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Atlantic Notes: Backes, Domingue, Malgin

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The Boston Bruins are relatively set at the forward position. In fact, there is only one rotation spot that isn’t already set and that’s the third-line right wing position. However, one veteran isn’t guaranteed a job, according to The Athletic’s Joe McDonald (subscription required). David Backes will have to win the job if he wants to stay in the league.

The 35-year-old struggled badly last season with just seven goals and 20 points in 70 games and even saw himself used as a healthy scratch during several games during the Bruins Stanley Cup playoff run. He has two years remaining at $6MM per season, however, that will not be enough to guarantee a spot. However, Backes has spent the summer re-training his body to make sure he stays in the Bruins rotation. While in the past, Backes has played in just three preseason games to gear up for the regular season, he may have to play more this year as he fights for his job.

“In the past I’ve had a more secure role and spot and used (preseason) games as a warmup and had a target date of (opening night) to build up to that,” said Backes. “This year is more of staring down the face of my first preseason game and I need to be going all out and prove myself every shift. Ideally, it’s three games but that’s not in my control and when I’m out there I need to do my best.”

  • After clearing waivers today, Puckpedia reports that the Tampa Bay Lightning can now send goaltender Louis Domingue to the Syracuse Crunch and can  bury his salary in the AHL. With that move, his buried cap hit will just be $75K and the team will save $1.08MM on their salary cap. The Lightning are now projected to have $9.2MM in cap space available with 21 players under contract with one more player remaining to sign — restricted free agent Brayden Point.
  • The Athletic’s George Richards reports that he believes that Florida Panthers forward Denis Malgin is likely to make the team as would have to clear waivers in order to be sent to the Springfield Thunderbirds in the AHL. Malgin has averaged approximately 49 games over the past three seasons, but hasn’t made major offensive contributions to the team. He scored just seven goals last year. However, throw in that Malgin is on a one-way deal and would still make $750K regardless of where he plays, the 22-year-old might be better served staying with Florida.

Training Camp Cuts: 9/21/19

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With the regular season less than two weeks away, there will likely be plenty more training camp cuts today.  We’ll keep track of those moves here.

Arizona Coyotes (per team release)

D Dane Birks (to Tucson, AHL)
D Cam Dineen (to Tucson, AHL)
F Giovanni Fiore (to Tucson, AHL)
F Jeremy Gregoire (to Tucson, AHL)
F Keeghan Howdeshell (to Tucson, AHL)
G Erik Kallgren (to Tucson, AHL)
F Kelly Klima (to Tucson, AHL)
G Merrick Madsen (to Tucson, AHL)
F Jonathon Martin (to Tucson, AHL)
F Nate Schnarr (to Tucson, AHL)
D Jalen Smereck (to Tucson, AHL)

Calgary Flames (per team release)

F Alex Gallant (to Stockton, AHL)
F Jeremy McKenna (to Stockton, AHL)
F Mason Morelli (to Stockton, AHL)
G Nick Schneider (to Stockton, AHL)

Carolina Hurricanes (per team release)

G Callum Booth (to Charlotte, AHL)
G Jeremy Helvig (to Charlotte, AHL)

Chicago Blackhawks (per team release)

D Nicolas Beaudin (to Rockford, AHL)
D Lucas Carlsson (to Rockford, AHL)
F MacKenzie Entwistle (to Rockford, AHL)
F Alexandre Fortin (to Rockford, AHL)
F Brandon Hagel (to Rockford, AHL)
F Mikhael Hakkarainen (to Rockford, AHL)
F Matthew Highmore (to Rockford, AHL)
F Reese Johnson (to Rockford, AHL)
F Philipp Kurashev (to Rockford, AHL)
F Dylan Sikura (to Rockford, AHL)
G Matt Tomkins (to Rockford, AHL)
D Joni Tuulola (to Rockford, AHL)

Columbus Blue Jackets (per team release)

F Derek Barach (released from PTO)
D Gabriel Carlsson (to Cleveland, AHL)
D Ryan Collins (to Cleveland, AHL)
F Trey Fix-Wolansky (to Cleveland, AHL)
F Maxime Fortier (to Cleveland, AHL)
F Brett Gallant (released from PTO)
D Anton Karlsson (released from PTO)
F Nikita Korostelev (released from PTO)
F Stefan Matteau (released from PTO)
F Bryan Moore (released from PTO)
D Michael Prapavessis (to Cleveland, AHL)
F Eric Robinson (to Cleveland, AHL)
F Kole Sherwood (to Cleveland, AHL)
F Kevin Stenlund (to Cleveland, AHL)
F Calvin Thurkauf (to Cleveland, AHL)
F Sam Vigneault (released from PTO)

