Toronto Acquires Andersen; Inks 5-Year Extension
UPDATE: 5:34 PM CST: Bob McKenzie of TSN reports that Anderson’s contract is $5MM per year for five years — $25MM overall and $5MM AAV.
UPDATE 4:53 PM CST: Bob McKenzie of TSN chimes in with some contract details. It will be a five-year deal somwhere between $5MM and $5.5MM per season. That makes the new Leafs’ goaltending duo worth almost $10MM per season.
4:31 PM CST: Pierre LeBrun adds that the Leafs have indeed agreed to a five-year extension with Andersen after making the deal. It will keep him in Toronto long-term, leading many to wonder what is to make of former starter Jonathan Bernier.
4:06 PM CST: According to the team Twitter, the Anaheim Ducks have traded restricted free agent goaltender Frederik Andersen to the Toronto Maple Leafs in exchange for a first round pick (30th overall) and a second round pick in 2017.
Free Agent Focus: Ottawa Senators
After a season in 2014-15 that saw the Ottawa Senators put up 99 points and make the playoffs, last year was a big disappointment. Despite having a legitimate superstar in Erik Karlsson on the blueline, Ottawa went just 38-35-9 and missed the playoffs by 8 points. Karlsson put up 82 points and is a candidate to win his third Norris trophy, and would hide a lot of flaws on any team with his exceptional possession and offensive numbers.
With a very young roster, the team is another cap-floor team like Carolina (which we profiled earlier today) and won’t spend anywhere near the $71MM cap. They do however have some important names to re-sign if they want to build this core together. Here’s a look at their upcoming offseason:
Key Restricted Free Agent: LW Mike Hoffman – Following Hoffman’s breakout 2014-15 season where he scored 27 goals, the former 5th round pick improved in almost every category this season. Racking up 29 goals and 59 points, the 6’1″ winger moved to a spot on the top line and flourished in his new role, averaging almost 18 minutes a night.
Hoffman will turn 27 next season and will be looking for a long-term deal with the Senators this summer; paid $2MM last season, he’s earned a much bigger deal this time around. If the Senators aren’t willing to commit long-term to the Kitchener, Ontario native, Hoffman could sign a one-year deal and become an unrestricted free agent next summer. If he could hit that 30-goal mark in 2016-17, he’d be in for a huge payday.
Other RFAs: C Ryan Dzingel, RW Alex Chiasson, RW Buddy Robinson, LW Matt Puempel, D Fredrik Claesson, D Cody Ceci, D Patrick Wiercioch
Key Unrestricted Free Agent: None. The Senators only have two players hitting UFA status this summer, and both Scott Gomez and Mike Kostka are insignificant to their future plans. The 36-year old Gomez hasn’t been an effective NHL player in years, and Kostka is a minor-league journeyman who has never had NHL success.
Projected Cap Space: $17.5MM, 18 players under contract.
The blockbuster deal to bring over Dion Phaneuf from the Toronto Maple Leafs last season made a huge impact on the Sens’ salary structure going forward, inducing a cap hit of $7MM a season for the next five. Fortunately for Ottawa, Phaneuf’s deal was front-loaded and they’ll only be paying him $5.5MM in his age-35 season, despite the big cap hit.
It’s the NMC in his deal that may be troublesome for the Senators, as he’ll have automatic protection in next year’s expansion draft. With Karlsson obviously also needing it, the Senators will only have one more defenceman protection slot to use on their other young blueliners.
Overall, the team is in good shape going forward without many anchoring contracts, and a large crop of young players. They’ll try to get back to the playoffs this season, and may sign a veteran or two to help lead the group there.
Buyout Notes: Cowen, Bruins, Brown
The first window to buyout unwanted contracts begins Wednesday at 4pm CST, and the process has already begun with the Maple Leafs placing defenceman Jared Cowen on waivers early this morning in preparation to buy him out this evening. While Cowen was long-expected to be bought out, there are many others that will see their names bandied about in the coming weeks.
Bryan Bickell, expected to be bought out, was moved to Carolina earlier today along with Teuvo Teravainen for draft picks. Carolina will keep Bickell under contract as they will have trouble hitting the cap floor this season, and need veteran players to fill the bottom two lines. The window is open until June 30th, here are some other tidbits on upcoming buyouts:
- Still on Cowen, Sportsnet’s Luke Fox brings up an interesting point: due to a contract quirk the Maple Leafs will actually get a $650,000 cap credit for the 2016-17 season, while only paying a $750,000 hit in 2017-18. For the Maple Leafs, this credit gives them even more room to take on bad salary this season while they continue to rebuild.
