Arizona Coyotes Sign David Ullstrom To One-Year Deal
The Arizona Coyotes have signed European free agent David Ullstrom to a one-year, two-way contract. Ullstrom played this season with HV71 in the SHL, after a long stint bouncing around the KHL. The former New York Islanders forward hasn’t seen NHL action since 2012-13, but will get a chance to reinvent himself in North America next season. Coyotes GM John Chayka released a statement explaining the signing:
David is a big, strong center who is an excellent skater. He has previous NHL experience and will provide us with additional depth at the center position.
Ullstrom, 29, was first selected by the Islanders in the fourth round of the 2008 draft, and quickly made his way to the AHL. In his first season in North America he registered 41 points in 67 games and looked well on his way to making an impact at the NHL level. Unfortunately when he got there in 2011-12 that production dried up, recording just 13 points in 49 games as a part-time player across the next two seasons.
In 2013-14 he headed to the KHL, where he played for five teams across four seasons, eventually leaving for the SHL in 2017. The scoring touch seemed to return this season when he registered 30 points in 47 games, though his game had changed from the high-flying play of his youth. No longer was it just one-on-one rushes, and Ullstrom showed a willingness to pass more this time around. Perhaps that maturity to his game is what interested the Coyotes, who will hope he can prove to be a legitimate NHL player, if even in a sheltered role.
Deal Between Coyotes And Ilya Lyubushkin Not Finalized Yet
The Wild have narrowed their search for a new general manager down to three candidates, reports Sarah McLellan of the Star-Tribune. Paul Fenton (Nashville), Tom Fitzgerald (New Jersey), and Bill Zito (Columbus) are believed to be the ones still in the hunt for the job which takes John Ferguson Jr. and Dave Nonis, who had previously interviewed for the position, out of contention. With Toronto promoting Kyle Dubas to their GM position on Friday, Minnesota is now the only team without one. However, it appears that this won’t be the case for much longer as McLellan adds that the new GM should be in place by the end of the month.
More from the West:
- While there was a report several weeks ago that the Coyotes had agreed to terms with Russian defenseman Ilya Lyubushkin, Craig Morgan of Arizona Sports reports that while the team has interest in him, no contract has been agreed upon just yet. The 24-year-old stay-at-home defender has been with Yaroslavl of the KHL since 2013-14 and would be subject to entry-level restrictions. Morgan adds that Lyubushkin is still under contract in Russia which is something that could be delaying getting a deal officially done.
- If the Blues wind up dealing one of their centers this summer, Jeff Gordon of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch suggests that Vladimir Sobotka is the one with the best chance of being moved. The 30-year-old has two years left on his contract at $3.5MM per season and is coming off someone of a quiet year with 31 points (11-20-31) in 81 games. While moving Patrik Berglund ($3.85MM per year through 2021-22) would free up more long-term cap room, he was the more productive of the two and also has a modified no-trade clause while Sobotka does not have any trade protection in his contract.
Kevin Connauton To Place Priority On Playing Time In Free Agency
Following a strong showing after being acquired at the trade deadline, the Sharks intend to try to re-sign pending unrestricted free agent winger Evander Kane this offseason, reports Paul Gackle of the Bay Area News Group. For his part, Kane admitted that he would be open to returning but he isn’t ready to commit to anything just yet.
That won’t stop GM Doug Wilson from trying to get something done in advance, however. He acknowledged that he intends to sit down with Kane and his agent “in the next little while”. San Jose has plenty of cap space to work with this summer so from a financial standpoint, they should be able to be among the high bidders for his services if they want. If the Sharks are able to re-sign him, the 2019 second-round pick they sent to Buffalo as part of the trade would instead become their 2019 first-rounder.
Elsewhere in the West:
- Coyotes defenseman Kevin Connauton is set to become an unrestricted free agent in July and his agent, Matt Owens, told Arizona Sports’ Craig Morgan that playing time will go a long way in determining where he signs next. The 28-year-old posted a career high in goals with 11 this season but he still played a relatively sparing role, logging just over 15 minutes of ice time per game. Oates acknowledged that there have been no discussions regarding a contract and that he is leaving it to GM John Chayka to kick-start any possible negotiations.
