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Toronto’s Tyler Bozak Is Receiving Strong Interest On Free Agent Market

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With the next phase of the offseason having already arrived, NHL teams can now begin talking to other teams’ unrestricted free agents. With the increasing demand of centers needed by many NHL teams, unrestricted free agent centers are getting a lot of attention. And while no one is surprised that John Tavares is receiving a lot of interest, TSN’s Darren Dreger reports there is quite a bit of interest in Toronto Maple Leafs center Tyler Bozak now that the interview period has opened as his representative, Newport Sports, have fielded several calls from other teams. Dreger adds that the Maple Leafs are still involved.

Besides Tavares and Paul Stastny, Bozak is likely the third most coveted center on the unrestricted free agent market. The 32-year-old is coming off a slightly down year where he posted 11 goals and 32 assists for a loaded Toronto team. The veteran saw his minutes total drop to a career-low 15:39 ATOI, although he has a solid 53.4 percent faceoff percentage. He tallied 18 goals in the 2016-17 season and put up a career-high 56.7 percent faceoff percentage.

The question is what kind of contract can he get? With a few more good years ahead of him, the veteran is likely looking for both money and term in what is likely to be his last opportunity at a big contract. The nine-year veteran just finished out a five-year, $21MM deal worth an AAV of $4.2MM. Bozak has always expressed interest in returning to Toronto where he has played his entire career. The Maple Leafs would like him back, but it all comes down to Bozak’s demands. The team might have some cap maneuverability now, but with pending extensions due to Auston Matthews, Mitch Marner and William Nylander, their future cap space is in question.

Metropolitan Notes: Tavares, Hamilton, Rask, Rangers

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In a follow-up story about New York Islanders and John Tavares upcoming free agency, The Athletic’s Arthur Staple (subscription required) writes that the Islanders’ Lou Lamoriello left the draft to fly to Los Angeles to be nearby while Tavares meets with the teams that he and his representatives have invited to speak with him. Lamoriello will meet with Tavares last in hopes of keeping the superstar in the fold.

As reported earlier, it is believed that he will meet with the Toronto Maple Leafs, San Jose Sharks, and Dallas Stars and possibly the Tampa Bay Lightning, Vegas Golden Knights and the Montreal Canadiens, although that isn’t too clear so far. However, Staples writes that an earlier rumor today that the Islanders made an eight-year, $88MM deal may not be accurate. He believes in the end, whether offered by the Islanders or another team, that Tavares will be making $12MM per year, which Lamoriello has said that ownership has said that money is no object.

  • Sportsnet’s Chris Johnston reported that the Carolina Hurricanes intend to keep defenseman Dougie Hamilton, who the team acquired in the five-player trade earlier today. The scribe said the team had no intention of flipping the blueliner for more assets. Hamilton should provide the team with a No. 1 defenseman to go with their core of young blueliners. The six-year veteran is only just 25 years old and put up 17 goals and 44 points last season.
  • Pierre LeBrun of The Athletic (subscription required) writes that the Carolina Hurricanes were supposedly close on sending winger Victor Rask to the Montreal Canadiens, but the asking price of two second-round picks in this draft (including the No. 35 pick) was too much for the Canadiens. The 25-year-old winger still has four years at $4MM AAV and seems to have regressed somewhat since a 21 goal season back in 2015-16.
  • The New York Rangers had three first-round picks in this latest draft with much speculation wondering if general manager Jeff Gorton would use those picks as assets to either acquire a pro-ready player or even to move up in the draft. Instead, the Rangers used all three picks (albeit, they traded up late in the first-round). NHL.com’s Dan Rosen reports that Gorton said he was never close to making a deal this weekend. Gorton said he was ready to change his draft strategy if he got a trade offer he liked, but never got one. “I would say there was probably less conversations than I anticipated,” Gorton said.

