Maple Leafs winger Ryan Reaves has been on injured reserve for more than a month now with a knee injury. However, he told Sportsnet’s Luke Fox that he has been ready to return for a couple of weeks and he has simply been scratched for that time. The 37-year-old is in the first season of a three-year, $4.05MM contract signed back in July and things haven’t gone as planned with the veteran struggling when he was in the lineup to the point of being healthy scratched at times before the injury. Reaves noted that he’ll need to “stay patient to get in the lineup — or stay patient for whatever else is going to come” but clearly, his comments suggest that patience is starting to wear a little thin if he has indeed been ready to come back for the last two weeks.
Maple Leafs Rumors
Tyler Ennis Announces Retirement
Longtime NHL forward Tyler Ennis announced his retirement today, per an announcement from his first and most tenured team, the Sabres. The 34-year-old was playing with Adler Mannheim in the Deutsche Eishockey Liga (DEL) but has terminated his contract and stepped away from the game after sustaining a neck injury during Champions Hockey League play last November.
Ennis gave the following statement on his retirement, translated from German:
After working hard to get healthy with our great team, I ultimately decided to quit hockey. I would like to thank [Mannheim general manager Daniel] Hopp, my teammates, the coaches, our medical staff and of course our great fans for their support. I will continue to cheer on the Adler Mannheim vigorously in the future.
The diminutive, versatile forward was a true top-six threat in his early days with the Sabres, but multiple serious injuries in his prime forced him into a depth scoring role as he remained effective later into his 30s. An unrestricted free agent since the end of the 2021-22 campaign, Ennis has spent the last 18 months playing overseas with Mannheim and SC Bern in the Swiss National League. Before sustaining the career-ending neck injury, Ennis had five assists through seven games with Mannheim and posted 13-20–33 in 37 games with Bern last season.
The Sabres selected Ennis with the 26th overall pick of the 2008 draft, their second selection of the first round, selecting hulking defenseman Tyler Myers 14 picks earlier. Ennis spent one season in junior hockey after his draft, lighting up the Western Hockey League with the Medicine Hat Tigers and recording seven points in six games for Canada at the 2009 World Juniors as the John Tavares-led squad captured gold. He made the transition to the pro game the following year, spending most of the season with AHL Portland, with whom he finished second in scoring with 23-42–65 in 69 games.
His strong minor-league showing earned him a full-time gig in Buffalo the following season. His rookie campaign wasn’t strong enough to get him Calder Trophy recognition, but it wasn’t bad by any means. His 20 goals and 49 points both finished fourth on the Sabres that year, part of a ninth-place offense that led Buffalo to its most recent playoff berth.
Ennis’ production increased the following season, producing at a 58-point pace. There was one key issue: a left ankle injury limited him to 48 games on the year. He would play 80 games in a season just once more throughout his career, in 2013-14. That Sabres team was one of the least memorable of the modern era, finishing with only 21 wins and 52 points. Ennis led that squad in goals with 21, earning himself a five-year, $23MM extension that summer as a result.
He again led the Sabres in scoring in 2014-15, posting 20 goals and 46 points on a team designed to tank for Connor McDavid in the 2015 draft. The lottery balls gave them the second-overall pick, though, giving them Jack Eichel as a consolation prize.
Unfortunately for Ennis, that season was his last near the top of a team’s depth chart. Upper-body and groin injuries limited him to a combined 74 games over the following two seasons, during which time his production tanked – just eight goals and 24 points – while seeing his ice time dip below 15 minutes per game. That was the end of Ennis’ tenure in Buffalo, as they dealt him and Marcus Foligno to the Wild in June 2017 in exchange for Jason Pominville and Marco Scandella.
In Minnesota, Ennis regained his health but not his production. His lone season with the Wild saw him post 8-14–22 in 73 games, averaging fourth-line minutes on the season. The Wild bought out the final season of his $4.6MM cap hit contract that summer, making him a UFA.
He didn’t last long on the open market. Maple Leafs general manager Kyle Dubas signed Ennis to a one-year, $650K contract to continue his career in Toronto one week after Minnesota bought him out. While he saw even more limited usage than he did with the Wild, Ennis’ 12 goals for Toronto were his first time reaching double digits in four years.
Ennis stayed in Canada but made an intra-provincial move the following summer, signing a one-year deal for a more increased role with the Senators. He responded well, posting 16-21–37 in 70 total games in 2019-10, including a deadline move to the Oilers shortly before the COVID-19 pandemic ended the regular season. His 14:43 average that season was the most he’d averaged since leaving Buffalo.
