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Detroit Red Wings To Buy Out Justin Abdelkader

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Detroit Red Wings GM Steve Yzerman continues his cleaning of the team’s cap situation, this time placing Justin Abdelkader on waivers for the purpose of a buyout. Abdelkader has three seasons remaining on his contract, meaning the Red Wings will incur cap charges for the next six years. Those charges will look like this:

  • 2020-21: $1,805,556
  • 2021-22: $2,305,556
  • 2022-23: $2,305,556
  • 2023-24: $1,055,556
  • 2024-25: $1,055,556
  • 2025-26: $1,055,556

There was a time not too long ago when Abdelkader looked like exactly the kind of powerhouse winger that every team was looking for. In 2015-16 he scored 19 goals and 42 points while racking up 120 penalty minutes and 207 hits. A wrecking ball on the ice with a scoring touch around the net was extremely effective and it landed him a new seven-year extension during that season.

Unfortunately when you play that style, if the goal-scoring falls off you’re suddenly just an overpaid fourth liner. That’s basically exactly what happened to Abdelkader, who almost immediately struggled under his new contract. Since the start of the 2016-17 season he has scored just 26 goals in 259 games despite averaging more than 15 minutes a night. Only 15 of those have come at even-strength and Abdelkader failed to score a single goal in his 49 games during the 2019-20 season.

That’s not to say this move comes without a bit of surprise. The Red Wings are not in any sort of cap trouble and could have kept Abdelkader on the roster as an overpaid veteran presence. But Yzerman has a clear plan to sweep out all the bad money and install his own vision of the Red Wings.

With Abdelkader gone, Dylan Larkin is the only player in the organization signed to a one-way contract through the 2022-23 season. Every other contract is either an entry-level deal or will expire by the summer of 2022. That freedom will allow Yzerman to do anything he wants to the roster, likely relying on the draft-and-develop strategy that served him so well in Tampa Bay.

Tyler Johnson Working With Tampa Bay On Potential Trade

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When you win the Stanley Cup in the NHL, it usually comes at a cost. The core of your team is often broken up immediately afterward thanks to the salary cap system, or depth players are sacrificed to try and pay the next wave of talent. That’s exactly what is happening in Tampa Bay, where the Lightning are being forced to make tough decisions on some of their veteran players.

Tyler Johnson, an excellent soldier for the team over the last decade, is one of the names most likely to be traded in the coming days, even despite the full no-trade clause he holds. Darren Dreger of TSN reports that Johnson has given the Lightning several teams that he would accept a trade to and that there is a good amount of communication between GM Julien BriseBois and the player’s camp.

Johnson, 30, has four years left on his current contract and carries a $5MM cap hit. The versatile forward has seen his role in the Tampa Bay offense diminish over recent years and averaged just 14:33 a night this season. That’s not to say his skills have disappeared though. Remember, Johnson once tied for the team lead in scoring with 72 points in a single season and in 2018-19 he scored 29 goals. That $5MM price tag might be too expensive for the Lightning in his current role, but he could still be a useful player around the league.

Of course, if the Lightning had a choice, they would probably simply keep Johnson in the fold. But after winning a Stanley Cup they are in a very tight salary cap situation with more than $76MM committed for just 15 players. One of the biggest causes of that salary squeeze is Andrei Vasilevskiy’s new extension, which kicks in for the 2020-21 season and sees his cap hit jump from a reasonable $3.5MM to a whopping $9.5MM. The 2019 Vezina winner is certainly worth his big ticket, but extensions like that make it difficult to keep the depth over the rest of the roster.

The Lightning also have Anthony Cirelli, Mikhail Sergachev and others to re-sign as restricted free agents this offseason, a group that could take up more than $10MM even on simple bridge deals. Moving money out is imperative for BriseBois and it looks like it will start with Johnson.

Offseason Keys: Tampa Bay Lightning

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The offseason is now upon us with the Stanley Cup being awarded last week.  Having covered all of the teams that missed the postseason or were eliminated before the Stanley Cup Final, let’s take a look at the teams in that final matchup.  After covering the Stars on Sunday, we wrap up our annual series with the Lightning.  The full series can be found here.

