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Snapshots: Joyce, Colorado, Payment

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The Toronto Maple Leafs are expected to hire Eric Joyce as their new director of hockey strategy, according to Frank Seravalli of TSN. Joyce had been with the Florida Panthers since 2013, most recently as the senior vice president of hockey operations and assistant general manager. With new leadership in the Florida front office, there was bound to be additional departures.

More from around the league:

  • The Colorado Avalanche won’t be playing at the Pepsi Center next season. No, that rink will now be called the Ball Arena after a new partnership with the organization. Ball Corporation and Kroenke Sports & Entertainment, which own the Avalanche, announced a “first-of-its-kind global partnership across three marquee venues” to advance a goal of waste control and sustainability in sports and entertainment.
  • Seravalli also reports that players that have a contract for 2020-21 and were frozen on an NHL roster at the time of the league pause, will be paid 8.1% of their upcoming salary by October 31. John Shannon adds on Twitter that this will be the only payment players will receive before the next season begins. This payment is important to remember when evaluating trades starting next month, as the remaining salary will be lessened even further even though games have yet to start.

Maple Leafs Re-Sign Ilya Mikheyev

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The Maple Leafs have avoided salary arbitration with Ilya Mikheyev as the team announced they’ve re-signed the winger to a two-year deal with an AAV of $1.645MM.  Pierre LeBrun of TSN and The Athletic adds (Twitter link) that the deal pays $1.1MM in 2020-21 and $2.19MM in 2021-22.

Yesterday, the two sides filed their arbitration submissions with Mikheyev requesting a one-year, $2.7MM pact and Toronto countering with a two-year deal with a $1MM AAV.  With the player filing for the hearing which was scheduled for Wednesday, the Maple Leafs got to choose what the term would have been had they gone through with the proceedings.  As is often the case in these, they settled close to the midpoint of the two filings which was $1.85MM.

The 26-year-old signed with Toronto last offseason and played relatively well in his NHL debut, picking up eight goals and 15 assists in 39 games while logging over 15 minutes per night.  His rookie campaign was cut short due to a wrist injury which cost him 31 games although the delayed start of the playoffs due to the pandemic enabled Mikheyev to return for the postseason in their five-game loss to Columbus.

Despite the inexperience in North America, Mikheyev was eligible for salary arbitration because of his age which allowed him to earn a decent raise on the $925K he made in his rookie year.  Had his case gone to a hearing, it would have been a tricky one to navigate due to the lack of true comparable players in his situation but that’s all moot now.

While the deal gives Toronto a middle-six forward at a decent price tag, it also only buys out his two remaining RFA years, allowing Mikheyev to return to the open market in 2022.  That price tag also was originally set to be higher as Sportsnet’s Luke Fox notes that the original agreement was for slightly more but that the team called back at the last minute to ask him to take a bit less to help them stay cap compliant.

With this contract now done, Maple Leafs GM Kyle Dubas can now turn his focus to his last remaining NHL-level restricted free agent in defenseman Travis Dermott with recently-acquired winger Joey Anderson also needing a new deal but he will likely be AHL-bound.  Dermott recently wrapped up his entry-level contract and wasn’t eligible for arbitration.  With Toronto likely needing to carry close to a minimum-sized roster and shuffle several entry-level players back and forth with the AHL Marlies as it is to be cap compliant, it’s likely that Dermott’s contract will also be a short one to maintain as much short-term flexibility as possible.

Mikheyev’s agent Dan Milstein was the first to report the contract while Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman was first with the AAV.

Toronto Maple Leafs, Ilya Mikheyev Exchange Arbitration Figures

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After Tony DeAngelo, Matt Grzelcyk and Andrew Mangiapane all signed new contracts before their hearings this week, the arbitration schedule will be kicked off on Wednesday with Toronto Maple Leafs forward Ilya Mikheyev. Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet reports that the two sides have exchanged filings. The Maple Leafs have filed for a two-year contract that carries an average annual value of $1MM, while Mikheyev’s camp has filed for a one-year, $2.7MM contract. It is important to remember that in the NHL, the arbitrator does not need to choose one filing or the other and usually instead awards a contract somewhere in the middle. The two sides can also come to an agreement in the coming days, though this year once the hearing begins they must wait for the reward and cannot settle while the arbitrator deliberates.

