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Snapshots: Iginla, Kirk, Greco

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The Calgary Flames announced today that Jarome Iginla will officially retire from professional hockey on Monday, though he hasn’t been an active player for a full season. Iginla, 41, did attend some AHL practices this past season and was a potential candidate for the Canadian Olympic team, but failed to actually play in any games. Monday will mark the end of a more than two decade long playing career that is sure to put him into the Hall of Fame without much delay.

Iginla ended up with 1,554 career regular season games in which he scored exactly 1,300 points. He never did raise the Stanley Cup—though Flames fans will still tell you how they deserved to win in 2004—but will still go down as one of the game’s all-time power forwards. With 625 career goals he ranks 15th on the career leaderboard, tied with Olympic teammate Joe Sakic. Iginla did win two gold medals at that tournament, and was the player who sent an incredible pass to Sidney Crosby for the “Golden Goal” in Vancouver in 2010. We’ll have more on Iginla’s retirement when it becomes official on Monday.

  • Liam Kirk, the first English born and trained player to ever be drafted into the NHL, has signed on to play with the Peterborough Petes of the OHL this season. Kirk was selected 189th overall by the Arizona Coyotes in June, and will have to compete at a brand new level next season. Playing for the Sheffield Steelers last season in the EIHL, Kirk recorded just 16 points in 52 games. He’ll be asked to do more than that this season for the Petes, but will have the luxury of playing against players his own age.
  • The New York Islanders have struggled for quite some time to find above-average starting goaltending, and they’ll try a different approach this season. The team has hired Piero Greco to replace Fred Brathwaite as their goaltending coach, taking him from the Toronto Maple Leafs organization where he has worked with their minor league affiliate for the past few seasons. Greco is credited for developing Maple Leafs goaltender Garret Sparks from a seventh-round afterthought into the AHL Goaltender of the Year, and will now try to turn around the careers of Robin Lehner and Thomas Greiss. Both goaltenders have shown high-level ability in the NHL, but will find some consistency if the Islanders are to compete in the Metropolitan Division this season.

Jakub Chychrun Is Expected To Resume Skating Next Week

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While it was expected that the Canucks would make a quick decision on whether or not to turn top draft pick Quinn Hughes pro next season, it appears that the team hasn’t decided whether that’s the best move for him just yet.  In an interview with TSN 1040 (audio link), GM Jim Benning stated that he remains in conversations with Hughes’ family advisor in an effort to determine what’s best for his long-term development.  He also acknowledged the current logjam on their back end but indicated that if he was to attend training camp and play well enough to earn a roster spot that they would make a move to make room for him.  For him to attend camp, he’d have to be signed to an entry-level deal which would put an end to his NCAA eligibility although he would be able to play in the AHL.

More from the Pacific:

  • The Canucks have only one restricted free agent remaining in winger Jake Virtanen. From the same interview, Benning mentioned that the team remains in discussions with his agent Kevin Epp and classifies the talks as “going good”.  Given Virtanen’s inconsistency over the past couple of seasons, it’s likely that Vancouver will be pushing for him to sign a short-term contract.  The 21-year-old had ten goals and ten assists in 75 games last season.  He had a qualifying offer of roughly $875K but that expired back on July 15th.
  • Coyotes defenseman Jakob Chychrun is expected to resume skating next week as he continues to recover from offseason knee surgery notes Arizona Sports’ Craig Morgan. The team remains hopeful that he’ll be ready for training camp and if he does so and plays well early on next season, Morgan believes the team may look to get an early extension done rather than wait for him to his restricted free agency next summer.

Arizona Coyotes Hire Lindsay Hofford As Assistant General Manager

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The Arizona Coyotes have hired Lindsay Hofford as their new Assistant General Manager and Director of Scouting, ending his tenure as an amateur scout with the Toronto Maple Leafs. Hofford has been a well-known name in the CHL for many years in various roles, developing waves of talent that have gone on to the professional ranks. Coyotes GM John Chayka released a statement following the hiring:

I believe the most important part of my role is to recruit talented people. Lindsay is a best in class talent evaluator that will be an asset to our entire organization and complement the existing infrastructure we have in place.

As the press release explains, a huge number of NHL players have worked with Hofford in the past during his time with the London Knights and Lethbridge Hurricanes, and he should have a huge impact on the Coyotes development system going forward. The team already had a positive tilt towards OHL players in the draft, most recently exemplified by their selection of Barrett Hayton with the 2018 fifth-overall pick, and will now gain even more insight into the league.