- Nashville center Mike Fisher left Monday’s game due to an undisclosed injury and Thomas Willis of the Predators’ team website notes (Twitter link) that there is still no update as to the nature of the injury or how long he’ll be out. The veteran left after playing less than three minutes in total which forced the Preds to go with 11 forwards for most of the game. If he’s unable to return, one of Miikka Salomaki or Ryan Hartman will likely draw back into the lineup.
Marcus Kruger Played 2017-18 Season With Hernia
There is now some added context to the poor performance of recently-acquired Arizona Coyotes forward Marcus Kruger this season. Coyotes GM John Chayka revealed to TSN that Kruger played the entire 2017-18 campaign with a sports hernia. It had previously been reported that Kruger had hernia surgery last month, but the timeline of the injury had been unclear.
In speaking with TSN about the recent trade of Jordan Martinook and a fourth-round pick for Kruger and a third-rounder, Chayka expressed optimism that Kruger could return to form next season, saying “You take (the injury) into consideration… we think that’ll get the jump back in his skate and it’ll be a real useful and helpful piece to our lineup.” Kruger was not very useful or helpful to the Carolina Hurricanes this year, recording just one goal and five assists in 48 games while averaging the least ice time per game of his career. This has led many to be skeptical of Arizona’s acquisition of the veteran center – a skepticism that won’t go away, even with this news, until Kruger produces some results.
A hernia is a serious injury though and definitely impacted Kruger’s play all year. A hernia occurs when tissue pushes through the muscle wall, usually in the abdominal or groin area. The result is pain and discomfort in the area and a weakening of the muscle. In a physical, lower-body driven sport like hockey, pain and the loss of strength in the core area can absolutely attribute to a loss of ability. Montreal Canadiens prospect Jake Evans was recently diagnosed with a hernia and was given a three-month timeline to recover. Instead of undergoing such extensive rehab in-season, Kruger’s decision to play through it kept him available, but severely limited his ability. Now, he just has to hope that the decision hasn’t permanently damaged that ability.
Addition Of Kruger Could Force Richardson To Leave In Free Agency
Arizona’s acquisition of center Marcus Kruger from Carolina on Thursday could have an impact on one of their pending unrestricted free agents. Craig Morgan of Arizona Sports suggests that Kruger could push fellow pivot Brad Richardson to the open market. While GM John Chayka wouldn’t confirm that, he did acknowledge that Kruger has “a similar type of profile” to Richardson and that they wanted to make sure they could get a player like that if one became available. Richardson recorded 15 points in 76 games this season while posting a 52.1% success rate at the faceoff dot but also had a career-low shooting percentage at just 2.9%.
Elsewhere around the league:
- Brian Gionta’s inclusion in Game Four for Boston against the Lightning could have some implications beyond this season. CapFriendly notes (Twitter link) that because he played in one game this round, he’s eligible for a $50K performance bonus if the Bruins win the series. They finished with just over $100K in cap space at the end of the season per CapFriendly and that amount is before any performance bonuses get added in. If Boston does indeed go over the Upper Limit due to bonuses, any overage would be deducted from their cap room for 2018-19.
- Blue Jackets defenseman Zach Werenski underwent shoulder surgery yesterday and he may not be the only one going under the knife. GM Jarmo Kekalainen told Aaron Portzline of The Athletic (subscription required) that at least two others could be facing surgeries in the weeks to come although he wouldn’t specify which players are in that situation. In the meantime, they’re resting in the hopes that doing so will be enough to avoid going the surgical route. If that doesn’t work, Werenski may not be the only player whose status heading into the start of next season could be in question.
Snapshots: Koskinen, Francouz, Kruger, Martinook
The excitement of the Edmonton Oilers’ signing of KHL goaltender Mikko Koskinen wore off quickly. As The Athletic’s Jonathan Willis points out, Koskinen’s $2.5MM cap hit on his one-year deal now looks like a major over-payment compared to a more recent deal for an import goalie. When the Colorado Avalanche signed Pavel Francouz yesterday, they got a better goalie for considerably less. Francouz’s deal with the Avs is also for one year, but for just $690K. Yet, Francouz was the best keeper in the KHL this year with a .946 save percentage and 1.80 GAA in 35 appearances for Traktor Chelyabinsk. With no disrespect to Koskinen, who was very good as well, the new Oiler had a .937 save percentage and split time with young Igor Shestyorkin, playing in just 29 games, yet will make more than triple what Francouz does next season. In fairness, Koskinen did have superior GAA this year (1.57) and has a small amount of NHL experience, but that does not totally make up for the $1.81MM difference between the two contracts. To add another layer, Francouz is also a younger and more athletic goalie than Koskinen and likely has a brighter long-term future in the NHL. Admittedly, the Oilers signed Koskinen first, so this could me more of a case of Colorado GM Joe Sakic getting his man for below-market value, but it seems more likely that it goes along with the trend of Edmonton GM Peter Chiarelli setting his sights on a player and not considering fair value or alternative options. Past results of these decisions have not worked out well for the Oilers, but we will have to wait for next season to see how the Koskinen signing pans out.