After being swept by Columbus last season, no one really knew what to expect from Tampa Bay this year.  Sure, on paper, they were just as strong as ever but look where that got them the year before.  GM Julien BriseBois added some sandpaper and some veteran defensemen and it worked out perfectly as they took out the Blue Jackets, Bruins, Islanders, and Stars to take home the title.  After a few days of celebration, it’s all about tearing things down as the key to their offseason is simply freeing up cap space while keeping as much of the roster intact as they can.  Not surprisingly, each of the following keys revolves around that one element.

Navigate Trade Protection

There are some teams that rarely hand out any form of trade protection.  Tampa Bay is not one of them.  Of their seven highest-paid forwards, only one doesn’t have the ability to at least block a trade to some teams and that’s Brayden Point because he’s simply too young to have one.  On defense, their top-three paid players have either a full no-trade clause or a full no-move clause.  One advantage of being in the market they’re in is no state taxes which has allowed the Lightning to sign some of those players below market value.  The trade-off, however, is players getting some security in the form of trade protection.

Let’s look at their cap situation quickly.  At the moment, they have just over $76MM in commitments to 16 players for next season.  However, they have several key restricted free agents to re-sign and have to fill out the rest of their roster as well.  One, if not two, high-salaried players will need to go.  Here’s the listing of their veterans making $4MM or more and their trade protection:

F Nikita Kucherov – $9.5MM through 2026-27, NMC
G Andrei Vasilevskiy– $9.5MM through 2027-28 (too young for trade protection yet)
F Steven Stamkos – $8.5MM through 2023-24, NMC
D Victor Hedman – $7.875MM through 2024-25, NMC
D Ryan McDonagh – $6.75MM through 2025-26, NTC
F Brayden Point – $6.75MM through 2021-22 (too young for trade protection yet)
F Ondrej Palat – $5.3MM through 2021-22, NTC
F Yanni Gourde – $5.166MM through 2024-25, NTC
F Tyler Johnson – $5MM through 2023-24, NTC
F Alex Killorn – $4.45MM through 2022-23, 16-team NTC

Trying to convince one (likely two) of these players to waive their trade protection to leave a Cup-winning team to go somewhere where the tax situation may not be as favorable is where BriseBois finds himself right now.  This is something that’s going to be much easier said than done in this cap environment.

Avoid Offer Sheet Risk

There are two notable restricted free agents that Tampa Bay has to try to re-sign with their limited cap space in defenseman Mikhail Sergachev and center Anthony Cirelli.  With their cap situation and limitations on moving money with all of the trade protection in place, both players are prime offer sheet targets if someone wants to try to force their hand.

Sergachev has been steady offensively in his three seasons with the Lightning and wasn’t asked to jump into a big role right away.  This allowed him to slowly develop his defensive game and the results were certainly promising this season.  He had a career-best 10 goals during the regular season while logging more than 20 minutes a night for the first time.  In the postseason, he chipped in with 10 more points and saw his playing time jump up to more than 22 minutes a game.  He’s already a top-four defender and at 22 years of age, there is still plenty of room for continued improvement.  Sergachev is someone that should be a fixture on their back end as long as they can afford to keep him.

Meanwhile, Cirelli had a breakout year offensively with 16 goals and 28 assists in 68 games but that’s not the only reason he’ll be highly coveted.  The 23-year-old has already become a high-end defensive player and finished fourth in Selke Trophy balloting this season.  The various injuries throughout the season gave Cirelli a chance to showcase himself as a top-six forward and he made the most of it, sending notice around the league that he’s ready for that role on a full-time basis.  Assuming Stamkos shifts to the wing more permanently next season, the Lightning should be able to give him that spot.

Even defenseman Erik Cernak could be someone that’s targeted.  He doesn’t have the best of offensive numbers but if there’s a team that wants him in their top four, Tampa Bay may be hard-pressed to match.  Talks for offer sheets can begin on Friday so freeing up that cap space is something they’ll want to do sooner than later if they can in order to give themselves a bit of leverage in talks with their youngsters.