2018 Draft Results By Team

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The 2018 NHL Entry Draft is now complete. Check out how each team did with accruing talent and filling needs with each of their selections this weekend:

Anaheim Ducks

1-23.  F Isac Lundestrom, Lulea (SHL)
2-54. F Benoit-Olivier Groulx, Halifax Mooseheads (QMJHL)
3-79. F Blake McLaughlin, Chicago Steel (USHL)
3-84. G Lukas Dostal, HC Kometa Brno (Czech Republic-Jr.)
4-116. F Jack Perbix, Elk River HS (USHS)
5-147. G Roman Durny, Des Moines Buccaneers (USHL)
6-178. D Hunter Drew, Charlottetown Islanders (QMJHL)

Arizona Coyotes

1-5. F Barrett Hayton, Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds (OHL)
2-55. D Kevin Bahl, Ottawa 67’s (OHL)
3-65. F Jan Jenik, HC Benatky nad Jizerou (Czech Republic-2)
3-73. D Ty Emberson, U.S. National Development Program (USHL)
4-114. G Ivan Prosvetov, Youngstown Phantoms (USHL)
5-142. D Mitchell Callahan, Central Illinois Flying Aces (USHL)
5-145. D Dennis Busby, Flint Firebirds (OHL)
6-158. G David Tendeck, Vancouver Giants (WHL)
7-189. F Liam Kirk, Sheffield Steelers (England)

Boston Bruins

2-57. D Axel Andersson, Djurgardens IF (SuperElit)
3-77.  F Jakub Lauko, Pirati Chomutov (Czech Republic)
4-119. F Curtis Hall, Youngstown Phantoms (USHL)
6-181.  D Dustyn McFaul, Pickering Panthers (OJHL)
7-212. F Pavel Shen, Mamonty Yugry (MHL)

Buffalo Sabres

1-1. D Rasmus Dahlin, Frolunda HC (SHL)
2-32. D Mattias Samuelsson, U.S. National Development Program (USHL)
4-94. F Matej Pekar, Muskegon Lumberjacks (USHL)
4-117. D Linus Lindstrand Kronholm, Malmo Redhawks (SuperElit)
5-125. D Miska Kuukonen, Ilves (Jr.-Liiga)
7-187. D William Worge Kreu, Linkoping (SuperElit)

Calgary Flames

3-105. F Martin Pospisil, Sioux City Musketeers (USHL)
3-108. F Demetrios Koumontzis, Edina HS (USHS)
4-122. F Milos Roman, Vancouver Giants (WHL)
6-167. F Mathias Emilio Pettersen, Muskegon Lumberjacks (USHL)
7-198. F Dmitri Zavgorodny, Rimouski Oceanic (QMJHL)

Carolina Hurricanes

1-2. F Andrei Svechnikov, Barrie Colts (OHL)
2-42. F Jack Drury, Waterloo Blackhawks (USHL)
4-96. F Luke Henman, Blainville-Boisbriand Armada (QMJHL)
4-104. F Lenni Killinen, Espoo Blues (Jr.-Liiga)
6-166. D Jesper Sellgren, MODO (Allsveskan)
7-197. G Jake Kucharski, Des Moines Buccaneers (USHL)

Chicago Blackhawks

1-8. D Adam Boqvist, Brynas IF Gavle (SHL)
1-27. D Nicolas Beaudin, Drummondville Voltigeurs (QMJHL)
3-69. F Jake Wise, U.S. National Development Program (USHL)
3-74. F Niklas Nordgren, HIFK Helsinki (Jr.-Liiga)
4-120. F Philipp Kurashev, Quebec Remparts (QMJHL)
5-139. F Mikael Hakkarainen, Muskegon Lumberjacks (USHL)
6-162. G Alexis Gravel, Halifax Mooseheads (QMJHL)
7-193. F Josiah Slavin, Lincoln Stars (USHL)

Colorado Avalanche

1-16. F Martin Kaut, Dynamo Pardubice (Czech Republic)
3-64. G Justus Annunen, Karpat (Jr.-Liiga)
3-78. F Sampo Ranta, Sioux City Musketeers (USHL)
4-109. F Tyler Weiss, U.S. National Development Program (USHL)
5-140. F Brandon Saigeon, Hamilton Bulldogs (OHL)
5-146. D Danila Zhuravlyov, Irbis Kazan (MHL)
6-171. F Nikolai Kovalenko, Lokomotiv Yaroslavl (MHL)
7-202. G Shamil Shmakov, Sibirskie Snaipery Novosibirsk (MHL)Read more

Toronto Maple Leafs Trade 25th Pick To St. Louis Blues

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The Toronto Maple Leafs have traded the 25th pick to the St. Louis Blues in exchange for picks 29 and 76. The 29th pick originally belonged to the Winnipeg Jets, who sent it (along with Erik Foley) to St. Louis in exchange for Paul Stastny at the deadline.

