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Reilly Smith Gamble Could Pay Off For Golden Knights

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Usually when you hear of a team giving up a prospect of young player, there is a reason behind it, often another bloated contract of a veteran who is making too much money on the decline of his career. Yet, for the Vegas Golden Knights, the team was able to make a deal with the Florida Panthers in which they got 26-year-old Jon Marchessault, a 30-goal scorer last year. The cost? Not a bloated contract of a 30-something player, but the contract of 26-year-old Reilly Smith, who himself is only a year from putting up 25 goals.

Smith is a former third-rounder who has flashed a ton of potential, but has failed to be consistent throughout his career. After putting up a great season in 2015-16, which included 25 goals and 25 assists and being the team’s top scorer that year in the playoffs, Smith was rewarded with a five year, $25MM extension just last year. Unfortunately, he only scored 15 goals last year and struggled just the like the team did. When the Panthers new administration came in, Smith was no longer in their plans and getting rid of his new contract to open up cap space to focus on more important players became a priority.

However, Smith could easily prove to be more than just a throw-in player. At 26 years old, Smith has plenty of more hockey left and he returns to his old coach, Gerard Gallant, who coached him during his 25-goal season. Now on an expansion team, Smith could easily pick up big minutes with few veterans on the team and the possibility that any of those veterans could be traded at any minute.

If Smith could return to form with Gallant’s help and put up a 50-point season like he did two years ago or in 2013-14, he could become a key piece to the team’s offense for years or, more likely, become a quality trade candidate in the future. If Smith can put up big numbers again this year, he could be moved much easier in a year or two when he has just three or four years remaining on his contract.

Could Tampa Bay Package Johnson, Palat For Tavares?

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Don’t be surprised if the Tampa Bay Lightning attempt to flip their recently signed restricted free agents within the next year. At least that’s what the New York Post’s Larry Brooks believes will happen. He writes the long-term signings of Tyler Johnson and Ondrej Palat are likely going to be part of a package the Lightning will eventually make for New York Islanders’ John Tavares at some point next season if the Islanders can’t sign him.

While the Islanders have said they are not trading the veteran, there is growing concern that the 26-year-old is not happy with the franchise and might be ready to move on. The Islanders’ center is coming off a 28-goal season last year with 38 assists for 66 points. While the Islanders should get credit for doing everything they can to keep one of their stars after losing former star Kyle Okposo to Buffalo for nothing, Brooks believes they will be sellers near the trade deadline to avoid another major loss. He compares the situation to Tampa Bay’s worries about losing Steven Stamkos a year ago. In that situation, the Lightning were able to lock up their star to an eight-year deal, but this isn’t the same. The Lightning were a successful franchise and were loaded with talent. That’s not really the case with the Islanders. With stadium issues and a team that has struggled off and on, it wouldn’t be surprising if Tavares was looking at better options.

The undrafted Johnson has shown quite a bit of promise over the years although his numbers have dropped in the last couple of years. The 26-year-old center put up a 29-goal season two years ago, but finished this year with 19 goals and 26 assists in 66 games. Johnson’s seven-year, $35MM deal ($5MM AAV) could keep him in New York for a long time. Palat has quite a bit of similarities to Johnson as he is 26 as well and was not expected to be a top prospect as he was just a seventh-round pick in 2011. The left wing also started strong and has taken a step back from there, putting up 23 goals in his first full season with the Lightning. He still put up solid numbers last year, scoring 17 goals and 35 assists for 52 points. His five-year, $26.5MM deal is worth $5.3MM annually.

Although Tampa Bay might even have to offer more to get a player like Tavares, the deal would also work because both Johnson and Palat have no trade clauses that will kick in next July, so if the plan may be to package them for a star player, this next year will be their best opportunity to make a deal like that happen. On top of that, moving the two of them for Tavares could be a wash, salary-wise as the Islanders star could be asking for a contract in the $10MM range next year.

Brandon Pirri Signs With Swiss Team

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Two days after former New York Rangers’ Kevin Klein signed with the ZSC Lions in Switzerland, another former Ranger has agreed to sign with the Swiss club as well. According to the Swiss Hockey News, forward Brandon Pirri has signed with the club as well, although terms have not been announced.

Pirri, who did not receive a qualifying offer from the Rangers, has bounced around from one NHL team to the next. He has played for four teams over the last four years and while he’s considered to be a highly-skilled goal scorer, has struggled to accomplish that feat at the NHL level. He did score 22 goals in the 2014-15 season with the Florida Panthers, but followed that up with an 11-goal season the following year and was eventually traded to Anaheim for a six.

The Ducks chose not to extend him a qualifying offer and Pirri then signed with the Rangers a year ago. He played in 60 games last year, putting up eight goals and 10 assists.

 

How Much Should Jack Eichel Get?