Dallas Stars (per team release)

F Michael Mersch (to Texas, AHL)
D Reece Scarlett (to Texas, AHL)

Florida Panthers (per team release)

F Rodrigo Abols (to Springfield, AHL)
F Jonathan Ang (to Springfield, AHL)
G Ryan Bednard (to Springfield, AHL)
D Tommy Cross (to Springfield, AHL)
F Joel Lowry (to Springfield, AHL)
D Jake Massie (to Springfield, AHL)
F Serron Noel (to Oshawa, OHL)
F Kevin Roy (to Springfield, AHL)
F Paul Thompson (to Springfield, AHL)

Los Angeles Kings (per team Twitter)

F Samuel Fagemo (to Frolunda, SHL)
F Akil Thomas (to Niagara, OHL)

Montreal Canadiens (per team release)

F Morgan Adams-Moisan (to Laval, AHL)
F Alexandre Alain (to Laval, AHL)
F Joe Cox (to Laval, AHL)
D Ryan Culkin (to Laval, AHL)
F Nikita Jevpalovs (to Laval, AHL)
G Connor LaCouvee (to Laval, AHL)
D Maxim Lamarche (to Laval, AHL)
G Michael McNiven (to Laval, AHL)
F William Pelletier (to Laval, AHL)
F Michael Pezzetta (to Laval, AHL)
D David Sklenicka (to Laval, AHL)
F Lukas Vejdemo (to Laval, AHL)
F Hayden Verbeek (to Laval, AHL)
F Antoine Waked (to Laval, AHL)

New York Rangers (per team release)

F Gabriel Fontaine (to Hartford, AHL)
D Mason Geertsen (to Hartford, AHL)
D Joey Keane (to Hartford, AHL)
F Patrick Newell (to Hartford, AHL)

St. Louis Blues (per team release)

D Jake Dotchin (to San Antonio, AHL)
D Joey LaLeggia (to San Antonio, AHL)
F Nick Lappin (to San Antonio, AHL)

Tampa Bay Lightning (per team release)

F Peter Abbandonato (released from PTO)
G Louis Domingue (to Syracuse, AHL, per Pierre LeBrun of TSN and The Athletic)
F Jimmy Huntington (to Syracuse, AHL)
F Boris Katchouk (to Syracuse, AHL)
F Alexey Lipanov (to Syracuse, AHL)
F Ryan Lohin (to Syracuse, AHL)
F Kevin Lynch (released from PTO)
F Taylor Raddysh (to Syracuse, AHL)
F Mikhail Shalagin (released from PTO)
D Luc Snuggerud (released from PTO)
D Oleg Sosunov (to Syracuse, AHL)
D Matthew Spencer (to Syracuse, AHL)
D Nolan Valleau (released from PTO)
G Clint Windsor (released from PTO)
F Dennis Yan (to Syracuse, AHL)

Toronto Maple Leafs (per team Twitter)

G Brandon Halverson (to Toronto, AHL)

Vancouver Canucks (per team release)

F Justin Bailey (to Utica, AHL)
F Landon Ferraro (released from PTO)
F Lukas Jasek (to Utica, AHL)
D Olli Juolevi (to Utica, AHL)
F Kole Lind (to Utica, AHL)
D Brogan Rafferty (to Utica, AHL)
D Josh Teves (to Utica, AHL)

Vegas Golden Knights (per team Twitter)

F Tyrell Goulbourne (to Chicago, AHL)
D Brett Lernout (to Chicago, AHL)
D Jaycob Megna (to Chicago, AHL)

Waivers: 09/20/19

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The waiver period for the 2019-20 season opened today, and teams all around the league started clearing spots on their rosters. These players are all on waivers:

Dallas Stars

F Michael Mersch
D Reece Scarlett

Edmonton Oilers

F Josh Currie
F Joseph Gambardella
F Brad Malone
D Keegan Lowe

Florida Panthers

F Joel Lowry
F Paul Thompson
F Kevin Roy
D Tommy Cross

New York Rangers

F Matt Beleskey

St. Louis Blues

F Jordan Nolan
F Mike Vecchione
F Nick Lappin
D Joey Laleggia
D Jake Dotchin

Tampa Bay Lightning

G Louis Domingue
G Mike Condon

Vancouver Canucks

F Justin Bailey

Vegas Golden Knights

F Tyrell Goulbourne
D Brett Lernout
D Jaycob Megna

Tampa Bay Planning To Waive Domingue, Condon

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September 20: Waivers open for the 2019-20 season today, and according to Renaud Lavoie of TVA Sports Domingue will be on them.