After moving out $6.6MM in the form of Kasperi Kapanen and Andreas Johnsson the Maple Leafs are actually in a fine position to afford Mikheyev’s arbitration result and re-sign restricted free agent Travis Dermott. The bargain-bin shopping of GM Kyle Dubas resulted in low-cost additions of Wayne Simmonds, Jimmy Vesey, Zach Bogosian and Joe Thornton, meaning they aren’t in quite the salary cap pickle as they were a year ago.  Remember that when Mikheyev and Dermott are signed, two other players can be sent to the minors (or junior, in the case of Nick Robertson) to clear up that extra room.

The hearing for Mikheyev will be interesting though, given how little experience the 26-year-old has at the NHL level. Signed out of the KHL in 2019, Mikheyev was a revelation for the Maple Leafs early on, recording eight goals and 23 points while providing strong penalty killing. He regularly saw time playing beside John Tavares and looked well on his way to becoming a valuable middle-six option for the team. Unfortunately, Mikheyev suffered a scary wrist injury in late-December. New Jersey Devils forward Jesper Bratt’s skate came up and sliced Mikheyev’s arm, severing tendons and causing the Russian forward to require immediate surgery.

Though he did return for the Maple Leafs short-lived postseason, he failed to score a single point against the Columbus Blue Jackets and now heads into arbitration with just 23 points in 44 career NHL games. Since these hearings are based on actual production, not potential, it’s likely that the Maple Leafs will get a bargain relative to what he could have demanded had the injury never have occurred.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images

Atlantic Notes: Chara, Maple Leafs, Danault

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With a big four-year extension for Boston Bruins defenseman Matt Grzelcyk, the Bruins continue to work on their defense after the departure of Torey Krug. Of course, much of that work relies on a decision by veteran Zdeno Chara, who is still considering what he is going to do for the 2020-21 season.

Boston Hockey Now’s Joe Haggerty writes that Bruins general manager Don Sweeney said that the team can do nothing, but wait to hear from Chara about what his offseason plans are.

“We have communicated consistently with Zdeno and [his agent] Matt Keator,” said Sweeney. “We’re just waiting for him to initiate what he’d like to do moving forward. I feel very comfortable allowing [the decision-making process] to take the necessary time and let Zdeno make his own decisions along that route.”

Of course, Keator did say that Chara has received multiple inquiries from other teams and the veteran is considering all options, according to The Athletic’s Fluto Shinzawa (subscription required), which isn’t good for Boston who will need the 6-foot-9, 250-pounder to help stabilize their defense after losing Krug to St. Louis more than a week ago and lack the financial abilities to bring in a solid replacement.

  • In a conference call with reporters as well as NHL.com’s Mike Zeisberger, Toronto Maple Leafs general manager Kyle Dubas said that he doesn’t foresee the team making any more roster moves, which includes adding more players or having to move a player out. The GM said the Maple Leafs will now focus on signing their own restricted free agents with next week’s arbitration case of Ilya Mikheyev on tap next, followed by focusing on working out a deal with defenseman Travis Dermott.
  • The Athletic’s Arpon Basu (subscription required) writes that Montreal Canadiens general manager Marc Bergevin has now signed defenseman Jeff Petry and forward Brendan Gallagher to long-term deals. He also managed to swap forwards Max Domi and Josh Anderson, signing the latter to long-term deal as well. When asked what his next task would be, Bergevin replied that he was thinking about going on vacation, sounding like his work this offseason is finished. Basu writes that can’t be good news for center Phillip Danault, who is on his last year of a three-year, $9.25MM contract and has said he would like to stay long-term as long as his role on the team is guaranteed. The 27-year-old has posted 25 goals and 100 points combined over the last two seasons, but with young centers Jesperi Kotkaniemi and Nick Suzuki ready to step into more significant roles in the near future, there may not be a big role remaining for Danault.