The Blues made the trade to pick Dominik Bokk, who some had much higher in pre-draft rankings. The German-born forward played in Sweden this season, where he lit up the junior league and even got a chance to suit up for Vaxjo in the SHL. Bokk has a big ceiling and could quickly make the Maple Leafs regret moving down, but they clearly felt the value of another third-round pick was worth it.

This is the same maneuver that Maple Leafs’ GM Kyle Dubas used when he ran the team’s draft in 2015, trading down twice to create three picks out of one. In that occasion the Maple Leafs passed on the chance to select Travis Konecny, who has turned into a star young player for the Philadelphia Flyers. This is the kind of thing we should come to expect from Dubas and company, as they try to use every advantage possible to keep the Toronto rebuild moving forward.

Miro Aaltonen To Sign In The KHL

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Maple Leafs pending RFA center Miro Aaltonen will return to the KHL, his agent Todd Diamond told TSN’s Darren Dreger (Twitter link).  Aaltonen joined Toronto last offseason but spent all of 2017-18 at the AHL level where he posted 20 goals and 23 assists in 64 regular season games while adding 13 points in Toronto’s run to the Calder Cup.  With both Tomas Plekanec and Dominic Moore set to depart via unrestricted free agency this offseason, some believed that the 25-year-old Aaltonen would have had a shot at a fourth line role with the big club but instead, he will head back overseas.

Free Agent Focus: Toronto Maple Leafs

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Free agency is now less than two weeks away from opening up and there are quite a few prominent players set to hit the open market while many teams have key restricted free agents to re-sign. Here is a breakdown of Toronto’s free agent situation.

Key Restricted Free Agent: F William Nylander – While he hasn’t received as much of the spotlight as his young teammates have, Nylander has quietly become a very productive player already as he collected 61 points for the second straight season.  Yes, his ice time was down a little bit in their first round loss to Boston but that’s not going to have any sort of real impact on contract talks.

Typically, with a youngster putting up these types of numbers early on, a long-term contract would be a near no-brainer.  However, with new contracts on the horizon for center Auston Matthews and winger Mitch Marner, Toronto may at the very least have to look into a shorter-term bridge deal since the other two could approach $20MM on their next deals.  A long-term pact for the 22-year-old could check in around $6MM or more per season based on comparables around the league while a short-term pact would cost a bit less and give Toronto more flexibility for 2019-20 but would also cost them more when Nylander’s third contract kicks in.  At this stage, a long-term pact still is the likeliest outcome.

Other RFAs: F Miro Aaltonen, F Frederik Gauthier, F Andreas Johnsson, D Justin Holl, D Martin Marincin

Key Unrestricted Free Agents: F James van Riemsdyk – Although van Riemsdyk’s ice time was somewhat limited in 2017-18 (14:54 per game, his lowest since his sophomore year), it didn’t slow down his goal production as he collected a career-best 36 tallies.  That ties him with Islanders center John Tavares for the most goals among unrestricted free agents.  He’s also one of the younger top players in this UFA class at just 29 years of age.  He’s going to be one of the most sought-after players on the open market next month and should be able to garner a max-term deal of seven years (assuming he doesn’t re-sign with Toronto).

F Tyler Bozak – It isn’t a great market for centers this summer and Bozak is poised to benefit from that.  Although he dropped to just 11 goals this past season (his lowest in any full year), he was still reliable defensively and his usual strong self at the faceoff dot.  The 32-year-old also saw his playing dropped to 15:39 per game; it’s certainly quite plausible to think that there will be teams that think he can get back to 15 goals and 50 points in a second-line role.  A five or six-year contract isn’t out of the question and he’s set to get a nice raise of the $4.2MM cap hit he has played on for the last five seasons.

