawks declined to tender him a qualifying offer back in June.
Behind The Scenes Of The Busiest Day Of The Summer
The Oilers decided Taylor Hall would be the one to go shortly before the NHL draft, according a great new article by Elliotte Friedman about those crazy 23 minutes on June 29.
A couple of members of the Oilers told Friedman that they believed the team wanted to make it easier for Connor McDavid to become the guy in the dressing room, calling Hall a “dominant personality”.
Ultimately, while avoiding putting down Hall, Friedman’s sources seem to suggest the Oilers made the trade for reasons other than hockey, similar to the last time Peter Chiarelli traded a top-two pick from 2010. It makes you wonder what we don’t know, because making a trade to remove Hall’s big locker room presence, only to replace him with Milan Lucic’s even bigger presence, doesn’t make a lot of sense at face value.
Meanwhile, Chiarelli told Friedman that he knew he would be parting with a significant player because “everyone knew we were looking for a defenseman”.
The trade talks between Edmonton and New Jersey picked up steam two days before the trade was finalized. The two teams had been talking since the trade deadline, initially regarding Eric Gelinas who was later traded to Colorado. According to Friedman, “at some point, Adam Larsson became central to the conversation, but no deal was ever close until the very end.”
Chiarelli asked for more than just Larsson, but Devils GM Ray Shero said they couldn’t add anyone else for cap reasons. Which seems odd, because the Devils are still hovering around the cap floor.
As suggested previously, there were other trades looked at by the Oilers leading up to the draft. Friedman suggests Kevin Shattenkirk, Justin Faulk, Tyson Barrie, and Matt Dumba were all explored, but Chiarelli insists they “weren’t close on anything”. Edmonton was also kicking around a three-way trade with Columbus and Calgary, with the Oilers moving down to 6th overall to select Matthew Tkachuk or Mikhail Sergachev. Ultimately, the Oilers realized that Jesse Puljujärvi would fall to them and that would give them some flexibility to trade a winger.
As far as his post-trade phone call with Hall, Chiarelli refused to share details of the “private” conversation, but would say “there was a lot of dead air.”
Moving to the P.K. Subban blockbuster, Friedman said rumours about Subban being moved intensified in February after Canadiens coach Michel Therrien singled out Subban for a give-away that lead to a game-winning goal versus the Avalanche. Despite GM Marc Bergevin’s best effort to put a damper on media speculation around the draft, talk was running wild at the time, even drawing Canucks GM Jim Benning in, resulting in a tampering fine. Vancouver had an advantage of a high pick in play, but once it became clear that Pierre-Luc Dubois would not make it past Columbus, they were out. Colorado was unable to accept Subban’s $9MM salary, and apparently so was Edmonton. Chiarelli was unwilling to add the $9MM price tag to whatever McDavid will be making in two years.
Then Nashville offered Shea Weber. The older Weber was not what the Canadiens had been asking for – previously it had been Subban’s peers or packages of younger players. The enormity of the deal was not lost on the two teams, with one front office member saying “I think both teams had moments where they couldn’t believe what they were considering.”
Predators GM David Poile said the trade was tough, considering the major community presence of Weber. Poile said he wants to have a sit-down with Weber in the near future to tell him “how much he meant to us. It’s important he recognizes that. When a player hears he’s been traded, he doesn’t hear anything else you have to say.”
As far as the Steven Stamkos signing, Friedman revealed that the Lightning were close to moving him last summer before his no-trade clause kicked in, similar to Subban this summer. However, the front runners were the Buffalo Sabres who were unwilling to move the 2nd overall pick that would become Jack Eichel and talks died down.
Stamkos met with the Maple Leafs but decided that he didn’t want to leave, and ultimately agreed to the number proposed by GM Steve Yzerman back in the spring. Like Hall, Subban, and Weber have said post-trade, moving on is hard to take. As Friedman put it, “no doubt those same thoughts entered Stamkos’ mind too”.
Interestingly, Friedman spoke with nearly all involved in the day: Chiarelli, Poile, Hall, Subban, Yzerman, and Stamkos. Only Canadiens GM Marc Bergevin declined to speak, with one of his fellow GMs suggesting if Bergevin could have his way, “he’d never talk discuss this trade again”.
Snapshots: Seguin, Kucherov, Lundqvist
Tyler Seguin has tallied better than a point-per-game in each of the last three seasons as the Stars #1 center and has also totaled 107 goals during that time. It would seem foolhardy to move the skilled pivot to any other position but Mike Heika of the Dallas Morning News thinks the idea might have some merit.