September 12: When the Tampa Bay Lightning signed Curtis McElhinney to a two-year, $2.6MM contract at the start of free agency, eyebrows were raised all around the league. The Lightning already had Louis Domingue in the organization and had given him a similar contract just a year prior. Domingue had played in 26 games for the Lightning in 2018-19 and had a 21-5 record, clearly good enough to keep the team afloat while Andrei Vasilevskiy dealt with injury. Still, they had brought in McElhinney to give them even more depth. When they then traded Ryan Callahan to the Ottawa Senators and took on Mike Condon’s contract which still had $2.4MM on it, even more questions popped up. How many goaltenders were the Lightning going to start the season with?

Today, GM Julien BriseBois explained what the plan is to team reporter Caley Chelios. The Lightning will keep Condon and Domingue in a “controlled environment” throughout training camp to avoid injury, before placing them on waivers later this month and assigning them to the minor leagues. Moving both goaltenders to the minors would shave $1.075MM off of each cap hit, saving the Lightning some extremely valuable space. The two would then only total $1.4MM against the cap, giving BriseBois some extra room to sign Brayden Point and stay under the cap by the time the season begins.

That is, unless another team decides to claim or trade for them. Domingue is the much more likely candidate given his lower salary and recent success, and that was evident today. BriseBois told Chelios that a team even called this morning about the 27-year old goaltender, indicating some interest. Over a 122-game NHL career, Domingue has recorded a .907 save percentage but showed last season that he could at least hold down the job for a short stretch and keep a good team on the winning path.

Condon meanwhile played his way out of a job with the Senators and struggled all season with injury. He played in just three games last season including one at the AHL level and hasn’t been an effective NHL option since 2016-17. The 29-year old is likely too expensive for a waiver claim even if he is healthy, and it’s hard to see a team taking on his contract unless the Lightning include another asset.

Brayden Point Deal Still Not Close

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Brayden Point and the Tampa Bay Lightning remain far apart in contract negotiations according to his agent Gerry Johansson, who joined Sportsnet radio this morning. Johansson admitted that the two sides are talking and that a bridge deal could be possible:

Point’s negotiation was never expected to take this long after the Lightning were able to lock up the rest of their core so easily, but this summer has had a different market altogether. Even if Johansson and his client are flexible, they also have seen the Mitch Marner deal come through and admitted today that it’s “certainly a mark on the board that [they] work off of.” The Lightning begin their season on October 3rd against the Florida Panthers.

Atlantic Notes: Toronto Injuries, Kapanen, Sergachev, Seider, Thompson

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Toronto Maple Leafs Mike Babcock handed out his prognosis on the length of time the team will be without two of its injured players, including forward Zach Hyman and defenseman Travis Dermott, according to TSN’s Kristen Shilton.

Bobcock said that Hyman, who is recovering from ACL surgery, is likely going to miss 14 to 15 games for the Leafs. That would suggest a potential return sometime in late October or early November. The head coach also said that Dermott, out due to offseason shoulder surgery, will likely miss as many as 12 to 14 games and likely will return at a similar time to Hyman.