He continued to bounce between Edmonton and Ottawa over the following two seasons, returning for second stints in each city. Between 2020 and 2022, Ennis recorded 27-43–70 in 157 games while seeing third-line minutes. Still a capable point producer, it was puzzling not to see him field any offers in the summer of 2022 and head overseas to continue his pro career.
There had been rumblings of a PTO for Ennis during last year’s training camp cycle, but none came to fruition. The 5-foot-9 forward wraps up his NHL career with 144-202–346 in 700 games, including 13 game-winning goals and a 15:10 time-on-ice average per game.
PHR wishes Ennis well in his recovery from his neck injury and congratulates him on a spectacular career.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Snapshots: Ovechkin, Vlasic, Petan, Bellows
Washington Capitals star winger Alex Ovechkin is officially sidelined, now set to miss his second straight game with a lower-body injury, per team reporter Bailey Johnson. Ovechkin has been dealing with the injury for about a week, taking part in the optional practices and traveling with the team to New York. Ovechkin’s next chance to play will be when the Capitals face the Anaheim Ducks at home on Tuesday.
Ovechkin is experiencing the lowest goals-per-game pace of his career this season, boasting just eight through 39 games this season. But that hasn’t limited his scoring upside, with the 38-year-old still leading the Washington roster with 27 points. He also leads all Capitals forwards in ice time, averaging roughly 19-and-a-half each game. It’s been an impressive year for the 1386-game veteran of the league, who is proving just how effective he still is, even if his illustrious chase of Wayne Gretzky’s goal-scoring record may be dwindling.
Other notes from around the league:
- Chicago Blackhawks general manager Kyle Davidson spoke about the likelihood of signing high-end rookie defenseman Alex Vlasic to a long-term deal – sharing that the team is definitely considering weighing the idea but wants to be sure before committing to a long-term cap hit. Vlasic currently has 10 points in 37 games this season, adding 25 penalty minutes and a +7. He ranks second in scoring among Hawks defenders, and first among the team’s multiple rookie defenders.
- The Minnesota Wild have sent forward Nic Petan back to the minor leagues. Petan was recalled on December 31st, appearing in the team’s last five games. He managed two points and a -2 over the stretch. Petan has also appeared in 26 AHL games this season, scoring 10 goals and 28 points.
- Kieffer Bellows has signed a minor league deal with the AHL’s Toronto Marlies, officially joining the team through the rest of the season. Bellows has already appeared in 25 games with the club, scoring 14 goals and 26 points, leading the team in goals and ranking second in points. Bellows played in 27 NHL games with the Philadelphia Flyers last season, scoring three goals and recording a -7. The New York Islanders drafted Bellows 19th-overall in the 2016 NHL Draft and is one of seven players from that First Round to not yet play in 100 NHL games. He remains five games short, managing 31 points in 95 career games.
AHL PTO For Kieffer Bellows Has Expired
- Nick Barden of The Hockey News points out that Kieffer Bellows’ PTO with AHL Toronto has now come to an end. After not catching on with a team to start the season, the 25-year-old joined the Marlies in early November and was quite productive, notching 14 goals and 12 assists in his 25-game stint. Bellows is eligible to sign another PTO or a full-season contract with either the Marlies or Maple Leafs but with the success he had, the veteran of 95 career NHL appearances could also attract some interest elsewhere.
“Several” Teams Have Shown Interest In Corey Perry
Multiple NHL teams have shown interest in picking up UFA veteran Corey Perry as the 2023-24 season rounds the halfway mark, ESPN’s Emily Kaplan reports Thursday. Per Kaplan, one unnamed team “is doing major due diligence” to determine if past workplace behavior issues exist aside from the undisclosed incident that got his contract with the Blackhawks terminated earlier this season.
Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman confirmed late Wednesday that Perry is eligible to sign with a team and will not face a blockade from league commissioner Gary Bettman. Perry has met with Bettman since the contract termination at the player’s request, per Friedman, and was given Bettman’s “blessing” to return. He has not yet filed a grievance with the NHLPA against his termination, and the union has until January 28 to decide if it wants to proceed with one.