In a recent chat, Heika fielded a question on Seguin and suggested he will be watching the six-year veteran to see how he plays at RW for Team Canada at the World Cup. With 11 natural pivots on the Canadian roster, several centers obviously will be forced into duty on the wing and it appears Seguin will be among those. Heika feels if Seguin performs well on the wing it might prompt the Stars to move him off the center position and elevate Cody Eakin into a more prominent role.
Eakin scored 16 goals and 35 points in 82 games for the Stars in 2015-16, while averaging nearly 16 1/2 minutes of ice time per contest. It was the third straight campaign Eakin recorded at least 16 goals and 35 points. Jason Spezza, fresh off a 33-goal, 63-point performance, is also likely slated to fill a slot on the top two lines giving the Stars plenty of depth at the center position.
It’s worth noting that Dallas also boasts plenty of offensive talent elsewhere among the forward group, meaning the club has no real need to move Seguin to the wing. The Stars recently inked Jiri Hudler to a one-year deal and he will join Jamie Benn, Patrick Sharp, Ales Hemsky, Valeri Nichushkin and Mattias Janmark in giving Dallas all kinds of options on the wing. Time will tell, of course, but the ability to role out Seguin, Spezza and Eakin, in that order, gives the Stars a strong group of pivots and one few teams can match in terms of talent. It simply wouldn’t make much sense to break that unit up.
Elsewhere in the NHL:
- Even though RFA RW Nikita Kucherov remains unsigned, Tampa Bay GM Steve Yzerman remains confident a deal will get done prior to the 2016-17 season kicking off, as Joe Smith of the Tampa Bay Times writes. There is no understating how critical Kucherov is to the success of the Lightning, particularly given how good he has been in the playoffs. Kucherov has contributed 21 goals and 41 points in 43 postseason games over the last two seasons, helping the Lightning to a Stanley Cup Finals berth in 2014-15 and an Eastern Conference Finals appearance this season. He’s also posted seasons of 66 and 65 points over the last two regular seasons. The Lightning are in a bit of a pinch in terms of the salary cap with just less than $6.3MM in space remaining and only 12 forwards, six defensemen and two goalies under contract. Smith points out that Filip Forsberg and Vladimir Tarasenko, two players he identifies as possible comparable cases, each signed deals recently that come with annual cap charges of $6MM and $7.5MM respectively. Given the situation, it’s plausible the Lightning will have to make a trade to clear some cap space if that’s the range Kucherov is looking to land in, and Smith singled out Ben Bishop, Valtteri Filppula and Jason Garrison as players the team could look to move if necessary.
- Despite stories – including this one which is in Swedish, and this one – suggesting New York Rangers superstar goalie Henrik Lundqvist had sustained an injury while golfing, Larry Brooks of the New York Post reassures the team’s fans that “the King” is just fine. Brooks tweet does indicate that Lundqvist took a puck to the ribs and is “sore” but it’s nothing to be concerned about. Of course any rumor regarding Lundqvist’s health is sure to grab the attention of Rangers fans everywhere. “Hank,” has been the backbone of the team since he debuted all the way back in the 2005-06 season and the five-time Vezina finalist gives the Blueshirts a chance to compete every year. If he were to miss significant time due to injury, the Rangers playoff chances would drop considerably.
Flames Were Close To Acquiring Ben Bishop At Draft
Ben Bishop is entering this season without a guaranteed starting role in Tampa Bay after Andrei Vasilevskiy played extremely well down the stretch and into the playoffs last season. In an interview with the Joe Smith of the Tampa Bay Times on Friday, he said that “(a trade) looked like for a little bit it was going to happen. At kind of the last minute (the Flames) went out and got Elliott. It was close, but there was never… It wasn’t that close, obviously.”
While the Flames would eventually trade for Brian Elliott to fill their crease, a move including Bishop might still be on the horizon. The netminder is owed $5.95MM this year in the final season of his deal, and was overtaken by Vasilevskiy in the playoffs after he injured his ankle. While Bishop is unsure of his future, the Lightning inked Vasilevskiy to a three-year extension this summer that will pay him $3.5MM per season through 2019-20.
If GM Steve Yzerman decides to start the season with the two goaltenders, he’ll surely receive plenty of interest throughout the year as other netminders go down to injury. While he can’t keep both long-term, as an expansion draft for the new Las Vegas franchise would surely select one of them should they both be under contract, Bishop could be a huge piece to dangle should something similar to the Carey Price injury happen to another team this season.
For now, Bishop is just trying to push all the trade speculation out of his head, and focus on hockey. He’s one of the goaltenders set to report to Team USA camp for the upcoming World Cup in a few days, though it’ll be another fight to get ice-time – Cory Schneider and Jonathan Quick are the other two.