  • Sticking with the Maple Leafs, Lance Hornby of the Toronto Sun reports that Toronto Maple Leafs winger Kasperi Kapanen said he isn’t too worried about switching from the right side to the left to start the season. Kapanen is expected to replace Hyman at left wing on a line with John Tavares and Mitch Marner. “Playing with those guys, it’ll be skating, getting the puck to them, standing in front of the net. I’ll let them do all the nice things and I’ll do the dirty work. It’s just hockey, I’ll figure it out.”
  • The Tampa Bay Lightning are already cash-strapped, but the team hopes that one of their younger defensemen is ready for the challenge of taking on a top-pairing role on the defense. Last season, youngster Mikhail Sergachev hoped to take a role next to Victor Hedman, but instead found himself on the third line, working on his defense. That has improved, according to The Athletic’s Joe Smith (subscription required), who writes that Sergachev has a good chance to claim that No. 1 line job next to Hedman this year, especially if he can prove to head coach Jon Cooper that his defense is good enough that he belongs there. In fact, Cooper has stated that he is going to give Sergachev “ample time” to prove that he can earn that spot. The 21-year-old has gotten an endorsement from Hedman, however. “Absolutely,” Hedman said. “Sergy has taken steps (toward improving) every year. He’s an up-and-coming guy, but he’s making a big impact for us right now, and he’s ready for the ice time. It’s a lot of fun for me to play with him. We complement each other well on the ice. We’ll see how the pairings work out, but if we’re paired together, it’ll be a lot of fun.” Sergachev may get a challenge from recently-signed Kevin Shattenkirk, but he changed his workout schedule this summer, with shorter workouts, but at higher intensity. He also had an impressive faring with Russia at the World Championships this summer, quarterbacking their power play. He still hopes to get some power play time, something he got very little of last season.
  • NHL.com’s Dana Wakiji writes that the Detroit Red Wings have been quite impressed by the play of their 2019 first-round pick, Moritz Seider. A surprise selection at No. 6, Seider was impressive at the NHL Prospect Tournament and has a legitimate shot at a roster spot with Detroit. However, Seider also said that he would prefer to play in North America whether he makes the Red Wings’ roster or not and said he would be willing to play for the Grand Rapids Griffins in the AHL. “I think it all depends where I can play the most,” Seider said. “I’m thinking that’s probably in Grand Rapids if I’m not making the team. First of all, you’re here to make the team and you want to be part of the NHL team soon. I don’t know what’s coming after camp, I can’t tell right now.”
  • One of Tage Thompson’s biggest advantages is his height at 6-foot-6. However, the Buffalo Sabres young forward has struggled so far in the NHL due to his lanky stature. However, the Buffalo News’ Lance Lysowski writes that Thompson spent the summer eating to get ready for the regular season, as the team placed him on a six-meal-a-day diet with the plan of forcing him to eat between 3,000 to 5,000-calories daily. The result is that the forward gained an extra 13 pounds and now weighs in at 216 pounds, which he hopes will give him the extra strength, especially in the lower body, that he hopes will help him with the grind of the NHL season.

Reactions To Mitch Marner Signing

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It’s been nearly 48 hours since the Toronto Maple Leafs signed winger Mitch Marner to a six-year, $65.36MM deal, giving the team three players who will take up $33.52MM in cap space for the next six years, a significant amount for just three players. Regardless, stories about Marner’s new deal has been flooding the internet since Marner’s signing on Friday. Here are some reactions from around the NHL:

  • It was expected that Marner’s signing would start a chain reaction of RFA signings with Brayden Point of the Tampa Bay Lightning likely to be the first domino to fall. However, TSN’s Pierre LeBrun reported that both sides were far apart in negotiations with the most recent offer weighing in at three years and $5.7MM. Considering the cap situation surrounding the Lightning, working out a deal that makes both sides happy could be quite the challenge.
  • The Athletic’s Joe Smith (subscription required) points out that the Marner signing will likely have little to no effect on the Point signing. While the market seems to have opened up for RFA’s like Marner, the Lightning have made it clear they are sticking to their organizational philosophy of signing their RFAs to bridge deals before eventually offering them long-term deals. That’s how they have done it with Nikita Kucherov, Tyler Johnson, Ondrej Palat and Andrei Vasilevskiy.
  • Lance Hornby of the Toronto Sun writes that Kyle Dubas is finally done with signing all his big-name free agents over the last couple of years, but notes that it took a toll on the young GM, who admits that he made a few mistakes. Dubas admits he should have locked all three restricted free agents (Marner, Auston Matthews and William Nylander) at once last year rather than allowing the negotiations go down to the wire. “You learn about the process, of things you do differently for the next time,” Dubas said. “With William, I wish we’d have been on it earlier, with Auston’s case, we had the information and we were projecting headward to go with him. In the end, I’m happy we’re able to deliver all three and bring John in as well.”
  • The Toronto Sun’s Kevin McGran writes that Marner and the Maple Leafs have been miles apart for months, but it was Marner who blinked first this time. It had been made quite clear that Marner wanted two things out of the negotiations, which included remaining a Maple Leaf as well as he didn’t want to miss any games. However, after Marner budged, so did Toronto. “We had a sit-down on Thursday for quite a while,” said Dubas. “It was great for Mitch to tell me how he felt, and me to explain where we were at and what we were proposing and so on. About how he fit into the team, how the team was going to move forward and everything of that nature. It was a real positive in the process.”
  • The Athletic’s James Mirtle (subscription required) writes that the Maple Leafs signing of Marner puts even more pressure on Toronto’s young core. The core of Matthews, Marner and Nylander will have to now start winning and not just finally a first-round victory in the playoffs. The expectations are even higher with most fans now expecting a Stanley Cup win in the near future. Unfortunately with all the money thrown at those three (along with John Tavares), the Maple Leafs aren’t likely going to be able to bring in extra help at the trade deadline or the offseason and the team may lose more and more talent due to their long-term salary cap issues.
  • The Athletic’s Jonas Siegel (subscription required) writes that the Toronto Maple Leafs were in tough situation while trying to lock up all their young forwards, but now that everything is completed and signed, the team will not regret signing all of them to long-term deals. The team’s core is now set and now Dubas must be able to find the pieces to fill in over the next few years despite the fact that Toronto will be in salary cap trouble for many years to come.