It’s obvious that Chayka is willing to look outside the normal group of NHL front office executives for his team, and it seems necessary when building a team without the resources that some of his competitors wave about. The Coyotes have slowly built a solid prospect core that should be maturing in the next few seasons, and could be a wildcard for the playoffs as soon as this season. Hofford will be tasked with continuing to build that pipeline and supply Arizona with talented young players who they can take advantage of in the NHL before they become too expensive.

The Contract Each Team Would Most Like To Trade: Part I

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Nearly every team has one of those players: a top talent they were excited to sign and never thought could do anything but help them. In hindsight, history shows that more often than not, expensive, long-term free agent contracts don’t work out. It may look good at first (or it may look bad right away to the outside observer), but players struggle to make their value last throughout a lengthy contract. Those contracts come back to bite teams and are hard to get rid of. As teams begin to finalize their rosters at this point in the off-season, many are struggling to make everyone fit under the salary cap and are regretting these past signings that exasperate a cap crunch that can be tough for even a mistake-free club. Here are the contracts that each team would most like to trade, from Anaheim to Dallas:

Anaheim Ducks: Corey Perry – three years, $25.875MM remaining

Corey Perry is no doubt a fan favorite in Anaheim. The big winger is a career Duck who has always played with an edge and a knack for finding the back of the net. However, the former 50-goal scorer has just 19 and 17 in the past two years respectively to the tune of $8.625MM per year. His lack of speed is apparent to even the most inexperienced hockey fan and he has drawn criticism from both GM Bob Murray and coach Randy Carlyle for the drop-off in his skating ability and production. The Ducks aren’t quite up against the salary cap just yet, but have three restricted free agents still unsigned and some big decisions on the horizon. Things are about to get tight in Anaheim and, as much as Ducks fans may not want to hear it, trading Perry away in the right deal would be the easiest solution.

Arizona Coyotes: None

The Coyotes trade for bad contracts, as the perennial salary cap floor dwellers rarely sign or acquire an expensive, long-term deal with an actual asset who may not be worth it.

Boston Bruins: David Backes – three years, $18MM remaining

On July 1st, 2016, it was leaked that Boston would sign David Backes to a one-year, $6MM contract and the Bruins were praised for bringing the veteran forward in as a hired gun. That celebration was short-lived, as the report was soon corrected to being a five-year deal with the same yearly salary and many questioned adding a 32-year-old with 727 games to his credit on a contract of that length and value. Two years later, the doubters have been proven right for the most part. Backes has not been bad in Boston (71 points in 131 games) and injuries have certainly affected his game, but it appears that his 50-point upside and Selke-caliber high-energy play are a thing of the past. Backes doesn’t have a defined role with the Bruins going forward and, as a team that doesn’t need the extra leadership and locker room presence and does need as much cap space as it can get, Boston would be better off if Backes were elsewhere.

Buffalo Sabres: Zach Bogosian – two years, $10.286MM remaining

The Sabres are finally trending in the right direction and have even used other teams’ bad salary cap situations to bring in some nice players this off-season. Buffalo themselves are in fine shape with the cap. However, there is still one contract that is bringing them down and that is Zach Bogosian. If Bogosian was fully healthy, his cap hit of just over $5.1MM would not be too bad. The 28-year-old defenseman has been a very capable two-way player in his career. Unfortunately, he just hasn’t been healthy enough during his time in Buffalo to be worth that salary. Bogosian played in only 18 games last year due to injury – and when he did play it showed that he wasn’t 100% – and has never topped 64 games in a season with the Sabres. The team has several young defenseman that could use as much ice time as possible and a beat up Bogosian isn’t helping anyone in Buffalo. Chances are the Sabres could still get a good return for the rearguard if he does show signs of being back at full-strength.

Calgary Flames: Troy Brouwer – two years, $9MM remaining

Calgary is in a really difficult salary cap situation with little space as is and five restricted free agent situations still to sort out. The team simply can afford to be paying Brouwer $4.5MM in each of the next two years for what he brings to the table. Many were skeptical of the Brouwer contract when signed and they were correct. The veteran power forward has only 25 and 22 points respectively in his first two years in Calgary, including just six goals last season, and at 32 years old he is unlikely to improve. Brouwer has even lost some of his trademark physical edge and recorded a career-low average time on ice last season when he was simply a non-factor in most games. With multiple players filing for salary arbitration, the Flames have been awarded an extra buyout period and it would not come as a shock to see Brouwer fall victim to it.

