Canucks Acquire Nate Schmidt
It was only a matter of time before Vegas made a move to shed some salary to fit in Alex Pietrangelo‘s new deal which is now official. That trade has now been made as the Canucks announced that they’ve acquired defenseman Nate Schmidt from the Golden Knights for a 2022 third-round pick. GM Jim Benning released the following statement on the acquisition:
Nate has been one of the top defencemen in our division in recent years. He’s a dynamic player who competes hard all over the ice. I think he will be a really good fit in our group.
The 29-year-old joined Vegas via the expansion draft and went from a depth defenseman to a core player along the way. Last season, he had seven goals and 24 assists in 59 games, the highest point-per-game average of his career while logging 21:41 per night. He played even bigger minutes in the playoffs at just over 23 minutes a game in 20 postseason contests.
While serving a 20-game suspension for violating terms of the NHL’s performance-enhancing substances policy back in 2018, Schmidt signed a six-year, $35.7MM contract extension of which five years remain on it heading into next season. That deal also contains a 10-team no-trade clause. Vegas is not retaining at all on the contract, meaning that Vancouver will be absorbing the entirety of the deal.
It has been a tough offseason for the Canucks so far with the free agent departures of Jacob Markstrom and Chris Tanev (Calgary), Troy Stecher (Detroit), and Tyler Toffoli (Montreal) with Braden Holtby taking Markstrom’s spot between the pipes. Schmidt should step in nicely into the spot vacated by Tanev inside Vancouver’s top four.
Both teams appear to have some work to do still when it comes to their salary cap situation. Vancouver has just under $2MM in cap room per CapFriendly with forwards Jake Virtanen and Adam Gaudette needing new deals. Meanwhile, Vegas is still nearly $1MM over the cap per CapFriendly and that’s only with carrying the minimum number of forwards on their roster. Assuming that they’ll want a spare, that will only add to what they have to try to clear in the coming weeks and months. Marc-Andre Fleury has been a speculative trade candidate for a while now but his market may be thin with most teams have their tandems in place already.
TSN’s Darren Dreger was first to report that Schmidt was heading to Vancouver.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Jake Virtanen Files For Arbitration
- The deadline to file for arbitration is at 4:00 PM CT today but Jake Virtanen isn’t waiting that long as Sportsnet’s Irfaan Gaffar reports (Twitter link) that the Canucks winger has already filed. The 24-year-old had 18 goals and 18 assists in 69 games this season despite a drop in playing time but he was much quieter in the playoffs, tallying just twice with a lone assist in 16 contests while spending some time on their fourth line. Virtanen was tendered a $1.4MM qualifying offer earlier this week and should come in considerably higher than that with or without his case going to a hearing.
Calgary Flames Sign Jacob Markstrom To Six-Year Deal
The Jacob Markstrom sweepstakes has a winner. The top goalie on the free agent market opted not to re-sign with the Vancouver Canucks but instead to join the rival Calgary Flames. The Flames have announced that they have agreed to terms with Markstrom on a six-year, $36MM contract. TSN’s Bob McKenzie adds that Markstrom’s deal carries a full No-Movement Clause.
Markstrom, 30, picked a good time to have a career year. In a market with numerous teams needing a new starting goalie, Markstrom was the consensus top option after posting a .918 save percentage and .535 winning percentage. Markstrom finished fourth in the Vezina Trophy voting for the best goalie in the league and was voted the Canucks’ team MVP. In a contract year, he established himself as a legitimate long-term starter.
What resulted was a bidding war for the netminder. Even after proclaiming all year that re-signing Markstrom was a priority, Vancouver could not keep up with rivals Calgary and Edmonton, opting instead to sign Braden Holtby to a short-term deal. Edmonton eventually fell out of the race as well and have yet to find a solution in net.
Calgary, who failed to come to terms on an extension with Cam Talbot prior to free agency opening, end up upgrading the position with Markstrom. David Rittich had failed to prove that he could be relied upon as a starter and will now settle into a backup role, if he is not traded away that is. Markstrom will add some much needed security on the back end for the Flames, who could lose defensemen T.J. Brodie and Travis Hamonic to free agency.
