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Michael Grabner Signs With Arizona Coyotes

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The Arizona Coyotes have added some speed to their forward group, signing Michael Grabner for three years at an average annual value of $3.35MM.

Arizona, who supposedly was aggressively pursuing James van Riemsdyk, settled for Grabner, who comes with a solid pricetag. Arizona, who had a solid second-half of the season last year is trying to build on their veteran players and adding a successful scoring sniper is a solid addition to their top-six lines. Unfortunately, Grabner is well known to be a streaky player as the veteran has posted a 34-goal season, along with a 27-goal and a 25-goal season, but has also put up nine and 12-goal seasons.

The 30-year-old has bounced around a lot (although he did have a five-year stint with the New York Islanders), but he has become a solid trade commodity. He signed a two-year deal with the Rangers in 2016 and after posting 27 goals in 2016-17 and 25 goals in just 59 games last year, he was a moved to the New Jersey Devils, where he managed to score just two goals in 21 games.

In Arizona, Grabner could find himself fighting for a spot on the team’s No. 1 line alongside former Rangers’ teammate Derek Stepan.

Snapshots: Van Riemsdyk, Komorov, Lehner, Mrazek, Brodziak

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While the free agent market is escalating fast as the window opens tomorrow, the bidding war that surrounds unrestricted free agent center James van Riemsdyk has increased in the last few hours. The Toronto Maple Leafs winger, who tallied a career-high 36 goals last year, is being heavily courted by several teams. TSN’s Frank Seravalli reports (Tweet link) that nothing is close yet and the free agent is still deliberating and hasn’t narrowed down his list beyond a handful of teams.

Regardless, optimism is abound as Arizona Sports 98.7 Sports host John Gambadoro (Tweet link) writes that the Arizona Coyotes are aggressively in the mix for van Riemsdyk and could get an answer as soon as tonight as to where the free agent will sign. AZ Sports Craig Morgan (Tweet link) adds that there is optimism that the Coyotes are a serious contender. The Athletic’s James Mirtle writes (Tweet link) that the Buffalo Sabres are also pushing hard for van Riemsdyk and it looks like the veteran sniper could break the bank with his deal.

  • The Athletic’s Aaron Portzline (Tweet link) writes the Columbus Blue Jackets and the New York Rangers are both interested in unrestricted free agent Leo Komarov. The former Toronto Maple Leafs’ center had a down year as the 31-year-old scored just seven goals and 19 points in 74 games. The veteran instigator is coming off a four-year, $11.8MM deal that he signed back in 2014.
  • With the goaltending market already spinning at high speeds, the Carolina Hurricanes must sort out their goaltending situation quickly, according to Chip Alexander of the News & Observer. With backup Cam Ward expected to sign with the Chicago Blackhawks and the struggles that surrounded starter Scott Darling last year, the team must find someone who can share duties with Darling, especially if he struggles for a second-straight year. Alexander writes the team has shown interest in former starters Robin Lehner and Petr Mrazek, both goalies who were not given qualifying offers earlier this week.
  • Jim Thomas of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch writes that while there are reports that Blues’ unrestricted free agent Kyle Brodziak is close to signing a deal with the Edmonton Oilers, the Blues are still in the mix to re-sign their veteran center. The 34-year-old center played three years in St. Louis and posted his best numbers yet, tallying 10 goals and 33 points.

 

Zac Rinaldo To Sign A Two-Way Deal With Nashville

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The Nashville Predators continue to add depth to their team as Fox Sports Andy Strickland reports that unrestricted forward Zac Rinaldo will sign a two-way deal with the Predators. Terms of a deal have not been announced.

With the team’s significant depth at forward at the NHL level, the two-way deal is significant as the team can have him play with their AHL affiliate, the Milwaukee Admirals and can then be called up to supplement the team’s depth if needed without having to pass the forward through waivers. The physical forward, who played for the Arizona Coyotes last year, re-joins Nashville head coach Peter Laviolette when both were with the Philadelphia Flyers. Rinaldo started with Philadelphia and played five season there before being traded to Boston in 2015.