Plan Ahead For Point

Point’s three-year deal last offseason gave the Lightning some short-term flexibility and to their credit, they made the most of it, utilizing that space to add several key depth players that helped them win the Stanley Cup.  But he’ll be eligible for a new deal starting next offseason and if an extension can’t be reached, he’ll enter the 2022 offseason one year away from UFA eligibility.

Needless to say, that’s not a spot that they’re going to want to be in with him.  Getting an early extension done will be a top priority a year from now but for them to be able to afford it (it should check in close to Kucherov’s price tag), they’re going to have to free up some cap room to have three players making that much money.

That’s something that BriseBois will have in mind as he tries to navigate this tricky salary cap situation.  There are two windows to try to open up cap space for.  One is to simply be in compliance for next season but there will be even more motivation to try to clear out players signed beyond 2021-22 to give them the space needed to lock up Point as early as a year from now.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Arizona Coyotes Hire Darryl Plandowski

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You may have never heard of Darryl Plandowski, but a lot of his work just resulted in a Stanley Cup. Serving as the Tampa Bay Lightning assistant director of amateur scouting under legendary scout Al Murray, Plandowski was integral in helping build a roster that had plenty of homegrown talent. He was only named to that position in 2019 but had previously spent over a decade as the team’s head amateur scout.

Now, Plandowski is headed to the desert. The Arizona Coyotes have announced his hiring as the team’s new director of amateur scouting. New GM Bill Armstrong released a statement on the move:

We are very pleased to add another Stanley Cup Champion to our organization. Darryl is an excellent talent evaluator and his fingerprints are all over the Tampa Bay Lightning roster. We are thrilled to have him lead our amateur scouting department.

Notably, the Coyotes do not have have a pick in the first three years of this year’s draft thanks in part to discipline handed down for scouting violations. If they don’t move to acquire some higher picks, they’ll have to find some hidden gems in the later rounds. If that’s what you’re looking for, it’s hard to not want to emulate an organization like the Lightning. Greg Wyshynski of ESPN reports that Plandowski will not be working at this draft for the Coyotes in an agreement with the Lightning, but you can see how he, Murray, and the rest of the Lightning have found talent outside the first round in the past.

Brayden Point, Nikita Kucherov, Alex Killorn, Anthony Cirelli, Ondrej Palat, Cedric Paquette, and many other names being engraved in the Stanley Cup were Tampa Bay picks outside of the first round, with Palat, in particular, being an incredible late-round steal. Yanni Gourde and Tyler Johnson weren’t even drafted at all but have become key contributors for the team.

Obviously, there is more work to be done to right the ship in Arizona, but bringing in proven talent evaluators is an important step.

Detroit Red Wings Will Not Re-Sign Jimmy Howard

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Though it may not come as much of a surprise at this point, Detroit Red Wings GM Steve Yzerman confirmed today that the team will not be extending a contract to pending free agent goaltender Jimmy Howard. The team instead will be looking for a new goaltender on the free agent market, according to Nick Cotsonika of NHL.com.

Howard, 36, has never known a professional organization other than the Red Wings, a team he debuted for back in 2005. Selected 64th overall in 2003, the young netminder quickly became a top prospect and by the age of 25 was Detroit’s full-time starter. Over the years he has appeared in 543 regular season games for the team, posting a 246-196-70 record.

That record would look a lot better if it weren’t for 2019-20. Incredibly, Howard won just two of his 27 starts this season, posting a 2-23-2 record behind the worst team in the NHL. His .882 save percentage was a legitimate part of that poor performance and will be a tough number to bring up in negotiations should he try to continue playing elsewhere.

At the moment it seems like he does, after telling Ted Kulfan of The Detroit News in June that he wants to keep playing in order to prove that he is better than the numbers he put up. He was clear about his desire to stay in Detroit at that point, but also knew that a new contract with the Red Wings was unlikely.

In a market flooded with capable goaltenders, Howard may have to sell himself pretty hard to a new organization. He’ll become a free agent on October 9.