Carolina Hurricanes: Scott Darling – three years, $12.45MM remaining

The argument here is not that the Hurricanes should trade Darling because they need the cap space but that they should trade Darling because they need a better starting goaltender. Carolina is in fine salary cap shape, but so long as Darling is making more than $4MM per year, the team is likely to stick with him as the top guy. They have already committed to giving him another chance as the starter next season. Unfortunately, Darling’s first season in Raleigh hardly convinced anyone that this contract would work out. Moving from backup to starter, Darling seemed to crumble under the pressure even behind a stout defense, posting an .888 save percentage and 3.18 GAA as one of the worst keepers in the NHL. Perhaps his play will improve in year two, but the Hurricanes can’t be happy with the early results.

Chicago Blackhawks: Brent Seabrook – six years, $41.25MM remaining

When the Blackhawks made Patrick Kane and Jonathan Toews the highest paid players in the league back in 2014, who would have figured that a different contract would be causing the team problems? Brent Seabrook’s eight-year, $55MM extension is already a nightmare for Chicago with the bulk of the contract still to come. Seabrook is a fine defenseman, but that doesn’t cut it when you’re paid like one of the top defenseman in the league, but your play is slipping and your team is finishing last in the division. This past season especially, it was clear that Seabrook has lost a step. Both his scoring and checking have diminished and he no longer resembles the player who was regularly posting 40+ points and garnering Norris Trophy votes. Seabrook will turn 34 later this season and it seems guaranteed that this contract only gets worse unless the team finds some way to trade him.

Colorado Avalanche: Erik Johnson – five years, $30MM remaining

The Avalanche have one of the lowest payrolls in the league with superstar Nathan MacKinnon locked up long-term at a reasonable rate. Their distance from the cap ceiling this season makes egregious contracts with just one year remaining – like streaky starter Semyon Varlamov and invisible forward Colin Wilson – somewhat tolerable. However, several major contributors are set to be restricted free agents after next season, Colorado will need to add another goaltender, and could still stand to add another difference-maker up front. Things could get tighter for the Avs moving forward and the one contract that could become a problem is Erik Johnson. Johnson eats up minutes and plays a defensively sound game, but the veteran defenseman is injury prone and does not create enough offense to warrant a $6MM cap hit. If the Avalanche were offered a reasonable deal for Johnson today they may not take it, but this time next year that same deal will be far more attractive.

Columbus Blue Jackets: Brandon Dubinsky – three years, $17.55MM remaining

The Blue Jackets pay Brandon Dubinsky like a second-line center and last season got fourth-line production from the veteran. Yes, Dubinsky has had his fair share of injuries, but a consistent 40+ point scorer dropping to just 16 points on the year was alarming. Columbus is no longer a small market team still figuring things out; the Jackets are a contender and like most contenders are close to the salary cap limit. The team can’t afford to have Dubinsky continuing to produce at this level while costing them $5.85MM against the cap. They hope that he bounces back this year, but even a slow start could have Columbus taking their best offer.

Dallas Stars: Martin Hanzal – two years, $9.5MM remaining

It may be too early to judge last summer’s Martin Hanzal contract, but if Dallas was offered a re-do right now, they would take it. Hanzal’s first season with the Stars was a disaster. Injuries limited him to just 38 games and even when active he contributed only ten points –  a 22-point pace over a full season – and somehow finished with the second-lowest plus/minus rating on the team. If Hanzal gets healthy, which is a big if, he could return to form next season, but if not the Stars could be quick to deal him away. The team desperately needs to bounce back from a devastating slump that cost them a playoff spot and have been rumored to be interested in big (expensive) names all off-season. That plan doesn’t mix well with a $4.75MM player who brought almost nothing to the team last year.