The 28-year-old forward played in just 53 games with the Coyotes last season, posting five goals and seven points on the season along with 44 penalty minutes, playing the entire season at the NHL level. He is well know for controversial hits, including one last December in which he was suspended six games for punching Colorado defenseman Samuel Girard. He has been suspended five times by the Department of Player Safety over his career.

 

 

Arizona Coyotes, Niklas Hjalmarsson Agree To Extension

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June 30: Hjalmarsson will ink a two-year deal worth a total of $10MM, reports Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman (Twitter link).

June 23: The Arizona Coyotes have reportedly reached an extension agreement with veteran defenseman Niklas Hjalmarsson, which can’t be signed until July 1, according to AZ Sports Craig Morgan. No terms have been announced yet.

The 31-year-old blueliner was brought in last season to provide a veteran presence to Arizona’s defensive core, but most especially to guide countrymate Oliver Ekman-Larsson, who at the time was considered a question as to whether he wanted to stay in Arizona. However, now that Ekman-Larsson has verbally agreed to an extension, the team didn’t take long to lock up Hjalmarsson.

The team displayed interest back in March to bring back Hjalmarsson, who is in the final year of a five-year, $20.5MM deal he signed with the Chicago Blackhawks in 2013 at $4.1MM per year. After being traded last offseason to Arizona for Connor Murphy and prospect Laurent Dauphin, the stay-at-home defenseman struggled with injuries and played in just 48 games, putting up nine points. However, that was evidently enough for the team to extend him for more years beyond next season.

Free Agent Rumor Round-Up: Roussel, Calvert, Hickey, Rieder, Perron, And More

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The Vancouver Canucks are closing in on an agreement with one of their top free agent targets. After Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman revealed that the Canucks were talking to two-way winger Antoine Roussel, colleague Rick Dhaliwal did some digging and discovered that the two sides were close on a long-term deal. Dhaliwal expects Roussel to sign a four-year deal worth more than $3MM per year with Vancouver. The former Dallas Stars brings grit and energy to the Canucks and has previously teased 30+ point potential. If the 28-year-old Frenchman can reach those levels of production while maintaining his notorious physical game, this could be a great signing by GM Jim Benning. However, it is well above what many would have expected Roussel to sign in both term and salary and could just as well be a disaster for Vancouver. Roussel is ranked 38th on PHR’s Top 50 Free Agents list with an estimated contract of two years and just over $2MM AAV.

[RELATED: PHR’s 2018 Top 50 NHL Unrestricted Free Agents]