Trade Rumors: Ekman-Larsson, Mrazek, Virtanen, Tampa Bay

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Name a top trade target or impending free agent and they seem to be linked to the Edmonton Oilers. While the team clearly needs to help superstars Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl, they have cap constraints because of those players as well and holes to fill all over the roster. The team must be confident that they can perform some cap magic, as they have their sights set on making a big splash this off-season. TSN’s Darren Dreger backed up previous rumors today that the Oilers have been talking to the Arizona Coyotes about elite defenseman Oliver Ekman-Larsson. In fact, Dreger notes that discussions have been preliminary, but the interest is serious. It’s a complex situation given the cap situations in both Edmonton and Arizona, but the teams appear to be working through their options when it comes to moving Ekman-Larsson, a proven top-pair commodity. Of course, it’s worth noting that Ekman-Larsson has a full No-Movement Clause and could nix a deal to Edmonton if he chooses. Dreger adds that the Boston Bruins also remain interested; Ekman-Larsson may very well prefer landing alongside Charlie McAvoy on the top pair of a perennial contender.

  • The Oilers are also known to be eyeing an addition in goal and have kicked the tires on a number of netminders on the trade block. TSN’s Pierre LeBrun reports that the latest name on that list is the Carolina Hurricanes’ Petr Mrazek. LeBrun believes that Mrazek could be more of a fallback option if Edmonton cannot add Pittsburgh’s Matt Murray or Arizona’s Darcy Kuemper or can’t woo Jacob Markstrom in free agency. Of course, if Mrazek is even available for trade, it may mean that Carolina has already landed one of those three Oilers targets for themselves. Mrazek had a fine season for the ’Canes, but the team is looking to upgrade at starter. Unfortunately for Edmonton, Carolina’s castoff would still be an upgrade for them.
  • From GM Jim Benning’s comments since his Vancouver Canucks were eliminated from the postseason, it should come as no surprise that he is listening to offers for restricted free agent forward Jake Virtanen, according to Dreger. Virtanen has failed to live up to the expectations of being the 2014 sixth overall pick, but is still due a significant upgrade over his expiring $1.25MM AAV. The cap-strapped Canucks have greater needs than Virtanen’s third-line scoring totals and may be able to put his cap space to greater use via trade. Dreger reports that there is plenty of interest in the 24-year-old power forward, who could still grow into the dangerous scorer that he was in junior.
  • The Tampa Bay Lightning are less than a day removed from taking home the 2020 Stanley Cup title, but GM Julien BriseBois is already back at work. LeBrun speculates that Tampa must clear at least $10MM in cap space in order to re-sign RFA’s Anthony Cirelli, Mikhail Sergachev, and Erik Cernak and to rebuild a defense with numerous pending UFA’s. As such,  BriseBois can’t afford to waste any time with free agency approaching. LeBrun notes that the two most talked-about names on the Lightning roster right now are forwards Tyler Johnson and Yanni Gourde. However, he notes that both players have full No-Trade Clauses and would have to accept any trade. As a result, LeBrun believes there is a growing suspicion that the Bolts may trade a player or two that no one is suspecting in order to clear cap space. That could mean one of the RFA’s themselves is dealt, or perhaps it could be a player lacking trade protection, such as Brayden Point or Andrei Vasilevskiy. One way or another, the Cup-winning roster will look very different next season.

Tampa Bay Lightning Win 2020 Stanley Cup Championship

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The Tampa Bay Lightning were crowned NHL champions and hoisted the Stanley Cup on Monday night with a 2-0 shutout win over the Dallas Stars in Game Six. This title feels as if it has been a long time coming for the Lightning, whose young core fell to the Chicago Blackhawks in the 2015 Cup Final and a few years later survived a heart-breaking first-round upset sweep at the hands of the Columbus Blue Jackets last season. With a flat salary cap set to blow up the roster this off-season, it almost seemed inevitable that this Lightning team would emerge victorious with the franchise’s second championship before the impressive group was torn apart. It also seems fitting that such a truly talented and title-worthy team will go down in history for winning the “bubble Cup”.