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Many publications discuss Connor McDavid and Jack Eichel in the same sentence. That’s because the two have been linked together for years as they went No. 1 and No. 2 overall in the 2015 draft. They both were considered franchise changing centers and neither has disappointed. However four days into the offseason, the Edmonton Oilers locked up their franchise center, agreeing to an eight-year, $100MM contract, giving him an AAV of $12.5MM. Is Eichel next and how much will he command?

While both players have been talked about together and both have performed admirally, McDavid’s exorbitant contact makes sense. The two-year veteran has scored 46 goals and 102 assists in that span and he actually missed almost half of his rookie season. His 100-point season is a rarity in hockey, but it was a season that captured him the Hart Memorial Trophy as the MVP of the league, the Art Ross Trophy for having the most points in a season, the Ted Lindsay Award, voted on by players and given to the most outstanding player during the regular season. He made his first all-star appearance and was named to the NHL First All-Star Team all in this past year. And at age 20, there is plenty of optimism that he could take his game to new levels.

After awarding that contract to McDavid, Eichel’s turn to sign on the dotted line should be approaching. The question is what is he going to ask for. The 20-year-old, who was the second-overall pick in 2015, might be a nudge ahead of McDavid on goals scored with 48, but Eichel has also played 15 more games than McDavid. Eichel has put up great numbers, scoring 24 goals in both his first two seasons, but his playmaking skills haven’t been as impressive as McDavid. He finished with 56 points in his rookie season and 57 points in his sophomore campaign, although he played 20 games less this past year. He could be holding out for a bigger contract, assuming he will have a breakout year that might garner a similar contract to McDavids.

However, it’s unlikely Eichel will ever garner a contract in the same realm as McDavid. So far, he has proven to be a solid 25-goal scorer and while those numbers could improve quite a bit, he’s hardly accomplished anything that compares to McDavid. His numbers would suggest something in the range of $7MM to $10MM if he holds out to the last moment, but hopefully the young center will not hold out for McDavid money. Buffalo continues to negotiate, but it far more likely that an extension is still a year away.

What do you think he deserves?

Canadiens Likely To Part Ways With Markov

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Andrei Markov is, without a doubt, the best defensive free agent still on the market. Just recently, PHR’s Brian La Rose profiled the veteran free agent. He is coming off another productive season with the Montreal Canadiens, putting up six goals and 36 assists in 62 games this past season, but has been at an impasse with the Canadiens after the 38-year-old blueliner has demanded a two-year deal. Two weeks ago, the Canadiens made it quite clear that they had made their final offers to both Markov and Alexander Radulov, who not long after opted to sign with Dallas. That just leaves Markov.

According to Stu Cowan of the Montreal Gazette, the longer the process takes, the less likely that Markov will return to Montreal. In fact, the scribe says that would be the norm for long-time Canadiens as very few of them have finished their careers in Montreal. The last Canadiens’ captain to finish their career in Montreal was Bob Gainey in 1989. He cites that Markov is currently tied for second on the Canadiens’ list for all-time points as a defenseman with Guy Lapointe with 572 career points. Only Larry Robinson is ahead of him with an unreachable 833 points. However, in both their cases, neither finished their careers in Montreal. LaPointe played for both St. Louis and Boston, while Robinson ended his career in Los Angeles.

Cowan spoke to former NHL player Sergei Berezin, who is Markov’s offseason trainer, who says that even though Markov got married recently, he only took four days off and went back to work training. The veteran hopes to play longer than two years, but his asking price is too much and while his numbers remain good, his numbers have been in decline over the last few years. Only two years ago, he put up 50 points, only to see those numbers decline each year.

Markov who is representing himself in negotiations, is asking for $6MM per year for two more seasons. According to CapFriendly, the Canadiens have more than $9MM in cap space remaining and could use some defensive depth after losing Alexei Emelin and Nathan Beaulieu this offseason and Markov says he would like to remain in Montreal. But, Cowan says that Markov’s time may be up unless Markov drops some of his demands.

Atlantic Notes: Johnson, Tatar

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Will the length of Tyler Johnson’s contract come back to haunt the Bolts? The Hockey News’ Ken Campbell writes that while he’s only 26 and the numbers were below his value, Johnson may very well already be in decline. Though his numbers were would have been similar had they gone to arbitration, Campbell wonders if Johnson will put up the numbers that got him the deal. Should he get 55-60 points per season, Campbell believes it to be worth the money, calling it a steal. But if his regression continues? He just hopes for general manager Steve Yzerman’s sake that the Jonathan Drouin deal doesn’t come back to haunt him, either.

It’s no secret that Johnson has struggled to stay healthy. His numbers have fallen steadily since his career year in 2014-15 where he put up 72 points. His playoff numbers in consecutive seasons were also impressive, and most likely what secured him the contract. Campbell also believes that Johnson is dependent upon his linemates, and in spite of averaging 53 points in his first four seasons, there’s a lot riding on it for him, and the Lightning.