  • Friedman has also linked the Colorado Avalanche and forward Matt Calvert. TSN’s Darren Dreger is among a few sources who have also heard about that pairing. Calvert, 28, has played his entire career for the Columbus Blue Jackets, but Dreger seems convinced that he is definitely on the move. The versatile, two-way winger would be a nice fit as a bottom-six regular who can fill gaps in the top-six, much like the role that Blake Comeau played for the team.
  • Dreger also reports that interest is high in defenseman Thomas Hickey. A shallow defense market is likely boosting the value of the serviceable defenseman, who is a tough defensive match-up and a dangerous off-the-puck play-maker, but prone to mistake when moving play. Many speculated that the Islanders would turn their attention to re-signing Hickey once the John Tavares situation had sorted itself out, but with Tavares dragging his feet and Hickey in talks with numerous teams, New York may not get that chance. We predicted that Hickey would land with the Montreal Canadiens on a multi-year deal in PHR’s Top 50 Free Agents list.
  • Another player getting a lot of attention is winger Tobias Rieder and the status of his suitors is changing quickly as the price rises. Just earlier today, the Vancouver Canucks were the first team confirmed to be in on Rieder and by now that list has increased dramatically. TSN’s Ryan Rishaug reports that the Calgary Flames, Montreal Canadiens, and Ottawa Senators are also in the running and that the price has gotten so high as to drive the Edmonton Oilers out of the bidding. The Athletic’s Craig Custance confirms the interest from the Canucks, Flames, and Habs and adds the New York Rangers and Florida Panthers to the list of interested parties. All this for a player that the Los Angeles Kings deemed unworthy of a qualifying offer.
  • As expected, David Perron is also one of the hottest names on the free agent market and his former team, the Vegas Golden Knights, are seemingly out of the running. Friedman calls it “very unlikely” that Perron returns to Las Vegas, where he set a career high with 66 points this season. For an idea on the price for Perron, he landed at #5 on the PHR Top 50 Free Agents list with a projected six-year, $32MM contract, which could be a conservative guess.
  • One team that is somewhat surprisingly in talks with Perron is Arizona. Craig Morgan of Arizona Sports details the off-season so far from the Coyotes and lists Perron, James van Riemsdyk, and Michael Grabner as Arizona’s top targets. Morgan also says that the team has not ruled out bringing back veteran forward Brad Richardson as well.
  • The Boston Bruins are moving on from Anton Khudobin and reportedly working fast to find his replacement. Beat writer Matt Kalman and The Boston Globe’s Kevin-Paul Dupont both hear that the team is very interested in Kari Lehtonen as the new backup to Tuukka Rask. With many talented goalies on the market, Lehtonen has flown under the radar somewhat despite incredibly comparable numbers to Khudobin in more starts and superior numbers to the likes of Jonathan Bernier, Cam Ward, Robin Lehner and others. Lehtonen also had the highest Quality Start rate of any of that group in 2017-18. Even here at PHR we may have underestimated Lehtonen, making him our sixth-best goalie among the Top 50 free agents.
  • Unsurprisingly, TSN’s Pierre LeBrun notes that the Washington Capitals have checked in with defenseman Brooks Orpik. A veteran leader and key contributor to their Stanley Cup run, the Capitals faced little choice but to trade Orpik away earlier this off-season in order to clear cap space to maintain their championship roster. Now that he has subsequently been bought out by the Colorado Avalanche, Orpik is fair game and could return to D.C. at a much more affordable rate. However, LeBrun warns that other teams are also in the running and Orpik may not take a discount rate in Washington over more legitimate offers.

 

Poll: Biggest Surprise Among Non-Qualified Free Agents?

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When the deadline to issue qualifying offers to restricted free agents comes and goes each year, there are always a few surprises on the list of those who did not receive an offer. For both those players and teams across the league, it can often be a shock that those players are suddenly unrestricted free agents able to sign with whoever they like. Oftentimes, not receiving a qualifying offer does not automatically mean that the player and his team are through. Already this year, defensemen Derrick Pouliot, Ryan Murphy, and Joe Morrow and forwards Riley Sheahan and Phil Di Giuseppe were not tendered an offer, but soon after signed with their respective squads. Yet, this year has also left more notable names than usual to be scooped up by another team come July 1st.

Robin Lehner, the 26-year-old starting goaltender for the Buffalo Sabres, was one of the earliest known players to not be qualified. Whenever a starter hits the open market it can draw attention, but it’s much more surprising when that starter is both young and experienced. Lehner has seen regular NHL action for the past five years, some as a backup or “1B” with the Ottawa Senators and others as the “1A” for Buffalo. Granted, Lehner has had his fair share of difficulties, both staying healthy and performing when he is on the ice, but it came as surprise that the rebuilding Sabres were so willing to move on from their young keeper. In each of his first two seasons in Buffalo, Lehner posted a save percentage of .920 or better and a majority of his appearances were quality starts. Only this season did those numbers drop off, but apparently that was enough for Buffalo to cut him loose. With Chad Johnson also a free agent, the Sabres head into the off-season lacking any true NHL-caliber goalies on the roster.

Anthony Duclair, just 22 and a former 20-goal scorer, was another surprise that many did not see coming. In his sophomore season in the NHL in 2015-16, the 20-year-old Duclair played in 81 games for the Arizona Coyotes and registered 44 points, good enough for fourth on the team. The young winger even garnered Calder Trophy votes. However, last season his play fell off substantially and this year was only marginally better, prompting a mid-season trade to the Chicago Blackhawks. Many opined that a change of scenery would be good for Duclair, who has shown great talent but needs to put it all together on a more consistent basis. Yet, Chicago gave the experiment 23 games before deciding to move on. A team with major cap problems who is always in need of affordable scoring let a young goal-scorer with years left of team control remaining walk in free agency after less than half a season.