- In digging deeper into another recent transaction, today’s Marcus Kruger–Jordan Martinook trade has some scratching their heads. Given the team is currently operating without a GM, it is truly impressive that the Carolina Hurricanes seemingly came out on top in this deal in all aspects. Not only was Kruger available to the Arizona Coyotes for free earlier this year, but they gave up Martinook to get Kruger, who is much like a younger, better version of Kruger. The two forwards are both known for their two-way ability, but Martinook has 64 points in 239 games over the last three seasons compared to Kruger’s 44 points in 247 games over the past four years combined. At nearly 28 years old, Kruger’s career high in points is 28 with the Chicago Blackhawks in 2013-14 and he has never recorded double-digit goals, while the 25-year-old Martinook reached his career best of 25 points just last year, including 11 goals. Martinook has just as many 20+ point seasons as Kruger in only three full NHL seasons exclusively playing for the lowly Coyotes, while Kruger has spent almost his entire career with the dynastic Blackhawks. Defensively, Kruger does have the advantage of being a natural center who does well at the dot most years and is a positive possession player, but Martinook is far more physical and great along the boards, not to mention he has been the Coyotes’ best takeaways man since entering the league. Unlike past deals where the Coyotes took on a bad contract from another team in exchange for draft capital or prospects, Martinook will actually make less in salary than Kruger next season and even with the Hurricanes’ retention of a tenth of Kruger’s deal, the money essentially cancels out. So why make this deal? Arizona GM John Chayka must have a good reason, but on its face the only benefit to the Coyotes is a jump of 20-odd draft slots this June from the top of the fourth round to the middle of the third round.
Carolina Hurricanes Trade Marcus Kruger To Arizona Coyotes
Though it’s not often you see a trade go down during the playoffs, the Carolina Hurricanes have traded Marcus Kruger and a 2018 third-round pick to the Arizona Coyotes in exchange for Jordan Martinook and a 2018 fourth-round pick. Carolina will also retain 10% of Kruger’s salary in 2018-19.
There are a few things to break down in this trade, not the least of which being that the Hurricanes made the deal despite not having a GM in place. While owner Thomas Dundon continues to search for the next person to lead his hockey club, Don Waddell is operating as interim GM, along with help from his old friend Rick Dudley who was hired recently.
The second is that the Hurricanes won’t really be saving much salary in the swap. Though Kruger carries a $3.08MM cap hit, the actual salary owed to him next season is just $2.3MM. Martinook himself is set to earn $1.8MM, and with the added 10% the two notoriously cheap teams come off spending about the same amount. Instead, from Carolina’s point of view this deal seems to be ridding themselves of a forward that they had no plans on using next season. After all, Kruger had already cleared waivers earlier this season.
That fact is another interesting thing to note in the deal, as Kruger was available to any team earlier this year when the Hurricanes waived and then sent him to the minor leagues. The 27-year old center ended up playing just 48 games for Carolina, scoring six points in the process and generally being ineffective. Some of that might have to do with the hernia that Craig Morgan of AZ Sports reports he recently had surgery on, which had been “nagging him a while.”
If Kruger can return to the 25-point depth center that he once was in Chicago, the Coyotes will have a useful player on their hands that can help the penalty kill and add some experience. If he can’t find that level, they still move their draft pick up a round in exchange for Martinook, who may have not had role with the team next season anyway.
In all, this is a swap of two contracts that didn’t have much of a future in their previous organizations. Perhaps Kruger can find his game again in Arizona alongside former teammate Niklas Hjalmarsson, and maybe Martinook can be a useful depth player. We’ll have to wait to see how the rest of the offseason shakes out to really see what each team had planned.
Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet was first to break the trade.
Front Office Updates: O’Hearn, Minnesota GM Search, Nill
The Arizona Coyotes are moving on from a top executive. The team announced today that they would not renew the contract for Assistant GM Chris O’Hearn. O’Hearn had been with the Coyotes for eleven years and was in his third year as AGM. O’Hearn handled much of the legal and administrative operations for Arizona, such as contract negotiations, salary arbitration, and cap management. GM John Chayka will now have to find a replacement or delegate those duties to others in the front office.
- Perhaps O’Hearn can throw his hat in the ring for the Minnesota Wild GM job. Owner Craig Leipold is certainly expanding his search, adding two new names to the mix alongside Nashville Predators’ AGM Paul Fenton and Columbus Blue Jackets’ AGM Bill Zito. The Athletic’s Michael Russo reports that Boston Bruins’ AGM John Ferguson Jr. interviewed for the position today, while New Jersey Devils’ AGM Tom Fitzgerald will make his case tomorrow. Ferguson Jr. was previously the GM and Vice President of the Toronto Maple Leafs in the mid-2000’s and has entered the potential-GM market in a big way this week, now connected with both Minnesota and the Carolina Hurricanes’ vacancy. Fitzgerald had already dropped out of the Hurricanes’ hunt, citing “bad timing”, but the timing appears to be right for a potential move to Minneapolis. The Wild now have four legitimate candidates for Leipold to choose from and he may not be done yet.
- Another job search is ongoing in Dallas, as GM Jim Nill has his hands full finding a new head coach. TSN’s Pierre LeBrun reports that Nill is considering at least ten different candidates to take over for Ken Hitchcock as the Stars’ new bench boss. That was in response to TSN’s Frank Servalli’s note that University of Denver head coach Jim Montgomery is the newest addition to the list. Montgomery has been dominating college hockey over the last five years, leading the Pioneers to a NCAA Tournament berth each year and winning the National Championship last season. Montgomery has been a popular candidate the last couple of years and would be an excellent choice for Dallas.
Poll: Which Open Coaching Job Is Best?
It was an uncommon year in the NHL with no coaches being fired in-season. Some of the worst teams in the NHL – the Buffalo Sabres, Arizona Coyotes, and Vancouver Canucks – had coaches in their first seasons and were willing to reserve judgement at least into a second season. Others, like the Ottawa Senators (confirmed today), Montreal Canadiens, and New York Islanders are willing to wait and see with relatively new staffs.
Entering the first full month without regular season activity, the season is over for all but eight teams. Yet, only two coaches have been fired: the New York Rangers’ Alain Vigneault and the Calgary Flames’ Glen Gulutzan. The Dallas Stars’ Ken Hitchcock retired and the Carolina Hurricanes’ Bill Peters opted out. Peters then quickly took the Flames job and what is left are just three coaching openings in the NHL.
The Carolina Hurricanes, under new ownership, are still looking for a GM and likely will wait to make a decision on a head coach until after that initial decision has been made. However, for those free agent coaches, the ‘Canes do offer an attractive mix of long-term depth and talent on defense, youth and skill on offense, a solid prospect pipeline, and mass amounts of cap space to get better. However, Carolina lacks two of the hardest things to find in hockey: a legitimate starting goaltender and a bona fide #1 star center. Any coach who is excited about the team’s potential has to look at Peters’ inability to turn it into wins and wonder if the few pieces missing in Carolina are the most important ones.
It took a late season collapse for the Dallas Stars to miss the postseason this year. The team has three superstars in Jamie Benn, Tyler Seguin, and John Klingberg and a handful of very good players behind them like goalie Ben Bishop, defensemen Marc Methot and Esa Lindell, and forwards Alexander Radulov and Radek Faksa. They also have the potential for a quick turnaround if Jason Spezza and Martin Hanzal can bounce back. Beyond that group though, the team is lacking in depth on the roster and there doesn’t appear to be real game-changing talent in the pipeline either outside of Miro Heiskanen. They’re also right at the top of the salary cap limit. The Stars have the appearance of a team that is close to being a contender, but may not be able to get much better than they already are.