The Blackhawks signed Perry, 38, to a one-year, $4MM contract after acquiring his signing rights from the Lightning in a late June trade. The capable veteran notched four goals and nine points through 16 games in Chicago before the team removed him from the lineup and eventually the roster for an incident that the team said violated the terms of his contract and organizational standards. Perry issued a statement shortly after his termination, stating he would “discuss his struggles with alcohol” with behavioral health experts.
Perry’s 0.56 points per game pace in third-line minutes in Chicago is a strong indication that he can still bring it, especially considering the lack of depth around him. That pace would be third on the Blackhawks today behind Connor Bedard’s 0.85 clip and Philipp Kurashev’s 0.68.
If Perry does get another contract to extend his career past the 1,300-game mark, it will almost surely be for the league minimum $775K. No teams have been reliably linked to Perry yet, although former Maple Leaf Carlo Colaiacovo posited on TSN 1050 radio today that there may be mutual interest between Perry and Toronto. There, he would assumedly slot in a fourth-line right-wing role and, even in his late 30s, would provide a major upgrade over declining enforcer Ryan Reaves and AHL call-up Bobby McMann. The 2007 Stanley Cup champion with the Ducks also still lives in London, Ontario, where he played his junior hockey with the Knights. It’s understandable why he would have an interest in signing without having to make a mid-season move.
Maple Leafs Recall Ilya Samsonov
After clearing waivers early last week, Ilya Samsonov’s brief stint on the AHL roster is over. The Maple Leafs recalled last season’s starting netminder this morning, returning youngster Dennis Hildeby to AHL Toronto in a corresponding transaction.
Samsonov, 26, has had a horrid go of things this season that culminated in a minor-league assignment to work with the team’s development staff. He did not suit up in any game action for the AHL’s Marlies during his ten-day stint. To go along with a rather peculiar 5-2-6 record, Samsonov had a .862 SV% in 15 NHL games – second-worst in the league among qualified netminders only to the Hurricanes’ Antti Raanta.
Without any stats from his AHL run, it’s hard to gauge from an outside viewpoint if Samsonov is mentally ready to rebound from his struggles. There’s no doubt he’s a skilled, capable netminder. After all, he started 40 out of 82 games for Toronto last season and stopped 18 goals above expected, which was tenth in the league, per MoneyPuck. It’s also unclear whether or not the Leafs plan to play Samsonov anytime soon, as they’ve shown a willingness to ride the hot hand and start Martin Jones in back-to-back contests already once this month. The recall could be just to get Samsonov back working with the Leafs’ NHL staff as he gets closer to being deemed ready to play.
This has to be a tad disappointing for Hildeby, who didn’t see any action during his first NHL recall. After backing up Jones in four games, the monstrous 22-year-old Swede heads back to the Marlies, where he has a 2.20 GAA, .919 SV%, two shutouts, and a 7-5-3 record in 15 games this year.
Joseph Woll Back At Practice, Not Close To Return
One of the most oft-used members of the Toronto Maple Leafs goalie carousel, Joseph Woll has found himself on the team’s injured reserve for a month, suffering from a high ankle sprain on December 8th. In some positive news for the organization, David Alter of The Hockey News reports that Woll was back on the ice this morning, although under limited movement and intensity.
To push back on the idea that Woll may be close to returning after being seen at practice, in a follow-up report, Alter indicated that Woll was still “a ways away” and that there is still no concrete timeline for his return. In the meantime, the Maple Leafs will continue to roll with the combination of Martin Jones and Dennis Hildeby, as the latter is still looking to make his NHL debut in the crease.
Fortunately for Toronto, even with the injury to Woll, and the unfortunate demise of Ilya Samsonov between the pipes, they have received incredible play from Jones, who has produced some of the better goaltending numbers across the league in the last month. Making his initial debut with the Maple Leafs on December 7th, Jones has produced a 7-3-0 record in his last 11 games, carrying a .932 save percentage in the process.
Maple Leafs Sign William Nylander To Eight-Year Extension
10:51 a.m.: Toronto has made the eight-year length and $92MM total value of the contract official, per a team release. Daily Faceoff’s Frank Seravalli reports that approximately $69MM of the deal will be paid out in signing bonuses.
9:00 a.m.: The Maple Leafs have officially completed talks on an eight-year, $11.5MM average annual value extension, Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reports Monday morning. The contract will carry a full no-movement clause in all eight seasons, running from 2024-25 to 2031-32. TSN’s Chris Johnston was the first to report the NMC inclusion earlier Monday.