Tobias Rieder, a 25-year-old two-way forward, found himself in a similar situation. Rieder was traded to the Los Angeles Kings ahead of the NHL Trade Deadline and played well in his limited role down the stretch for the Kings. However, it wasn’t enough as Rieder was curiously non-qualified after just 20 regular season games in L.A. Before that, the well-rounded forward had played a major role in the forward corps of the Arizona Coyotes. Rieder has recorded more than 20 points in each of his four NHL seasons and has been a double-digit scorer in each year as well. The young German winger plays a smart, physical style and has an innate ability to crash the net and light the lamp. At 25, he still has room to grow and has 20-goal potential in the right situation. The Kings passed up a chance to take a longer look at what Rieder can do and, of course, have scoring winger as their biggest need this summer.

Dylan DeMelo, the 25-year-old defenseman most recently of the San Jose Sharks, is a hard one to understand as well. DeMelo seemingly did everything he was asked of in San Jose, but found himself a free agent anyway. DeMelo had worked to carve out a role for himself with the Sharks in his first two seasons with the team, but in 2017-18 seemed to have found his place. The young defender skated in 63 games and set a new career high in points by a wide margin with 20. While DeMelo is not an offensive juggernaut by any means, he is solid defensively and was a nice complement on the blue line to the many other talented defenders in San Jose. Even if the Sharks were worried about committing too much money to defense or wanted to give some more time to other even younger options, it is hard to imagine that they couldn’t have found a taker for DeMelo on the trade market.

What do you think? Who is the biggest surprise among the RFA’s that did not receive qualifying offers this year and now find themselves looking for a new team this summer as a UFA?

Mobile users, click here to vote.

2018 CHL Import Draft Results

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The CHL held its annual import draft today, where teams from across the Canadian junior leagues get to select the rights of players around the world. Often these are recently drafted prospects, or those seen to have good chances at next year’s draft. Being selected has no guarantee that the player will actually ever suit up for the team, as Filip Chytil proved last season. Chytil was selected seventh-overall by the North Bay Battalion, but ended up spending the year with the New York Rangers and Hartford Wolf Pack after impressing in his first training camp.

There are clear benefits from picking at the top of the draft though, as the Barrie Colts found out last season. Andrei Svechnikov was the first-overall selection, and ended up scoring 40 goals in 44 games before being the second-overall pick in the NHL draft last week. This year saw Slovakian-born Maxim Cajkovic go first to the Saint John Sea Dogs after tearing up the Swedish junior leagues last season. Cajkovic is eligible for the 2019 NHL Entry Draft. Teams are only allowed a certain number of import players, which leads to some passing on their selections even in the early part of the draft. Check out last year’s draft to see some familiar names.

The full results are below:

Round 1

1. Saint John – Maxim Cajkovic (RW, Slovakia)

2. Edmonton – Vladimir Alistrov (LW, Belarus)

3. Sudbury – Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen (G, Finland/Buffalo Sabres)

4. Shawinigan – Valentin Nussbaumer (C, Switzerland)

5. Prince George – Matej Toman (LW, Czech Republic)

Read more

Coyotes Looking To Add Help On The Wings

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The Sabres are currently seeking a first-round pick, a second-rounder, and a good prospect if they are to move center Ryan O’Reilly, Pierre LeBrun of TSN and The Athletic reports (video link).  They were seeking the third-overall selection from Montreal at the draft last week but that was a move that the Canadiens weren’t willing to make and they weren’t able to acquire an additional first-rounder to include instead.  Despite not getting a deal done, Montreal remains interested and they are willing to pay his $7.5MM signing bonus that is owed on Sunday.  Meanwhile, the Blues also are interested and LeBrun classifies them as the current frontrunner for O’Reilly’s services.  However, their preference appears to be to wait until July 2nd passes before making a deal.  However, it has been previously reported that Buffalo’s asking price will go up if that is indeed what happens.