Evan Rodrigues Signs With Pittsburgh Penguins
After being included in a trade earlier this summer, Evan Rodrigues is headed back to the Pittsburgh Penguins. The forward ended up going unqualified by the Toronto Maple Leafs after they acquired him as part of the package for Kasperi Kapanen, meaning he was an unrestricted free agent that could sign anywhere. Well, he decided to return to Pittsburgh, signing a one-year contract worth $700K. GM Jim Rutherford released a statement on the deal:
We were pleased with Evan’s play during his brief stint with us last season. His versatility and ability to play all three forward positions, especially center, is an asset that gives us options and adds depth to our forward group.
Rodrigues, 27, has shown glimpses of high-end NHL talent over his short career but never quite put things together for a long stretch. An undrafted free agent signing by the Buffalo Sabres out of Boston University, he has 72 points in 199 career NHL games including a career-high of 29 in the 2018-19 season.
In Pittsburgh, he’ll be battling for a bottom-six role but can provide some nice depth for a team that is still trying to win the Stanley Cup. Undrafted college free agents have found a ton of success over the years in the Penguins organization, hopefully Rodrigues can be the next example of that.
Vancouver Canucks Sign Braden Holtby
The Vancouver Canucks won’t re-sign Jacob Markstrom, but they’ll bring in a Vezina Trophy winner to replace him. The team is expected to sign Braden Holtby to a two-year contract worth a total of $8.6MM, according to several reports including Dan Murphy of Sportsnet.
Holtby joins Thatcher Demko in Vancouver’s net on an extremely reasonable contract that won’t hamstring the Canucks as they move forward. In fact, given that the team will likely protect Demko in the Seattle expansion draft, it will be interesting to see if Holtby even plays out the full two-year term in Vancouver.
For now though, Holtby joins a team that already went deep into the playoffs and has some of the best young players in the NHL. Elias Pettersson and Quinn Hughes will only improve in the coming years and now have a goaltender behind them that has won almost everything possible in the NHL.
A Vezina, Jennings and Stanley Cup winner, Holtby has put up a .916 save percentage in 468 regular season appearances. That number dropped dramatically in 2019-20, but having just turned 31 there are many who believe Holtby can bounce-back.
Tyler Motte Re-Signs With Vancouver Canucks
The Vancouver Canucks have re-signed free agent forward Tyler Motte to a new two-year deal. Thomas Drance of The Athletic reports that the deal is worth a total of $2.45MM ($1.225MM AAV). The young forward will earn $1MM in 2020-21 and $1.45MM in 2021-22.
Motte, 25, was a revelation for the Canucks in the postseason, flying all over the ice and contributing some timely secondary scoring. Though he had just four goals in 17 games, that included a game-winner and a short-handed tally. Motte also racked up 61 hits in those 17 games, using his 5’10” frame to its full potential.
The Canucks loved his energy, but Motte will have to show he can be a reliable regular season option as well. In 123 games with the Canucks he has just 26 points, including just eight this season.
Pittsburgh Penguins Re-Sign Sam Lafferty
After making a qualifying offer to restricted free agent Sam Lafferty, the Pittsburgh Penguins have now come to terms on a contract extension with the young forward. The team has announced a two-year, $1.5MM contract for Lafferty. The 25-year-old will be an unrestricted free agent when the deal expires following the 2021-22 season.
While Lafferty’s new $750K AAV is actually a reduction from his prior NHL cap hit of $768K, it is a one-way contract that promises the local product more guaranteed money than his entry-level deal. Lafferty’s low cap hit will also make him a more valuable asset to the cap-strapped Penguins this year. Lafferty played 50 games with Pittsburgh in his rookie season, recording 13 points, and he will look to win and retain a full-time role again next season. If he can provide positive contributions on a consistent basis, the Penguins will appreciate his affordable impact.
Lafferty is still waivers-exempt and could potentially be sent down to the AHL,but it is a safe bet that he is in Pittsburgh for good. GM Jim Rutherford stated the following in the team’s press release announcing Lafferty’s extension: “We have been very pleased with Sam’s development. His size and speed are big advantages in today’s game, and we like what he brings to our lineup.”