The New York Rangers are this year’s rebuild option for a coaching candidate. After trading away both impending free agents and core players at the deadline, the Rangers are left with a young-top nine that bring energy and skill but lacks experience and top-end talent and defense corps with veteran leadership surrounded by youth and potential but also lacking any high-end ability. However, they still have an all-world goalie in Henrik Lundqvist and are now loaded with prospects at every position and a wealth of draft picks. The Rangers may not look like much now but have a lot to offer down the road.
So, if you were a top head coach candidate with no particular style preference, which team would you choose?
Offseason Keys: Arizona Coyotes
While the playoffs are ongoing, many teams have already started their offseason planning. What storylines lie ahead around the league? Our Offseason Keys series continues with a look at the Arizona Coyotes.
Last summer, GM John Chayka made a pair of big trades in an effort to shore up the roster, bringing in Derek Stepan, Niklas Hjalmarsson, and Antti Raanta. The end result wasn’t much different than the year before as they finished last in the Western Conference which is a sign that Arizona is likely to be active again this offseason. Here is what is on the horizon for them.
Rebuild The Offense
With extensions handed out to Raanta and Darcy Kuemper after they acquired him from Los Angeles, the Coyotes have some stability between the pipes. They’ve been active in terms of adding to their back end in recent years with Hjalmarsson, Alex Goligoski, Jason Demers, and Jakob Chychrun. That leaves their forward group to be rebuilt.
There is a young nucleus in place led by Clayton Keller but it’s still a largely inexperienced group. Their oldest forward heading into next season is Dave Bolland (who hasn’t played due to injury the last two years and has one more season left on his contract). After that, it’s Stepan who is only 27. He’s a nice veteran piece that fits in with this young group but the Coyotes need a couple more players like him to help shoulder the load and give them more threats up front.
Fortunately for Arizona, salary cap constraints won’t be a problem. They finished 2017-18 under the cap by more than $16MM so they have plenty of wiggle room to work with. At some point, they’re expected to become more active in terms of spending and with a lot of teams projecting to be tight to the Upper Limit this offseason, this may be their window to take advantage.
Determine Ekman-Larsson’s Future
Defenseman Oliver Ekman-Larsson has been a fixture on the back end since 2010-11 and has become one of the more underrated blueliners in the league. He is set to enter the final year of his contract next season and with that, questions about his future with the Coyotes are inevitable.
In fact, they’ve been around for a while already. Towards the trade deadline, GM John Chayka did his best to try to quash any speculation regarding Ekman-Larsson’s future but while he obviously wasn’t dealt back in February, the scuttlebutt will only intensify if he enters the season with no extension in hand.
Ekman-Larsson is set to earn $7MM in salary (with $5.5MM cap hit) for next season and his next contract should eclipse that salary as contracts continue to grow. Given their payroll parameters, can they afford to keep him and build an eventual playoff contender around him? Will Ekman-Larsson want to stay if spending stays at the floor?
If the answer to either of those questions is no, then he becomes a prime candidate to be dealt and the offseason may be the best time to do so; we’ve seen how much of a constraint the salary cap can be towards the trade deadline. Officially, the two sides can’t come to terms on an extension before July but Chayka would be wise to have a backup plan or two in place if the two sides can’t find common ground on a new contract.
Deal For Domi
Heading into 2017-18, center Max Domi was viewed as a key cog of Arizona’s future. Despite an injury-plagued sophomore campaign, he still played at a point-per-game level equal to that of his rookie year where he put up 52 points. Unfortunately for him and the Coyotes, this past season was a rough one that saw him score just nine times despite playing in all 82 regular season games.
The 23-year-old now enters the offseason in need of a new contract and is the most intriguing of Arizona’s free agents. In a time where bridge deals are becoming less and less frequent, will the Coyotes follow that path and commit long-term or opt for a shorter-term, ‘prove it’ type of contract which, given the year he had, makes a lot of sense?
Alternatively, there is another type of deal out there and that’s a trade. Chayka was receiving interest on Domi leading into the trade deadline but he wasn’t too interested at that time. The interest is bound to be there again in the coming months and if the team decides to shake up its forward group, Domi may make some sense to move even though it may be when his value is relatively low. It’s not as prominent of a decision as their own with Ekman-Larsson but Domi’s case is still an important one to watch for.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.