More from around the league:

  • The Coyotes are hoping to add some wingers this summer, GM John Chayka told Arizona Sports’ Craig Morgan. If Arizona intends to use the recently-acquired Alex Galchenyuk at center, there is at the very least a void to fill to replace Max Domi.  Generally speaking, they may want to simply add some veterans on the wing as their four top scoring wingers from 2017-18 are all on their entry-level contracts.
  • Securing help at center is a priority for the Canucks this summer and the team has already reached out to representatives for Tyler Bozak and Riley Nash, reports Postmedia’s Ben Kuzma, who adds that Jay Beagle and Derek Ryan may also be of interest to the team. The retirement of Henrik Sedin has left a void inside their top six at that position and while the team certainly hopes that Elias Pettersson will one day fill that spot, their preference is to start him on the wing so a short-term stopgap solution seems like a good way to go.  However, Bozak is among the top players of the second tier of that position on the open market so there’s a good chance he’ll be seeking a lot more than just a short-term contract.
  • The Rangers plan to meet with the agent for first-round pick Vitali Kravtsov later this week to explore possible options to get the winger out of the final year of his KHL contract, notes Justin Tasch of the New York Daily News. The ninth-overall selection back on Friday has already publicly indicated that his preference is to play in North America in 2018-19 and although he’s still just 18, he would be eligible to play at the AHL level next season.

Arizona Coyotes Sign Kevin Connauton To A Two-Year Deal

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6:00 PM: The Coyotes have officially announced the deal.

5:22 PM: Morgan reports that the contract is worth $2.75MM over two years for an AAV of $1.375MM.  He adds that the deal is pending league approval.

4:10 PM: Despite some comments indicating he wanted to test out the free agent market and secure a bigger role somewhere else, Kevin Connauton is in “advanced discussions” with the Arizona Coyotes on a new contract according to Craig Morgan of AZ Sports. Arizona radio host John Gambadoro reports it is a two-year contract.

Connauton, 28, is scheduled to hit unrestricted free agency on Sunday and had been clear that playing time was a big factor in his decision. The left-handed defenseman put up 21 points this season in limited minutes, and has shown a knack for creating offense at even-strength. His last contract paid him an average of $1MM, something he’ll surely be looking to increase on any incoming deal.

The Coyotes have five defensemen locked in for next season, and are close to signing an extension with Niklas Hjalmarsson and Oliver Ekman-Larsson to keep them in town for a few more seasons. That doesn’t leave a whole lot of opportunity for Connauton to move up, though perhaps talks with other teams around the league left him wondering whether that chance would come anywhere at all. The Coyotes are trending in the right direction, and have plenty of cap space to make it worthwhile to bring back a valuable defenseman like Connauton, especially if they can pencil him in to the bottom pairing again.

Arizona doesn’t have unlimited funds like some other bigger market teams, meaning they have to spend carefully on players that can provide a real contribution. At the very worst, Connauton seems like a perfect candidate to be able to step up in the lineup if injuries should occur or be a valuable piece of trade bait come the deadline the next two seasons.

Arizona Coyotes Acquire Robbie Russo

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Late last night, after all the commotion died down around Washington re-signing star defenseman John Carlson to an eight-year, $64MM contract, the Detroit Red Wings quietly made a trade. The Red Wings sent minor league defenseman Robbie Russo to the Arizona Coyotes in exchange for a conditional seventh-round pick in 2019. Russo, along with Xavier Ouellet who is expected to be bought out, ran out of time to impress the Detroit staff and was taking up a valuable roster spot.

Russo, 25, played well in the minor leagues once again for the Grand Rapids Griffins, but wasn’t given a chance at the NHL level. The smooth skating defenseman has never been very well regarded in the defensive zone, but has produced so well at the other end of the rink it’s not surprising a team like Arizona would give him a shot. He’s currently on the last season of a two-year two-way contract, and at the very least he’ll add another weapon to the Tucson Roadrunners.

It doesn’t seem likely that the Coyotes will have much of a need for Russo in the NHL, and if he doesn’t play in another 61 games this season he’ll be eligible for Group VI unrestricted free agency next summer. That seems like the most likely scenario, which may be what the conditions on the draft pick are tied to.

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