Keep an eye out for Part II of this three-part series coming soon…

 

Minor Transactions: 7/18/18

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The past few days have been a busy stretch for fringe NHL free agents deciding whether to hold out for a big league deal or look elsewhere. Significant names such as Torrey Mitchell and Teemu Pulkkinen have signed overseas, while other players have settled for minor league employment. Similar deals have continued throughout the day:

  • Count Michael Latta as a player making the jump across the Atlantic. Or would it be the Pacific? Latta has signed with the Kunlun Red Star, the sole Chinese member of the KHL. He announced the deal himself today, while European insider Aivis Kalnins adds that it is a one-year contract. Latta, who is most well known for his days as a serviceable bottom-six regular with the Washington Capitals, has actually not played in an NHL game since 2015-16 in D.C. Latta has landed NHL contracts in each of the past two off-seasons with the Los Angeles Kings and Arizona Coyotes respectively and has even been a sought-after trade acquisition in both years, but nevertheless has played only in the AHL. Latta’s numbers in the minors are not all that impressive either, so perhaps his move to the KHL presents an opportunity for his two-way game to be better appreciated.
  • Veteran forward Mike Blunden is making a similar move but to a lesser-known team and league. The long-time depth forward has made an NHL appearance in all but one season since turning pro in 2006, including multiple seasons where more than half of his time was spent at the top level, but saw only three games with the Ottawa Senators over the course of his recently-expired two-year contract. A proven scorer in the AHL, Blunden is likely in pursuit of a new opportunity and higher compensation outside of North America. Per a team release, Blunden has signed a contract with HC Bolzano of the Austria-based EBEL. However, the “Foxes” are actually located in Italy and are the premiere pro team of the country. Bolzano is the reigning EBEL champion and has been loading up this off-season to defend their title, adding Blunden and fellow AHLers Leland Irving, Brett Findlay, and Matt MacKenzie. Blunden could turn out to be a top scorer for the team this season.
  • Experienced goaltender Tom McCollum is not quite ready to leave North America or even the Great Lakes region. The Buffalo-area native has spent all but one season of his nine-year pro career in the Detroit Red Wings system, appearing in over 250 games with the AHL’s Grand Rapids Griffins. However, without an offer from the Red Wings or presumably an AHL offer from the Griffins this summer, McCollum has decided to take his talents to their arch rival. The Milwaukee Admirals have announced that they have signed the veteran netminder to a one-year minor league deal. The team’s release calls McCollum a “proverbial thorn in the Admirals’ side” for years, but he has now joined them in their pursuit of a Calder Cup. Milwaukee’s parent club, the Nashville Predators, could also come calling if injuries strike; the team has just three goalies signed who have pro experience in North America.
  • Forward Tyler Randell is sticking around in the AHL as well. The 27-year-old enforcer has been unable to land a two-way NHL contract, but will settle for a minor league deal. The Rochester Americans have announced that they have signed Randell to a one-year AHL contract. Randell, a 2009 sixth-round draft pick of the Boston Bruins, is an impressive physical force and a smart defensive player. He even earned himself 27 NHL games with the Bruins in 2015-16 and a nice $700K free agent contract from the Ottawa Senators last summer. However, his offensive game is severely limited at all levels and it’s no surprise that his NHL market was lacking this off-season after an eight-point campaign with the Belleville Senators last season. Randell brings energy and grit to Rochester, but if his scoring doesn’t improve in consistency and frequency, he’s unlikely to end up back in the NHL.

Columbus Blue Jackets, Arizona Coyotes Complete Minor Trade

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The Columbus Blue Jackets have sent Jacob Graves and a conditional 2019 sixth-round pick to the Arizona Coyotes in exchange for 22-year old forward Ryan MacInnis. If MacInnis plays 20 NHL games this season, the Coyotes would receive a 2020 fifth-round pick instead. Graves and MacInnis are both on the final years of their entry-level contracts and will be restricted free agents next summer.

Columbus has been notoriously thin down the middle for the last few seasons while having a surplus of young defenders, making this deal just a move to secure some depth for the organization. MacInnis was originally selected in the second round by the Coyotes in 2014, but hasn’t been able to find any of the scoring touch he showed in junior and had slipped down the depth chart in the minor leagues. The son of legendary NHL defenseman Al MacInnis will try to find new heights after getting a fresh start with the Blue Jackets organization.

Graves—who bears no relation to NHL All-Star Adam Graves—has been in the Columbus organization since signing his entry-level deal in 2016 fresh off winning a Memorial Cup with the London Knights. The defensive defenseman has split his minor league seasons between the ECHL and AHL and is unlikely to ever make an impact at the NHL level, but had to be included for the Blue Jackets to keep some contract slots open for other signings. The Coyotes are in a tougher boat when it comes to that, as they are currently at the 50-contract limit with Marek Langhamer still to sign. They will be able to create some room by sending players back to junior, but are still in a complicated roster position.