- DJ Bean of WEEI in Boston reports that the Bruins aren’t ruling out using buyouts on multiple players, listing Jimmy Hayes and Dennis Seidenberg as candidates. As of early afternoon on Wednesday, Seidenberg had not been told anything in regards to receiving a buyout.
- The Hockey News noted that if the Los Angeles Kings did decide to use a buyout on Dustin Brown, his cap hit would stay with them until 2027-28, a tough pill to swallow. After losing the captaincy earlier this month, and posting his forth straight year of fewer than 30 points, the former USA Olympian is a tough sell to any team. With six years remaining at $5.875MM, Brown’s self-negotiated contract is one of the biggest anchors in the NHL.
Maple Leafs Place Jared Cowen On Waivers; Will Buyout
According to TSN’s Darren Dreger, the Toronto Maple Leafs have placed struggling blueliner Jared Cowen on waivers before buying out his contract. The 25-year old defenceman came to the Leafs in the Dion Phaneuf trade with the Senators this past season, and never was in the long-term plans. Cowen never suited up as a Leaf, hitting LTIR immediately after the deal. His $3.1MM cap-hit will be eaten by the Maple Leafs in order to keep their flexibility this offseason.
After being selected 9th overall by the Senators in the 2009 entry draft, Cowen has been an underwhelming performer thus far in his career. Never expected to be an offensive force, the Saskatoon native relied on his size and physical play to be an effective player. With his footspeed declining over recent years, he was too often found out of position and unable to catch up in the NHL game. The Senators sold-low on the former top pick after years of waiting on any potential to show itself.
The Leafs, uninterested in the lumbering defenceman, put him on waivers in February, and told him to go home and wait out the season. Cowen was understandably upset with this, still believing he has more to offer as an NHL regular. He’ll probably get looks around the league because of his first round pedigree and relative youth, with a rebuilding club hoping he can find some of that magic he showed as a lock down defender for the Spokane Chiefs years ago.
Buyout Candidates: Bickell, Bolland, Cowen
With the buyout window opening Wednesday evening, there is speculation as to which players will most likely see their contracts bought out. Luke Fox from Sportnet put together a list of players who might find themselves a victim of buyer’s remorse. Here are a few:
- Bryan Bickell: After having the playoff performance of a lifetime during the Chicago Blackhawks 2013 Stanley Cup run, Bickell’s contract has been a thorn in the side of the Hawks constant cap worries. Signed to a 4-year, $16MM deal in 2013, the return on investment has been null for the Blackhawks. Some will point to bench boss Joel Quenneville as one of the reasons Bickell never found sustained success after his magical year. Scott Powers wrote in the Chicago Sun Times back in January that Bickell was resigned to his fate, and that it was ultimately up to the Chicago brass as to how they solved the problem. Bickell was shuttled back and forth to AHL affiliate Rockford, and barely saw ice time even when he was up in Chicago. As Fox points out, with only a year left and $4MM owed, if Bickell isn’t traded, he’s most likely to be bought out.
- Dave Bolland: Another former Blackhawk, Bolland has been injury plagued and unable to produce like he did when he was in Chicago. Back in December, the Hockey News speculated that Bolland would be an excellent candidate to be removed from the books with 3 years still left on his deal. However, the average hit on the Cap should Florida choose to do this would be $1.833MM per year through the 2021-2022 season. While the Panthers have historically taken on large contracts to remain above the salary cap floor (Brian Campbell comes to mind immediately), this would be a steep price for six seasons of a nearly $2MM hit. One other caveat: Fox reports that Bolland failed a recent physical, which would disqualify his contract from being bought out per CBA rules.
- Jared Cowen: The Maple Leafs are in the midst of an epic purge, and already dealt most of the bad contracts from the previous regime. Cowen’s was acquired in the Dion Phaneuf trade, and as Fox notes, general manager Lou Lamoriello already indicated that Cowen would be bought out. TSN (as well as mentioned in Fox’s article) also writes that the Leafs would get a credit for buying the contract out. Mark this one down as a guarantee.