Vancouver Canucks Re-Sign Zack MacEwen
The Vancouver Canucks have re-signed one of their restricted free agents, inking Zack MacEwen to a new two-year contract. The deal will carry an average annual value of $825K. Canucks GM Jim Benning released a short statement on the deal:
Zack is a physical two-way forward whose game complements our roster. He’s a talented young player with a high compete level and we’re excited to have him continue to develop his career as a member of the Vancouver Canucks.
MacEwen, 24, is a good example of what hard work and dedication can do for a player even if they are overlooked on draft day. Not only did MacEwen fail to hear his name called in an NHL draft, but he also didn’t even get picked in the QMJHL draft. Undeterred, MacEwen became a star in junior and then a star in the AHL before finally establishing himself as an NHL player this season. In 17 games with the Canucks he recorded five goals and six points, lending his size and scoring touch to the fourth line.
Now, after signing this new contract, he’ll look to lock down an roster spot from training camp and play his first full season in the NHL. The 6’4″ winger gives Vancouver an inexpensive option to play in the bottom-six as they get ready to watch Tyler Toffoli and Josh Leivo potentially leave in free agency and have to move up some of their other forwards.
Tyler Toffoli To Test Free Agency
The Vancouver Canucks have not been able to clear the cap space required to re-sign Tyler Toffoli, so the forward will reach free agency according to Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet. The Canucks acquired Toffoli in a February trade that saw Tim Schaller, Tyler Madden and a 2020 second-round pick go to the Los Angeles Kings. If they were to re-sign him, they would have also sent a 2020 fourth-round selection.
Even with that draft pick compensation attached, Toffoli seemed like a real candidate to be re-signed after fitting in perfectly in Vancouver. The 28-year-old forward scored six goals and ten points in ten games for the Canucks down the stretch, then added four more points in seven playoff games. A former 30-goal scorer, he totaled 24 on the year in a nice bounceback season.
Perhaps that bounceback is exactly what priced Toffoli out of the Vancouver market, given how tight their salary cap situation is going to be in the next few years. Elias Pettersson and Quinn Hughes are both up for new deals after the upcoming season, while Brock Boeser only has two years left on his deal. Even Bo Horvat is only signed through the 2022-23 season, meaning any long-term commitment to Toffoli would complicate things even further.
As for the open market, the 2014 Stanley Cup champion should have plenty of interest. Toffoli is a player that can score goals even without a ton of time on the powerplay and has shown a knack for game-winners throughout his career. While he may slide in behind names like Taylor Hall and Mike Hoffman in terms of pure offense, he’ll still be on the radar of plenty of teams around the league.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images
Oliver Ekman-Larsson Places Deadline On Potential Trade
The Arizona Coyotes have been trying to trade captain Oliver Ekman-Larsson over the past few weeks, asking him to give them a list of teams that he would be willing to waive his no-trade clause to go to. The star defenseman has given them an option of just the Vancouver Canucks or Boston Bruins and has now put a clock on the negotiations as well.
Ekman-Larsson’s agent Kevin Epp of Titan Sports Management has contacted several media members including Darren Dreger of TSN, explaining that his client wishes to be traded before free agency opens on Friday. If a deal cannot be completed before then, Ekman-Larsson will remain in Arizona.
The 29-year-old defenseman is heading into just the second season of an eight-year, $66MM contract extension he signed in 2018 to stay in Arizona. When Ekman-Larsson signed that contract and included a full no-movement clause throughout, he likely believed that he would spend his entire career with the Coyotes, the team that drafted him sixth overall in 2009.
Instead, new management approached him this offseason with the potential of a trade, likely due to the need to cut payroll drastically after the coronavirus shutdown. Ekman-Larsson is the Coyotes’ highest-paid player and will be entering the most expensive years of his contract after this season. In each of the three seasons following 2020-21, he is owed $10.5MM in total salary, before his contract starts to fall off. Getting out from under that now would save Arizona plenty of cash, plus hopefully recoup several valuable assets.
If they’re going to pull it off, it’s going to have to happen quickly. Notably, the Coyotes do not have a selection in the first three rounds of tonight’s entry draft.