Arizona Coyotes Sign Four To One-Year Deals

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The Arizona Coyotes announced they have signed restricted free agents  Michael Bunting, Laurent Dauphin and Hudson Fasching to one-year, two-way deals. The team included defenseman Trevor Murphy in their announcement, although Murphy’s deal was initially reported Friday. With these signings, the Coyotes have just one restricted free agent remaining in Marek Langhamer.

Bunting is coming off a breakout season with the Tucson Roadrunners. After two seasons in which he produced 11 and 13 goals for the AHL franchise, he broke out with a 23-goal performance this year, tied for the team lead in goals. The 22-year-old winger was a fourth-round pick in 2014 and was considered to be a late-bloomer at the time as he didn’t pick up hockey until well into his teens. His entry-level deal had him earning $925K.

Dauphin had a busy year last season as he was included in an offseason trade to the Chicago Blackhawks so the Coyotes could get veteran defenseman Niklas Hjalmarsson, but Arizona reacquired him at midseason along with Richard Panik in exchange for Anthony Duclair. The 23-year-old impressed the Blackhawks in training camp, but was inevitably sent to the AHL, where he combined for just nine goals, down from his 17 goals from the previous year. He did manage to get into a couple of Coyotes’ games, but is likely headed back to Tucson in hopes of bouncing back.

Fasching signs after coming over from the Buffalo Sabres’ organization exactly a month ago in a trade for college prospect Brandon Hickey and Mike Sislo. The 22-year-old winger came off a solid season with the Rochester Americans in the AHL, posting 12 goals and 30 points, which also included a five-game visit with the Sabres. Fasching spent three seasons playing for the University of Minnesota.

 

 

Arizona Coyotes Re-Sign Trevor Murphy

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Trevor Murphy has accepted his qualifying offer according to CapFriendly, meaning he’ll sign a one-year two-way contract with the Arizona Coyotes worth $715K at the NHL level. Murphy was a restricted free agent without arbitration rights, and had until July 15th to accept his qualifying offer.

Murphy, 22, came the Coyotes organization at the 2018 trade deadline and quickly made a bigger impact than he had in several years with the Nashville Predators. The undrafted defenseman made his NHL debut in March and ended up playing eight games for the Coyotes down the stretch. Recording three points in those games, Murphy showed off the quick puck moving and offensive skill that he’d exhibited in the first few seasons of his minor league professional career.

There are still holes in Murphy’s game and no one should expect him to step right into a full-time role with the Coyotes, but at the very least he should be an excellent piece for the Tucson Roadrunners in the AHL. His ability to quarterback a powerplay might not be needed in Arizona, but it will certainly be utilized by new minor league head coach Jay Varaday in Tucson.

Chicago Blackhawks, Arizona Coyotes Complete Seven-Player Trade

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Marian Hossa won’t be playing in the NHL this season (or likely ever again), but his contract is still on the books for the Chicago Blackhawks. Though they can place it on long-term injured reserve to get some cap relief, doing so still complicates things for a team that is always pushing right against the cap ceiling. Because of this there has been plenty of speculation about the team moving out Hossa’s deal to a team closer to the salary cap floor, and that team is the Arizona Coyotes. The Blackhawks have sent Hossa, Vinnie Hinostroza, Jordan Oesterle and a 2019 third-round pick to the Coyotes in exchange for Marcus Kruger, Andrew Campbell, MacKenzie Entwistle, Jordan Maletta and a 2019 fifth-round pick.

This isn’t the first time the Coyotes have done something like this, as they previously took on Pavel Datsyuk’s contract after he returned to Russia, Chris Pronger’s deal after he was forced out of the game by injury, and still have Dave Bolland on the roster despite him never playing a game in Arizona.

Hossa, 39, has three years remaining on the 12-year, $63.3MM contract he signed in 2009, but is actually only owed $3MM in salary due to the front-loaded nature of the deal. That cap hit hurts for the Blackhawks, as Hossa isn’t able to play due to a skin condition that has worsened over his career and forced him into retirement after the 2016-17 season. For Arizona though it wouldn’t have much impact as the team isn’t expected to push all the way up to the cap ceiling this year. For the low cost of covering whatever insurance won’t of the $3MM (CapFriendly reports the deal is 80% insured), they will add assets that could pay off quickly as they try to rebuild the franchise and make it back to the playoffs.

Hinostroza and Oesterle are both useful players who showed last season that there may be more to their skill set than previously believed. The former is a sixth-round pick who has turned into a legitimate NHL offensive threat—Hinostroza scored 25 points in 50 games last season despite relatively limited minutes—and recently signed a two-year contract that will pay him a total of $3MM. He’ll still be a restricted free agent at the contract’s end, and should fit in nicely on a young Arizona roster that wants to play with speed and skill.