  • There’s more interesting takes coming out of Detroit regarding Tomas Tatar. The curious case of his negotiations began with him saying if he only gets a year, he’s done in Detroit. General manager Ken Holland all but shrugged it off, which led many to wonder just how motivated the Red Wings were to getting a long term deal done. The Detroit Free Press’ Helene St. James reports that the Red Wings are wary of giving Tatar a seven-year deal. This is somewhat understandable in the cap era with the exception of one point–Holland has been more than happy to offer long term deals to players who haven’t exactly produced to warrant them–with Justin Abdelkader being the best example. So with Tatar, it’s curious. The Detroit News’ Gregg Krupa goes a step further, writing that it’s essentially “cap malpractice” if Detroit isn’t paying him because they’re too bloated from other contracts. St. James adds that Tatar hasn’t produced like T.J. Oshie, or Tyler Johnson, but to be fair, Tatar hasn’t been surrounded with the talent the aforementioned have. Further, as Krupa points out, that if a deal isn’t worked out, it’s more evidence of roster mismanagement. Once the model franchise of the NHL, the Red Wings decision making continues to baffle. The team isn’t much improved from last season, they’re strapped financially, and they’re fighting with their leading scorer on a deal. It will be interesting to see how ownership reacts should the Red Wings struggle out of the gate, especially with Holland making it a priority to make the playoffs.

Snapshots: Sabres, Jagr

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News and notes from around the NHL this evening:

  • New Buffalo Sabres GM Jason Botterill spoke to media following the conclusion of the Sabres’ development camp, and says the team is still looking for UFAs, reports Jourdon LaBarber of NHL.com. Botterill says that the team weighs whether to add a player via free agency, or wait and see if something materializes trade-wise. Botterill’s position represents every GM’s quandary in the off-season as no GM wants to miss out on a trade opportunity after filling a need with a higher-priced UFA. But at the same time, no GM wants to be waiting so long that they paint themselves in a corner and their options dwindle to nothing.
  • Staying with the Sabres, the team’s top priorities right now, according to LaBarber, are signing its RFAs. Robin Lehner remains the team’s most important RFA available, and as of now has an arbitration date for July 27, 2017. Most—if not all—players come to deals before the actual arbitration hearings, so expect both parties to agree to terms before then.
  • The ECHL Florida Everblades extended a roster spot offer to legendary NHL veteran Jaromir Jagr. While this was done mainly for publicity reasons and slightly tongue-in-cheek, the team does offer a variety of enticing benefits for Jagr. The team would allow Jagr to play only Friday and Saturday home games, the #68 jersey, the potential to see an alligator in the pond next to the arena, and a sleeper bus stocked with Diet Coke and muffins.

Vegas Still Has To Deal Multiple Defensemen

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The Vegas Golden Knights still have a lot of work left for them as the offseason continues. The team was heavily commended for focusing on drafting defense in the expansion draft several weeks ago and from there flipping those players for picks as Golden Knights general manager George McPhee has stated numerous times that they are building for the next five years. The team has stockpiled a large number of draft picks since then and still have a number of players to trade, whether that will be now or at the trade deadline next season.

However, they seem to have one issue that they must address before the season starts. Despite trading a bunch of defenseman for picks, the team still has a surplus of defensemen on its roster and the market is beginning to dry up. The team has already traded Trevor van Riemsdyk to Carolina, David Schlemko to Montreal and Marc Methot to Dallas for picks. Just last week, the team moved Alexei Emelin to Nashville, but they had to retain $1.1MM of his salary in order to make the deal work.

The team currently has 11 defensemen with NHL experience on its roster, which is about four or five defensemen too many. The team has made it clear that it doesn’t want to trade its young defensemen, so it’s the veterans they want to trade. The last thing the Golden Knights want to do is be forced to play veterans like Jason Garrison, Clayton Stoner and Luca Sbisa over their younger, but more than ready defensemen. The problem is that Garrison, Stoner and Sbisi are struggling players on expensive contracts. While all three players have only one year on their contracts remaining, Garrison will get $4.6MM, Stoner receives $3.25MM and Sbisi will make $3.6MM next season.

Garrison, 32, has lost a step and found himself being demoted to the bottom of the Tampa Bay Lightning’s depth chart. His salary forced Tampa Bay to offer Vegas two draft picks and Russian prospect Nikita Gusev to take him in the expansion draft. Stoner has dealt with numerous injuries in the last few years and Anaheim had to offer Shea Theodore to make Vegas take Stoner, but after playing just 14 games for the Ducks last year and a declining game, who would want him and that salary? Sbisi is just 27, but he struggled with Vancouver and with his salary may not have much trade value either, but he might be their best hope to make a deal.