Other UFAs: F Kyle Baun, F Leo Komarov, F Dominic Moore, F Tomas Plekanec, D Roman Polak

Projected Cap Space: With the re-signing of defenseman Connor Carrick earlier on Wednesday, the Leafs now have just under $55MM committed for next season per CapFriendly, an amount that includes $5.3MM for the injured Nathan Horton who will once again be LTIR-eligible.  With the salary cap set at $79.5MM, that gives Toronto a little more than $24MM to work with.  Nylander will take up a sizable chunk of that but they should still have plenty to spend.  However, new GM Kyle Dubas will need to tread carefully knowing that new contracts are on the horizon for Matthews and Marner so it wouldn’t be surprising to see Toronto pursue some short-term deals either via trade or the UFA market in the next few weeks.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Toronto Maple Leafs Sign Calvin Pickard

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The Toronto Maple Leafs already signed restricted free agent defenseman Connor Carrick to a one-year deal today, and they’ve done the same with goaltender Calvin Pickard. The team announced a one-year one-way contract for Pickard worth $800K. That’s actually a pay cut from the last two years, in which Pickard averaged $1MM on a deal signed by the Colorado Avalanche.

It wasn’t the Avalanche who traded Pickard to the Maple Leafs though, that honor fell to the Vegas Golden Knights after selecting him in the recent expansion draft. Pickard was waived by the team after they acquired Malcolm Subban from the Boston Bruins, but went unclaimed before Toronto sent a sixth-round pick and Tobias Lindberg over to the Golden Knights. That allowed the Maple Leafs to immediately send Pickard to the minor leagues, where he would form the best tandem in the AHL alongside Garret Sparks and take the Toronto Marlies all the way to a Calder Cup championship.

Interestingly though, it’s Sparks existence in the Toronto organization that complicates Pickard’s NHL future. The Maple Leafs have their starting goaltender locked up in Frederik Andersen, but the backup position is still undecided with Curtis McElhinney, Sparks and Pickard all vying for the role. Seeing as the team also recently signed minor league goaltender Kasimir Kaskisuo to a two-year contract, one would have to think the team will move one of their goaltenders out before the next season begins. This contract doesn’t preclude them from trading Pickard, and since he’ll need waivers to be sent down that could be the eventual decision.

In 87 career NHL games, the 26-year old Pickard has a .913 save percentage and could easily be relied upon as a backup in the league. If he’s Toronto’s third—or even fourth—option next season, they should be happy with their depth at the position.

Connor Carrick Signs One-Year Deal With Toronto Maple Leafs

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The Toronto Maple Leafs have finalized a deal with one of their restricted free agents, signing defenseman Connor Carrick to a one-year contract. The deal will carry a $1.3MM salary according to Chris Johnston of Sportsnet. Carrick will still be an RFA at the deal’s conclusion, meaning the Maple Leafs have plenty of time to decide whether or not he’s a long-term option on the blue line.

Earning an average of just $750K the last two years, Carrick has been moved in and out of the lineup by head coach Mike Babcock. In 47 games last season he registered 12 points, but couldn’t beat out Roman Polak and others for a full-time role on the third defense pairing. Despite his positive possession statistics and above average puck-moving ability, Babcock didn’t trust him on the penalty kill and seemed to prefer more defensive-minded players in that roster spot. Still, with Polak scheduled to become an unrestricted free agent this summer Carrick represented one of the few right-handed options in the organization, with just Nikita Zaitsev, Justin Holl and prospect Timothy Liljegren representing the other legitimate NHL options. Though Ron Hainsey, Morgan Rielly and Travis Dermott have all spent time on the right side, many coaches prefer to keep defensemen on their strong side more often than not.

Carrick came over to the Maple Leafs from the Washington Capitals organization where he was a fifth-round pick in 2012. After putting up huge offensive numbers in the minor leagues, many hoped that he could bring some of that scoring flair to the NHL. That hasn’t been the case with just 30 points in 167 NHL games, but at just 24 years of age there still could be more potential waiting to be unlocked with more regular playing time.