Nylander, 27, is now the recipient of the largest total value contract in the Maple Leafs’ 100-plus-year history at $92MM. He will be 36 years old when his mega-deal expires in 2032, making him eligible for unrestricted free agency for the first time in his career as his prime years are assumedly winding down.
This is a landmark deal for a player who’s emerged as undoubtedly their second-most important forward this season. While superstar first-line center Auston Matthews has stolen the show with his 30 goals in just 36 games, Nylander has broken the bank in terms of points. His 21 goals and 33 assists give him 54 points on the year in 37 games, putting him on pace for 120 – shattering last season’s career-high mark of 87.
Nylander’s been viewed as a bona fide top-six winger since he finished sixth place in Calder Trophy voting in 2016-17. However, there have always been external questions surrounding the compete and consistency level of the 2014 eighth-overall pick. Most of those have been quieted in the past 12 months, with Nylander continuing to provide excellent postseason play (despite Toronto’s abbreviated playoff runs), adding in excellent possession metrics and now proving himself as a yearly threat for 40-plus goals.
The leading thought among public opinion will likely be that new GM Brad Treliving shoehorned himself by not signing Nylander to a deal last summer when discussions were reportedly in the $9MM-$10MM AAV range. However, Friedman countered that on this morning’s edition of the 32 Thoughts podcast. He believes that Nylander’s camp has been holding steadfast to a higher number since negotiations began last July, and while he couldn’t confirm that an $11.5MM AAV on an eight-year deal was Nylander’s initial ask, it was close enough to get the deal done once the Leafs arrived at that number.
It’s unlikely the Leafs were comfortable with a $1.5MM jump in value per season based on a 30-game hot streak. Advanced metrics show this run of play from Nylander could very well be sustainable over the first few seasons of the deal, however, making the team’s third $11M+ cap hit on the books next season easier to swallow.
For one, he’s shooting the puck more – likely due to an uptick in ice time this season of around a minute and a half. He’s now shown he’s able to weather more than 20 minutes per game on a routine basis, something the Leafs will rely on him to do as their bevy of high-paying contracts restricts their ability to add depth on offense. Thus, despite his career-high 47-goal pace, Nylander is shooting at a percentage right around his career average (12.9% this season compared to his 12.3% average), and at a shooting percentage lower than three out of the last four seasons. His possession numbers remain quite strong, too, including a 53.4% Corsi share and a 4% relative Corsi share at even strength this year. Put simply, his play this season warrants the box-score numbers he’s produced.
That makes it an incredibly difficult decision to consider parting with Nylander, who’s developed into a core player for Toronto in every sense of the word. He’ll have spent a decade already in the organization next summer, and he’s managed to withstand, at times, a great deal of public criticism from local media and respond with an 18-month span that’s solidified him as a top-five right wing in the league. By keeping him around long-term, the Maple Leafs will get to reap the rewards of their patience.
Whether or not the team’s current construction under the salary cap can lead to a Stanley Cup win is the most pressing question, though, a cry that will become louder with now over 50% of next season’s salary cap devoted to Nylander, Matthews, Mitch Marner and captain John Tavares. In hindsight, that may be a more important metric in assessing this deal’s value rather than Nylander’s individual production over the next eight seasons.
For now, Nylander will be one of the six highest-paid players in the league next season in terms of AAV behind Matthews ($13.25MM), Avalanche center Nathan MacKinnon ($12.6MM), Oilers superstar Connor McDavid ($12.5MM), Rangers winger Artemi Panarin ($11.64MM), and Penguins blueliner Erik Karlsson ($11.5MM). It’s quite lofty company for Nylander at the beginning of the contract, but his cap hit’s place in those standings will continuously drop as more eight-figure deals get inked with the impending sharp rise of the salary cap’s Upper Limit.
In signing this deal, the Maple Leafs also take the top pending unrestricted free agent of the 2024 class off the board. That title now goes to a group of first-line talents in the Eastern Conference – Penguins first-line mainstay Jake Guentzel, Lightning captain Steven Stamkos, and, amidst a breakout season on pace for 59 goals and 105 points, Panthers winger Sam Reinhart.
Nylander’s full no-movement clause will protect him from any trades, waiver placements, or future expansion drafts over the life of the deal unless he consents. It does not, however, prohibit Toronto from buying out his contract if the last seasons of the deal age poorly.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports.