Tampa Bay won the Cup in style this postseason, too. The Bolts were one of just two teams to actually earn their regular season seeding in the round robin, entering the Eastern Conference playoffs as the No. 2 seed. Their path to victory first included vengeance against the Blue Jackets in a five-game series that included a historic five-overtime win in Game One and another overtime win to seal the series. Tampa then took on their greatest rival, the President’s Trophy-winning Boston Bruins, and made quick work of the talented team in five games, again clinching the series in extra time with a double-overtime victory. Next up were the New York Islanders, who had upset higher seeds in each of their first two series and had smother opposing defenses. The Isles couldn’t keep it going against the Lightning though, falling in six games with Tampa again winning the final game in overtime. Finally, the Stanley Cup Final arrived with a match-up against the Dallas Stars, who had defeated championship favorites Colorado and Vegas en route to the title bout. However, Dallas could not keep the upset streak going, with Tampa Bay taking the series in six games with a decisive shutout victory.

The Conn Smythe Trophy was a three-horse race on the Lightning side, with forwards Brayden Point and Nikita Kucherov and defenseman Victor Hedman all playing at a historic level. It was the Hedman though who received the award for postseason MVP, due in no small part to his ten goals, third-most for a defenseman in postseason history. Hedman totaled 21 points while averaging more than 26 minutes per night of solid defense in an outstanding all-around effort. Kucherov logged more assists than anyone not named Wayne Gretzky or Mario Lemieux in league history and led all postseason participants with 33 points, which would have been enough to take the Conn Smythe almost any other year. With 32 points, including a league-leading 13 goals, Point was also invaluable to the team’s success. Finally, no team can win the Cup without a stellar performance in goal, and Andrei Vasilevskiy played every minute for Tampa and led the playoffs in save percentage

Also deserving plenty of praise and recognition for this Stanley Cup victory are the NHL and NHLPA, who made the postseason possible in light of difficult circumstances. The Coronavirus pandemic shut down the league back in March and nearly five months later the league and players’ association were able to work together to put together an expanded playoff format that produced months of exciting playoff hockey. After 64 days in the bubble, across two cities, there were zero positive COVID tests, allowing for the postseason to proceed without a hitch. Without this expert oversight, there easily could have been no Stanley Cup champion this season. Hockey fans will never forget what the league and its players, especially those on the Tampa Bay Lightning, were able to accomplish in this incredible summer postseason.

Atlantic Notes: Yzerman, Cholowski, Cozens, Mittelstadt

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After a acquiring a 2021 second-round pick from the New York Rangers for taking on the contract of defenseman Marc Staal and his $5.7MM contract for one more year, the Detroit Red Wings still have $27.4MM in available cap space to spend. The question becomes, will general manager Steve Yzerman take more contracts on this offseason or was this a one-time deal?

“There’s so much uncertainty in the league right now,” Yzerman said on a Zoom call to reporters after the trade (via the Detroit Free Press). “We’re heading into the draft, we’re heading into free agency, we don’t really know when we’re starting, what the landscape is going to look like next year. So we’re all kind of going into uncharted waters. And for the Red Wings, we are in a position (where) we do have cap space that we can use it. And I hope to use it wisely. But one way we would like to try and use it is to acquire future assets should any teams be in a position where they really have to move contracts and don’t have any other options.”

Detroit does have some need for some veteran options to help out their young team that finished with a 17-49-5 record and in dead last. Assuming the Red Wings keep Staal, could they find other options to help fill some of those needed players on the roster. Of course, adding more and more picks is another option for Yzerman and the Red Wings.

“Nobody wants to give up picks or prospects, but sometimes you have to do what you have to do to make your team better, and we’re trying to — I don’t want to say take advantage of that, but find teams that are in a position that need to do that,” Yzerman said. “And again, we’re trying to add picks or prospects, and at the same time ice a team.”