The latter, Oesterle, found new life in his career when he debuted in Chicago. Quickly ascending to the top pair alongside Duncan Keith, the undrafted defenseman ended up with 15 points in 55 games and excellent possession statistics. Whether he’ll find that kind of success in Arizona isn’t clear—Oesterle struggled to find playing time on the Edmonton Oilers through the first part of his career—but at the very worst he’s an extremely cheap depth option for the Coyotes. The 26-year old will earn the league minimum of $650K this season before hitting the open market as an unrestricted free agent next summer.

For Chicago, getting anything of value back in a trade like this is a positive. The team has cleared Hossa’s contract off the books while bringing back a familiar face in Kruger, who was part of the team’s last two Stanley Cup victories and had the best seasons of his career in a Blackhawks uniform. Dealing with injury last season he struggled mightily for the Carolina Hurricanes and was eventually sent to the minor leagues. The Blackhawks will hope that’s not the story this year, as he’s still carrying a cap hit of almost $3.1MM.

Maletta and Campbell will more than likely spend the entire 2018-19 season in the minor leagues and aren’t expected to make an impact at any point in the NHL, but Entwistle could be a different story. The 2017 third-round pick is a big lanky winger that played down in the Hamilton Bulldogs lineup this year but made quite an impact in the OHL playoffs. Once a very intriguing prospect the shine has come off him somewhat in the last year, but there’s no telling what he could become at this point. He’ll turn 19 in a few days and will play next season again in the OHL.

There will be obvious speculation surrounding the Blackhawks now that they’ve cleared some cap room, as the team now projects to have $9.3MM in free space for next season. While CapFriendly’s estimate of that number only includes nine forwards and six defensemen, there is obviously room for the team to add some bigger names over the next few months. The team has been linked in the past to potential scoring threats like Jeff Skinner and Max Pacioretty, but will still have to spend their assets carefully in any trade. The team can’t afford to get into any more long-term contracts for aging players if they want to compete down the road, but they do want to give the team a chance at the playoffs this year. You can bet that GM Stan Bowman is still working the phones trying to use that cap space on something, and there isn’t much left on the free agent market that could help the Blackhawks.

Poll: What Kind Of Extension Is Predators’ Ryan Ellis Worth?

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With top defensemen getting locked up to big, long-term deals everywhere, one only has to look around the league to see who is next. The most obvious target would be Nashville’s Ryan Ellis, who will be wrapping up the final year of his five-year, $12.5MM deal. Ellis, who is one of the core of Nashville’s talented back end, is one of the most underpaid blueliners in the league at $2.5MM AAV, should be in line for a great extension. After all, many of his defensive teammates are already well-paid, including P.K. Subban ($9MM for four more years), Roman Josi ($4MM for two more years), and Mattias Ekholm ($3.75MM for four more years).

Nashville claims that locking up the 27 year old is the team’s top priority this offseason. Yet little has happened. However, how much is he worth, asks Adam Vingan of the Tennessean? While two of the most significant extensions went to Los Angeles’ Kings Drew Doughty (eight years, $11MM AAV) and Arizona Coyotes’ Oliver Ekman-Larsson (eight years, $8.25MM AAV), Ellis likely doesn’t fit into that category. Therefore, Vingan writes that Nashville must compare Ellis’ play with several other tiers of defenseman that have recently signed new deals. The most likely comparables for Ellis will come down to the recent contracts signed by Washington Capitals’ John Carlson (eight years, $8MM AAV) and Tampa Bay Lightning’s Ryan McDonagh (eight years, $6.75MM AAV). However is he as good as those two?

The next tier would be contracts handed out a few years ago that could compare, such as Pittsburgh Penguins’ Kris Letang (eight years, $7.25MM AAV), Erik Johnson (seven years, $6MM AAV) and Anaheim Ducks’ Cam Fowler (eight years, $6.5MM AAV). Ellis’ stats are challenging to look when attempting to compare to any of those defensemen. Offensively, he’s never put up 40 points in a season yet, coming close once with 38 points (16 of those were goals). However, after missing the first half of this past season after undergoing knee surgery in the offseason, Ellis’ stats took a jump when he put up 32 points in 44 games, suggesting that his offense is starting to emerge. With his defense never under question, the Predators must come up with a number soon.

So what range should Ellis fall into?

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