Joe Thornton Signs With Toronto Maple Leafs

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The Toronto Maple Leafs have signed Joe Thornton to a one-year contract worth the league minimum of $700K. The deal does not include any performance bonuses but Pierre LeBrun of The Athletic does confirm that it includes a no-movement clause.

It’s been a long courtship of Thornton in Toronto. The team made a real pitch to bring him to the Maple Leafs back in 2017 alongside former teammate Patrick Marleau, but the San Jose Sharks legend returned to California instead. Three years later and the team has landed their man, though he certainly won’t be a centerpiece of the roster this time around.

Now 41, there’s no question that Thornton isn’t the player that won the Hart Trophy in 2006 or even the one that scored 51 points in 2018-19. He had just seven goals and 31 points last season for the Sharks, his lowest total since a 1997-98 rookie campaign. But Toronto isn’t bringing in Thornton to be the focus of the offense, but a veteran leader to add another voice in the dressing room and a little more responsibility on the bench.

If there is anyone who can understand the pain of failing playoff expectations, it’s Thornton. After 1,636 regular season games and 179 more playoff contests, the future Hall of Famer forward has still not sipped from Lord Stanley’s Cup. Ninth all-time in games played, seventh in assists, and 14th in points, Thornton will be joining only the third NHL team of his long career.

Currently playing in Switzerland for the club team in his offseason home, Thornton’s fit in Toronto isn’t even exactly clear at this point. The team already re-signed Jason Spezza to serve on the fourth line and brought in names like Wayne Simmonds, Jimmy Vesey and Travis Boyd to battle for spots in the bottom-six. If Thornton is to be penciled into that group, it seems likely that there could be another body—perhaps Pierre Engvall, who is still waiver-exempt—headed back to the minor leagues.

The Maple Leafs also still need to sign arbitration-eligible Ilya Mikheyev, who has a hearing later this month, as well as restricted free agent defenseman, Travis Dermott. All that without any actual cap space, though every time they add a $700K forward they can theoretically add some cap space by sending someone else down or trading them to another team.

There’s likely still more maneuvering for GM Kyle Dubas, but the Maple Leafs have landed one of their targets. Whether that target has any game left is still to be seen.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images

Minor Transactions: 10/14/20

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As the NHL off-season rolls on, the minor league and European transactions get more interesting as NHL opportunities begin to dry up and notable names look elsewhere. Here are some of the more “major” minor transactions from today:

  • After taking a year off to deal with the repercussions of a history of concussions, Rourke Chartier is back. The 24-year-old forward has signed a one-year AHL deal with the Toronto Marlies, the team announced. Chartier played in 13 games with the San Jose Sharks in 2018-19 and another 26 with the AHL Barracuda. However, after he failed to show consistent results over the course of his entry-level contract, the Sharks opted not to extend a qualifying offer. It turned out that Chartier needed the time off anyhow to continue recovering from his numerous concussions. Now feeling healthier, perhaps Chartier can return to the form he showed in the 2017-18 AHL season – playing at nearly a point-per-game pace in an injury-shortened season – but instead stay off the injury list for a time.
  • With brother Dylan Sikura traded away by the Chicago Blackhawks, Tyler Sikura has decided to leave the organization as well. A former Blackhawk himself (contractually), Sikura played this past season on an AHL deal with the affiliated Rockford Ice Hogs, where he skated alongside his brother for much of the year. Now that Dylan is in Las Vegas, Tyler has taken his talents to Cleveland. The AHL’s Cleveland Monsters announced that they have signed Sikura to a one-year contract. Sikura is a productive minor league forward, with two 30+ point seasons out of the past three, and plays a responsible two-way game as well. He should be a regular contributor for the Monsters this season.
  • The Ice Hogs have made an addition of their own, albeit still unconfirmed, in goaltender Cale Morris. The Notre Dame product announced himself that he has signed his first pro contract with Rockford, though no details have been disclosed. Morris started three seasons for the Fighting Irish and if his senior year had gone like his sophomore and junior, this would likely be an NHL contract that he’s signing. Morris was stellar in his first season as the Notre Dame starter in 2018-19. He posted a .944 save percentage and 1.94 GAA in 37 appearances, which was good enough to win him the Mike Richter Award as the NCAA’s top goalie and to make him a top-ten finalist for the Hobey Baker Award. In hindsight, he likely should have capitalized on his sophomore success and turned pro. As a junior, his numbers slipped slightly, but Morris was still one of the NCAA’s best. This past season was more noticeable drop-off; he recorded a .916 save percentage and 2.44 GAA – good numbers by most standards but not among the NCAA’s best and a far cry from his first two seasons. With Rockford, Morris will look to prove that he is still an elite goalie prospect by returning to the form he showed earlier in college. If he succeeds, the Blackhawks may already have a sneaky contender in the organization to fill the currently vacant role of goalie of the future.

Joe Thornton Linked To Toronto Maple Leafs

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Oct 14: Not that Johnston and Mirtle needed backup, but Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet and Pierre LeBrun of The Athletic have both now reported interest between the Maple Leafs and Thornton. Friedman notes that several core players for Toronto have pitched the veteran forward, while LeBrun tweets that both head coach Sheldon Keefe and GM Kyle Dubas have spoken with him.

Oct 13: Once again, smoke is building around Joe Thornton and the Toronto Maple Leafs. After the veteran forward was linked to the team in the 2017 offseason (when teammate Patrick Marleau signed a three-year deal with Toronto), there has been a lingering notion that he could consider a return to Ontario at some point.

On a recent Steve Dangle Podcast, Sportsnet’s Chris Johnston implied that the two sides have had mutual interest, and now James Mirtle of The Athletic has written something similar:

These talks are in the beginning stages. It sounds like there’s some mutual interest. The Leafs, as they did during free agency in 2017, have let Thornton know he’s wanted. And Thornton is listening, from his offseason home in Switzerland, where he’s been training with a top-league club.

For a while, there has been a belief that Thornton would take his time with any decision on his NHL future. The 2020-21 season is still completely shrouded in uncertainty, with no concrete date for the start of training camp or the regular season. But if the 41-year-old center does want to come back, it’s no longer a slam dunk that he will be returning to the San Jose Sharks.

While the Sharks did just bring back Marleau to chase Gordie Howe’s games played record and are obviously still a contender should Thornton return, the situation feels different this summer. Kevin Kurz of The Athletic tweeted as much earlier this month, saying that though it felt inevitable that Thornton would return to the Sharks when he became a free agent in 2019, he has “gotten no indications that he’s a sure thing to return” this time around.

The Maple Leafs have already made sweeping changes to their bottom-six forward group for next season, moving out Kasperi Kapanen, Andreas Johnsson, and Frederik Gauthier while bringing in Wayne Simmonds, Jimmy Vesey, Joey Anderson, and Travis Boyd. They currently still have Alexander Kerfoot penciled into the third-line center role, but the team is barely under the cap and could need to make additional moves if they are looking at any other free agent upgrades.

Thornton, meanwhile, is coming off his worst season in two decades. The Sharks legend scored just seven goals and 31 points in 2019-20, his lowest total since that 1997-98 rookie campaign. He was frustrated when the Sharks didn’t move him to a contender at the deadline, telling reporters that “it would have been nice to at least have a chance” at the Stanley Cup, a prize that has eluded him over a 22-year career.