The Maple Leafs figure to have an incredible amount of cap space to spend this summer, though they have to worry about contracts for some of their best players before long. Carrick’s contract doesn’t necessarily mean he’ll be getting much more playing time than the past few seasons, as the team could bring in another more established option on a short-term deal in free agency, or acquire a more long-term solution through trade.

Ryane Clowe Hired As ECHL Head Coach

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The New Jersey Devils have finally rid themselves of Ryane Clowe’s contract, but they’ll now lose any experience and guidance that he could bring to the team. Clowe had been operating as an assistant coach while his contract was put on long-term injured reserve, but is now headed back to Newfoundland as the first head coach of the Toronto Maple Leafs new ECHL affiliate. Clowe will take over as head coach of the Newfoundland Growlers, and really begin the second part of his hockey career.

Clowe, 35, saw his career ended abruptly by concussions, as he was advised by doctors in 2015 not to continue playing. At that point, he was in the middle of a five-year, $24.25MM contract he signed with the Devils in 2013, and would have to wait out the rest of it on the sidelines. The big, bruising winger had been a force in the NHL, scoring 45 or more points four times and collecting 618 penalty minutes in just 491 games. Though his signature was his physical play, his offensive game was underrated at times and he’ll try to pass on that knowledge to the next wave of Maple Leafs prospects.

Toronto has built a three-tiered development system with their ECHL club, using it to work with players who may have a glaring weakness or need to improve their physical fitness. Clowe will try to help raw players get off on the right foot in their professional careers, and maybe one day even make it to the NHL.

Minor Transactions: 6/19/18

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While many fringe NHL players and veteran minor leaguers have already begun to look overseas for their next contract, others are lucky enough to have found a reliable workplace here in North America. Journeyman goalie Richard Bachman is one of that fortunate group. Sportsnet’s Rick Dhaliwal reports that the Vancouver Canucks are engaged in extension talks with Bachman and it appears likely that the two sides will come to an agreement on a new contract. Although Bachman did not make an NHL appearance last season and has not been a regular at the NHL level since 2012-13, he has nonetheless carved out a nice role for himself as a mentor for the Canucks with their AHL affiliate, the Utica Comets. Undersized and on the wrong side of 30, Bachman is no longer a legitimate threat to make a difference in Vancouver, but is a good locker room presence, a teacher for the likes of Thatcher Demko and soon Michael DiPietro, and if necessary an experienced backup option. He also comes cheap; Bachman’s $650K salary at the NHL level last season was the league minimum and it was also the highest salary of his seven-year pro career. The Canucks clearly appreciate the role that Bachman plays for the organization and may be willing to re-sign him to one-year deals in perpetuity until he himself calls it quits.

  • The captain of the Lehigh Valley Phantoms is staying put. However, Colin McDonald had to take an AHL contract to do so. With his contract with the Philadelphia Flyers about to expire, McDonald has chosen familiarity over possibility and has opted to skip free agency and simply re-sign with Lehigh Valley. The Phantoms announced a one-year contract for the 33-year-old forward earlier today. McDonald did not see any NHL action with the Flyers this season and lost some minor league games and production to injury, but looked strong in the postseason and ready to continue leading the Phantoms. The Flyers have had a plethora of draft picks over the past two years and have used a large proportion on forwards. They also have another nine picks this year to keep adding on. With an onslaught of young forward soon entering the system, having an experienced and well-rounded veteran in the AHL ranks to help their prospects along is a good move for Philadelphia.
  • Rich Clune may not be the captain of the Toronto Marlies yet, but he will certainly be in consideration next year. The 31-year-old forward emphatically announced his return for next season at the celebration for the Calder Cup champions. Clune has played for the Marlies for the past three years, the last two on AHL contracts while also still collecting on his buyout from the Nashville Predators. Clune is not one to contribute much offense, but plays a heart-and-soul, bottom-six energy role for the Marlies and it is clear that he means a lot to the team. With captain Ben Smith moving to Europe, Clune is one of several leaders on the defending champs who could fill his shoes next year.

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