Latest On Brayden Point’s Negotiations

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Mitch Marner has been stealing all the headlines lately when it comes to restricted free agent contract negotiations, but there is another Atlantic Division forward that is still without a deal and perhaps even more important to his team’s hopes this season. Many people believed Brayden Point would be one of the first high-profile names to come off the board this summer given the record of the Tampa Bay Lightning in past negotiations. Nikita Kucherov, Steven Stamkos, Victor Hedman, Ryan McDonagh and many others have all signed long-term deals to stay in Tampa Bay, almost all at a perceived discount. Point however is still without a deal as training camp starts, and Pierre LeBrun of The Athletic tweets that it is “not remotely close.”

Point,  23, has developed from third-round pick into one of the most valuable players in the NHL and is coming off a 41-goal, 92-point season last year. The undersized center is also one of the best defensive forwards in the league, earning Selke Trophy votes in both his sophomore and junior seasons in the league. That resume led many to believe that he may actually be young forward who should “set the market,” though Marner has grabbed significantly more headlines thus far.

The Lightning have worked hard this summer to clear enough cap room to sign Point, trading away J.T. Miller and Ryan Callahan’s contract while only adding bounce-back bargains like Kevin Shattenkirk and Patrick Maroon. The team has almost $8.5MM in cap space currently, but the real issues may come further down the line. With Andrei Vasilievskiy’s extension kicking in next season and all three of Anthony Cirelli, Mikhail Sergachev and Erik Cernak hitting RFA status the Lightning will be in a very tight cap situation once again.

Tampa Bay has done bridge deals before for their top talent, but it’s unclear what exactly Point is looking for. Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet wrote earlier this week that he expected the team to go the three-year contract route, but if there is really as big of a gap as LeBrun suggests, it’s hard to bet on anything at this point.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images

Snapshots: Red Wings, Blues, RFAs

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The Detroit Red Wings will operate without a captain once again this season, despite the expectation that Dylan Larkin will one day assume the role. Head coach Jeff Blashill told reporters including Ansar Khan of MLive that they will instead start with four alternates: Larkin, Justin Abdelkader, Frans Nielsen and Luke Glendening. Blashill and Steve Yzerman agreed to wait until the GM got to know the entire team better after taking over this offseason.

Larkin, 23, has become the face of the Red Wings franchise after putting up a career-high 32 goals and 73 points last season. As the old guard including Henrik Zetterberg, Pavel Datsyuk and recently Niklas Kronwall have moved on from their roles on the Red Wings, Larkin and other young players have taken on more and more responsibility. As the team transitions from rebuilding to contending over the next few years it seems likely that someone will eventually wear the “C” for Blashill and Yzerman, just not yet.

  • The St. Louis Blues are finalizing extensions for Steve Ott and David Alexander according to Jim Thomas of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. The pair of assistant coaches will be given extensions that match the length of head coach Craig Berube, who was given a three-year deal earlier this summer. The coaching staff under Berube completed a miracle turnaround this season with the Blues, taking them from last place in the NHL to Stanley Cup champions in just a few months.
  • Andy Strickland of Fox Sports Midwest has heard a few things on restricted free agents Patrik Laine and Mikko Rantanen, including about a recent short-term offer from the Winnipeg Jets to the former. The deal presented to Laine was in the “$5MM per year range” though Strickland notes that even on that short-term deal the Jets will “need to come up on money.” For Rantanen, Strickland reports that the free agent forward is not far away in terms of salary with the Colorado Avalanche and that the team’s last offer “blew past Nathan MacKinnon’s $6.3MM AAV.”

Lightning And Brayden Point Still Far Apart In Contract Talks

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  • Talks between the Lightning and RFA center Brayden Point to not appear to be progressing well. Joe Smith of The Athletic reports (Twitter link) that a deal between the two sides is still not close.  Point is coming off of a career year that saw him pick up 92 points in 79 games.  However, Tampa Bay has a well-defined salary structure with Nikita Kucherov and Andrei Vasilevskiy (starting next year) at $9.5MM.  That would seemingly represent the ceiling for his earning potential on his contract.  While they don’t quite have that much cap space to work with, the Lightning could still conceivably approach the $8MM mark without having to do much in the way of cap-related roster changes.

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