Mirtle and Johnston both were clear to point out that things are very preliminary between the Maple Leafs and Thornton, to the point where it may be just an expressed interest, not even negotiations. But the two sides have certainly flirted before.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images

Maple Leafs Sign Aaron Dell

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Toronto has added some depth between the pipes, announcing the signing of goaltender Aaron Dell to a one-year deal.  The contract is worth $800K.

The 31-year-old made a strong first impression in his rookie NHL year back in 2016-17 when he posted a .931 SV% in 20 games with San Jose.  At that time, Dell looked like their possible starter of the future but he hasn’t come close to duplicating that type of success since then.

Last season, he made 30 starts for the Sharks with Martin Jones struggling and while both goalies had near-identical goals against averages (3.00 for Jones, 3.01 for Dell), Dell had the better save percentage by a decent-sized margin (.907 to .896).  Accordingly, it looked like he’d have at least a chance at landing a backup spot in the NHL.

That won’t be the case with the Maple Leafs, however, as Frederik Andersen and Jack Campbell are set as their tandem between the pipes.  Instead, Dell will likely begin next season as the starter with the Marlies, their AHL affiliate; that void was created when Kasimir Kaskisuo opted to sign with Nashville earlier today.  Assuming he does wind up there, it’ll be his first AHL action since 2016-17.

With 107 career NHL appearances under his belt, Dell gives Toronto a strong insurance policy if one of Andersen or Campbell goes down and if that doesn’t happen, he should be one of the better starters at the minor league level.  The Maple Leafs had to pay a bit of a higher price in that it’s a one-way deal but at that cap hit if he’s needed with the big club, it’s a price that is certainly worth paying.

Kasimir Kaskisuo, Tyler Lewington Sign With Nashville Predators

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The Nashville Predators have added some more goaltending depth, signing Kasimir Kaskisuo to a one-year, two-way contract worth $700K at the NHL level. Kaskisuo was a Group VI unrestricted free agent after spending the last several years in the Toronto Maple Leafs minor league system. The team has also signed Tyler Lewington to a one-year, two-way contract worth $700K at the NHL level.

Kaskisuo, 27, has just a single NHL game under his belt but has been a strong contributor for the Toronto Marlies of the AHL since signing in 2016. A standout at the University of Minnesota-Duluth, he entered the system as an undrafted free agent and has a .909 save percentage in 95 AHL regular season games. Those numbers improve in the Calder Cup playoffs where he has a .913 in 22 appearances.

Lewington meanwhile comes over from the Washington Capitals system, where he has racked up over 600 penalty minutes in just over 300 games. The 6’2″ defenseman has 37 fights in the minor leagues and another two in the NHL (five, if you count preseason action).

Maple Leafs Sign Jimmy Vesey

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The Maple Leafs continue to add some depth up front, announcing the signing of Jimmy Vesey to a one-year contract.  The deal will pay the winger $900K.

The 27-year-old may be best remembered for choosing not to sign with Nashville who drafted him or Buffalo who dealt for his rights before embarking on a free agent tour that most college players get the opportunity to do.  While he hasn’t become a core forward like teams had hoped, Vesey has been a capable secondary scorer over his four-year NHL career.  After spending his first three seasons with the Rangers, he was traded to Buffalo last offseason but the fit wasn’t a great one as he managed just eight goals and 12 assists in 64 games after having at least 27 points in each year with New York.  That certainly played a role in him going from a $2.275MM AAV on this last deal to less than half of that in this one.

Vesey will likely be given an opportunity to fill the vacancy opened up by Saturday’s trade of Andreas Johnsson to New Jersey although youngster Nick Robertson and KHL acquisition Alexander Barabanov are both likely to be in the mix for that spot as well.

Toronto still has winger Ilya Mikheyev (who filed for arbitration yesterday) and defenseman Travis Dermott to re-sign and cap space is limited no matter which players round out their roster.  Accordingly, the Maple Leafs may still have some cap trimming to do in the coming days and weeks.

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