  • Sticking with the Red Wings trade, The Athletic’s Max Bultman (subscription required) writes that with the likelihood of the team keeping Staal on the team for next season after Yzerman complimented his penalty killing abilities, it could be bad news for defenseman Dennis Cholowski. The team’s 2016 first-round pick has had two years to establish himself into the team’s defensive lineup, but has been unable to do that yet, spending half a season each year in the AHL. This could be a breakout season coming up for him. However, with Danny DeKeyser and Patrik Nemeth ahead of him on the left-defense depth chart and now with Staal added in, Cholowski will likely have to earn his way into Detroit’s lineup by beating out Staal in training camp. Of course, he could move over to the opposite side of the defense as well, but there are other obstacles in his way there too.
  • With the recent addition of Eric Staal as their new No. 2 center, the Buffalo Sabres could have the luxury of easing their two young centers into the Sabres’ lineup this year, according to The Athletic’s John Vogl (subscription required). Before the trade, the Sabres had penciled in 2019 first-round pick Dylan Cozens into the No. 2 center position and 2017 first-round pick Casey Mittelstadt as their No. 3 center. With Staal in the fold for at least one more year, that plan will change. The scribe writes that it’s possible the team could move one or both of them to the wing to add some top-six depth there now that Marcus Johansson was traded to Minnesota. Cozens could move over to the right side, while Mittelstadt could play on the left, giving the team quite a few options in training camp.

Lightning Captain Steven Stamkos’ Season Is ‘Done’

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He appeared in one game, scored a goal and helped lift his Tampa Bay Lightning to a victory in Game 3 of the Stanley Cup Finals. Now Steven Stamkos’ season is over. Head coach Jon Cooper announced that Stamkos season is ’done’ at today’s press conference.

“Hopefully the next time you see him on the ice is during a trophy presentation,” said Cooper. “To be honest, I didn’t think he was playing at all in these playoffs. I don’t think any of us did. So, he gave us 2:47 of brilliant hockey that’s a phenomenal story, scored a huge goal for us in a win and hopefully we can keep that momentum.”

Stamkos had sat out for the entire playoffs until Wednesday with an lower-body injury. Word was the 30-year-old was working out and felt close to returning and was itching to return to the ice. He got that opportunity, but it was quite obvious that he wasn’t himself and looked uncomfortable on the ice. On top of that, he only played in 2:47 of ice time (five shifts) during the game, yet miraculously found the net at 6:58 of the first period to give Tampa Bay a 2-0 lead, a game they eventually won 5-2.

“The conversation was this morning because there’s only one or two games left in the series,” Cooper said. “He did everything he could to get back, and he did get back and unfortunately he couldn’t go any further. I’m sure this will all be addressed after the series is over.

It’s not clear what the injury is that Stamkos has been dealing with. However, Stamkos underwent core muscle surgery in March that was expected to keep him out for six to eight weeks. Of course, the league shut down not long after that, but there will be no report on the specifics of his injury until after the Stanley Cup finals is complete.

Red Wings Will Not Re-Sign Jonathan Ericsson Or Trevor Daley

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The Detroit blue line will have a very different look next season. After acquiring Marc Staal from the New York Rangers yesterday, Red Wings GM Steve Yzerman spoke with the media, including MLive’s Ansar Khan, and stated that veteran defensemen Jonathan Ericsson and Trevor Daley will not return to the team next season. The pair are both unrestricted free agents and will have to test the market if they hope to extend their careers.

Detroit’s decision to cut ties with Ericsson and Daley should not come as a shock; both blue liners saw their roles greatly reduced this season. Ericsson, a career Red Wing, was buried in the AHL for much of the year, skating in just 18 games with Detroit. In those limited appearances, he posted a career-low zero points and 14:15 average time on ice. While Daley spent the whole year in Detroit, he didn’t fare much better than Ericsson. Daley recorded seven points in 43 games, failing to score a goal for the first time in his career, and a career-worst -22 rating and 15:19 average time on ice. The Red Wings had 14 different defensemen suit up this season, nine of whom are under contract or team control next season, and just added Staal and still might not be done. The team had no reason to hold on to either struggling veteran.

The question is whether Ericsson and Daley will be able to continue their NHL careers, if they even desire to do so. The 36-year-old duo each had arguably their worst season in 2019-20 and may simply be out of gas. Given the tight finances facing most NHL clubs, no team is going to commit a meaningful amount to an aging defender who brings little upside. If either one wants to extend their career, they will likely have to settle for a minimum contract. Even at that price point, the market could be limited for the former Red Wings. Daley stands a slightly better chance than Ericsson at finding employment, but there is a strong chance that we have seen the last of both blue liners in the NHL.

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