Maple Leafs Closing In On William Nylander Extension
Jan. 8: Nylander and the Maple Leafs are indeed closing in on an eight-year, $92MM total value extension, TSN’s Darren Dreger corroborates Monday morning. There is still “some work getting done” on the deal, however, and it’s unclear whether it will become official today. Chris Johnston of TSN and The Athletic expects the deal to contain full no-movement protection and “favorable bonus structuring.”
Jan. 6: The Maple Leafs could announce an extension for star winger William Nylander after returning from their California road trip, potentially on Monday, Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman said on tonight’s Hockey Night in Canada broadcast. Per Friedman, it’s likely to be an eight-year deal carrying a stratospheric AAV of $11.5MM.
That price tag is roughly $2.5MM higher than what new Toronto GM Brad Treliving offered in the early stages of negotiations last summer. Nylander’s 43-goal, 116-point pace through 36 games has eliminated the possibility of a seven-figure cap hit, however, solidifying him as the best pending free agent available in the 2024 class.
It’s also a significant increase on the $10MM-per-season deal Nylander reportedly requested before this season began. Throughout his torrid start to the campaign, which included a franchise-record 17-game point streak, the reported cap hit on an extension began to steadily climb. With that ascent now seemingly arriving at the $11.5MM mark, Treliving won’t wait any longer to put pen to paper and keep his team’s current points leader in the organization long-term.
That contract would tie Nylander for the fifth-highest cap hit in the league beginning next season with Penguins defenseman Erik Karlsson, who they have at a reduced price of $10MM through the retained salary trade that brought him there from the Sharks last summer. It also leaves Toronto with two of the top five most lucrative contracts in the league beginning in 2024 – star center Auston Matthews’ $13.25MM AAV extension will give him the highest cap hit in the league.
His performance this season seems like the real deal, and advanced metrics suggest this similar rate of production should be sustainable for a number of years as he plays out his prime. Despite his career-high goal-scoring pace, his 12% shooting percentage this season is actually less than his 12.3% career average. His two-way game has never been better, either – he’s on pace for an expected rating of +24.6, which would shatter his career-high of +18.9 set last season.
So, in a vacuum, it may be difficult to criticize the price tag given his market value as a pending UFA. However, that cap hit works out to a combined $46.6MM in spending wrapped up in Matthews, Nylander, Mitch Marner, and John Tavares next season – over 53% of the $87.5MM salary cap in 2024-25 spent on four forwards. That doesn’t include Morgan Rielly and his $7.5MM cap hit, which works out to nearly 62% of the salary cap spent on five players. With the current LTIR relief of John Klingberg, Matt Murray and Jake Muzzin all coming off the books next summer, it’ll be an extremely tight one-year squeeze until Marner’s and Tavares’ deals expire in 2025.
Assuming both Marner and Tavares stay with Toronto, the former likely won’t command a significant raise on his current $10.9MM cap hit. However, Tavares’ $11MM cap hit will likely see a multi-million dollar reduction, freeing up a notable amount of money for Treliving as the salary cap jumps to an expected value of $92MM in 2025-26.
Nylander will be 28 years old when the deal begins, and if it’s signed as reported, he’ll be 35 years old in the last season of the deal in 2031-32. Avoiding a long-term commitment to Nylander into his late 30s should help Toronto avoid some serious devaluation of the contract in the final few seasons, but even with a rising salary cap, it’s fair to expect the contract to age poorly in its seventh and eighth seasons as is the case with most long-term deals signed near the beginning of a player’s UFA eligibility.
Nonetheless, it expects to be another landmark signing for a team that’s had quite a few of them in the last decade. The ultimate question – whether or not this core can lead them to a Stanley Cup – of course remains to be seen. With Nylander posting a point per game over his last three playoff runs, however, there’s little doubt about his individual ability to perform in mid-April and beyond.
Maple Leafs Prospect Braeden Kressler Traded In OHL
- 21-year-old Maple Leafs center prospect Braeden Kressler is on the move in the OHL, heading from the Flint Firebirds to the Ottawa 67’s to close out his overage season. Kressler was not picked up in the 2021 NHL Draft after the OHL suspended operations that season due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but he earned a training camp invite with Toronto later that summer which resulted in an entry-level contract. Kressler had a disappointing post-draft season marred by injury with just 16 points in 28 games during the 2021-22 campaign, but he’s since rebounded to put up over a point per game in Flint since the beginning of last season while serving as an alternate captain. Thus far in 2023-24, Kressler has 15 goals and 37 points in 33 games, good enough to tie for the Firebirds’ lead in scoring.