The point, of course, is that Vegas will want to play their young defensemen like Theodore, Nate Schmidt, Colin Miller, Brayden McNabb, Jonathon Merrill and maybe even Griffin Reinhart. So, the team must do something to avoid the logjam. There are other options as well. Like Emelin, they could retain some of these players’ salaries in hopes a team would take some of them off their hands. They could wait till training camp and watch for teams that still have holes or suffer injuries that need filling. Another option would be to buy them out or even just sit them in favor of their younger players. However, one would hope Vegas has a plan in place.

NHL Snapshots: Jankowski, Chelios, Pastrnak, Dostie, Hintz

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The Buffalo Sabres continue to do some management restructuring today, announcing the hiring of Ryan Jankowski to be the new director of amateur scouting. The team is also promoting Scott Crisp to be the assistant director of amateur scouting. Jankowski, who spent the last four years with Hockey Canada and served as the director of amateur of scouting there, now comes to join Jason Botterill and his new staff. He was responsible for selecting and evaluating players for Canada’s national junior team as well as under-18 and under-17 programs. He has also previously worked as a scout for the Montreal Canadiens and an assistant general manager for the New York Islanders, and had a hand in drafting current Sabres’ Kyle Okposo. Crisp, the team’s former head scout, has been scouting for 17 years, including the Calgary Flames and the Anaheim Ducks.

  • About a month ago, PHR reported that Chris Chelios was leaving the Detroit Red Wings organization. The part-time assistant coach was reportedly trying to gain a position with the NHL Players’ Association. However, Chelios might not be as gone as some think. According to NBC Sports’ Cam Tucker, Chelios was recently seen at the Red Wings development camp and is still listed as an assistant coach on the team’s website. HockeyBuzz’s Bob Duff interviewed him and Chelios says he just took a leave of absence to explore a possible job with the NHLPA, but had always intended to return to the Red Wings if that didn’t come through. However, there is no indication that he did or didn’t get a position with the NHLPA yet.
  • WEEI’s Ty Anderson tweets that Boston Bruins general manager Don Sweeney said today the team has made no progress on a new contract for restricted free agent David Pastrnak. The 21-year-old first-round pick in 2014 had a breakout season last year, putting up 34 goals and 70 points. The Bruins tweeted they are negotiating with several teams about trades and haven’t closed the doors on unrestricted free agent Drew Stafford.
  • The Anaheim Ducks signed 2016 fourth-round pick Alex Dostie to a three-year entry-level contract, according to Sportsnet. The 20-year-old center spent the year playing for three teams, including the Gatineau Olympiques and the Charlottetown Islanders of the QMJHL, where he combined to put up 30 goals and 41 assists between the two teams. He also played one playoff game for the AHL’s San Diego Gulls without registering a point.
  • The Dallas Stars tweeted that 2015 second-rounder Roope Hintz will likely come over to the United States to play hockey this season after a breakout year for HIFK Helsinki team in Finland. The 20-year-old scored 19 goals and 11 assists in 44 games last year.

Florida Panthers To Give Tippett Every Chance To Make Team

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Since taking back control of the Florida Panthers franchise in April, general manager Dale Tallon has been busy reshaping his roster this offseason after the team failed to make the playoffs this past year. He unloaded young wing Reilly Smith and his large contract to Vegas along with soon-to-be unrestricted free agent Jon Marchessault to remove future cap problems that likely would have arisen. He handed out a one-year deal to free agent scorer Radim Vrbata to make up for some of that goal scoring and brought back former Panther Evgeni Dadonov from the KHL on a reasonable three-year deal. He also re-signed penalty killing defenseman Mark Pysyk to a three-year deal. However, his focus has been on building a team around its youthful core, including Jonathan Huberdeau, Aleksander Barkov, Vincent Trocheck, Nick Bjugstad and defenseman Aaron Ekblad, all who are 24 years of age or under and already locked up long-term. However, the Panthers might be ready to add another name to that list.

The Panthers seem ready to give their 2017 first-rounder Owen Tippett every chance to join their young team immediately, according to NBC Sports Adam Gretz. After an impressive showing at their development camp, Tallon was quick to point out that Tippett will be given every opportunity to make the squad this year.

“He’s going to get every opportunity,” said Tallon (via the Panthers). “I don’t have any problem and [head coach Bob Boughner] and our coaching staff don’t have any issues playing young guys. We’re building a team that’s going to be around for a long time and we’ll give him every opportunity to play this year.”

Tippett, who is a pure scorer, would fill a major need as many of their top players are playmakers rather than goal producers. The 18-year-old is coming off a season in which he scored 44 goals for Mississaugua Steelheads in the OHL last year. He was ranked as the seventh-best North American skater by NHL.com.

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