Snapshots: Markstrom, Vegas, Hartford
When the 2019-20 NHL season was paused, Vancouver Canucks were right on the edge of returning to the playoffs. It’s not somewhere they’ve been since 2015, so turning things around is an impressive accomplishment for this young group. One of the older players on the team that was around (however infrequently) for that 2014-15 season is Jacob Markstrom, who happens to be scheduled for unrestricted free agency this summer.
If you ask him though, this won’t be his last chance to help Vancouver reach the playoffs. Markstrom was on a conference call with reporters yesterday including Iain MacIntyre of Sportsnet, and explained that he wants to “stay in Vancouver” and has “no plans of leaving.” Markstrom does understand the complicated situation that every team is in with regards to free agents and an uncertain salary cap, but is obviously hoping that he can stick around for a while longer. The 30-year old goaltender was having the best season of his career, posting a 23-16-4 record and .918 save percentage when the season was paused.
- If you’ve been wondering whether or not the Vegas Golden Knights would ever name a captain, Peter DeBoer has some answers for you. According to Ken Boehlke of SinBin.vegas, DeBoer discussed the captain question on a season ticket holder podcast, explaining that he believes a team should have one and that the Golden Knights have several candidates. For what it is worth, Boehlke expects Mark Stone to be the captain if one is named. Stone is currently the highest-paid player on the Golden Knights and is signed through 2026-27.
- The Hartford Wolf Pack are bringing back some experience for next season, signing Vincent LoVerde and Mason Geertsen to one-year AHL contracts for 2020-21. LoVerde, 31, is. two-time Calder Cup champion that scored 21 points in 62 games for the Wolf Pack this season. Geertsen, 25, won the ECHL’s Kelly Cup in 2017 before establishing himself as a full-time AHL player the last three years.
Vegas Golden Knights Extend Nicolas Roy
The Vegas Golden Knights have finished some business on Wednesday afternoon, signing Nicolas Roy to a two-year contract extension. The deal will carry an average annual value of just $750K and keeps Roy under contract through the 2021-22 season. The young forward was scheduled to become a restricted free agent this summer.
Roy, 23, finally broke through and became a semi-regular for the Golden Knights this season, playing in 28 games at the NHL level. The 6’4″ center recorded ten points in those games but was much more impressive at the minor league level where he was nearly a point-per-game player.
Locking up a center for such a reasonable amount—even if he is likely destined to stay in the bottom-six—is a win for the Golden Knights, who are one of the teams holding their breath while they wait to see what will happen to the 2020-21 salary cap ceiling. The Golden Knights shed some salary this season but are still pushed relatively close to the ceiling with several roster spots to fill.
With that in mind, there should be a real opportunity for Roy over the next two seasons. He will require waivers in order to be sent to the minor leagues and has already proven capable at the NHL level. Should he fail to receive that opportunity and ends the contract with fewer than 80 games at the NHL level, he’ll become a Group VI unrestricted free agent at the age of 25.
Pacific Notes: Hall, Reaves, Edler
It’s been three weeks since Arizona Coyotes general manager John Chayka told The Athletic that while no specifics on a contract with Taylor Hall had been discussed during the NHL suspension break, he and Hall’s agent, Darren Ferris, had been in discussion about a potential deal. The Coyotes traded for Hall in December with the hope that they would become the favorite to convince the star forward to sign with the team when he hit unrestricted free agency this offseason.
However, The Fourth Period’s David Pagnotta reports that Ferris says that he has not been approached by Chayka regarding contract talks during the break, putting even more confusion on whether Hall will choose Arizona as his long-term home. Hall has fared well with 10 goals and 27 points in 35 games with the Coyotes, but those are hardly numbers of a star player, although there is some transition time expected of any player when traded to a new team. However, the team also didn’t show much improvement with Hall in the lineup with the team going 14-17-4 during that time, although the team did have some goaltending issues during that time.
Hall is looking for a long-term deal in the range of seven or eight years, potentially around $10MM per season. The Coyotes are already right up against the cap and have little coming off their books next season, which might require Chayka to shake up their roster a bit if they want to retain Hall.
- The Athletic’s Jesse Granger (subscription required) analyzes some the chances that the Vegas Golden Knights will bring back each of their pending unrestricted free agents, noting that there is a strong likelihood that the team will retain forward Ryan Reaves, who was heavily recruited two years ago when he was a free agent. Reaves signed a two-year, $5.5MM deal to return to Vegas, but now at age 33, is likely going to be willing to take less to stay with the Golden Knights. He is rooted in Vegas as a fan favorite, who has his own beer company in the city and he holds more endorsements than any other Vegas player. He tallied eight goals and 15 points in 71 games this year to go with a league-leading 316 hits.
- The Athletic’s Harman Dayal (subscription required) looks at the Vancouver Canucks’ possession statistics and how the play of rookie defenseman Quinn Hughes has made quite the difference. However, Dayal does note that one player who has seen a significant decline in play last year was Alexander Edler, who had the lowest possession exit percentage among team defensemen with just 25.8 percent (compared to Hughes’ 48.1 percent). With the league average at 34.6 percent, Edler’s numbers have been in decline for a couple of years now. He is currently in the middle of a two-year, $12MM contract.
Stretch Run Storylines: Vegas Golden Knights
As things stand, the NHL is planning to have games resume at some point over the coming weeks. Assuming the regular season continues, there will be plenty of things to watch for over the stretch run. Over the weeks ahead, PHR will examine the top stretch run storylines for each team. We begin our look at the Pacific Division with Vegas.
The Golden Knights’ third NHL season has had some surprises along the way. Chief among those was Gerard Gallant getting replaced midseason by Peter DeBoer who coached the team that put Vegas out of the playoffs last season, a move that has paid some early dividends as they’ve gone 15-5-2 under their new bench boss to reach the top of the division. While they’re sitting comfortably in a playoff spot for any potential stretch run, there is still plenty to watch for if games resume.
Reset For Tuch
This has not been a season to remember for Alex Tuch. The winger was coming off of a breakout sophomore campaign and it looked as if he was going to be a fixture in their top six. However, things went off the rails before the year even got underway. An upper-body injury late in training camp cost him more than a month and that setback has affected his entire season. He has struggled considerably offensively and then a mid-February leg injury put him on the shelf again where he remained when the shutdown was put in place.
If there was anyone on the Golden Knights that could benefit from a reset, it’s Tuch. Now healthy, he’ll be able to start fresh if and when a mini training camp is held in advance of games being played and will be at a similar level in terms of conditioning as everyone else. That presents him with an opportunity to be much more of a difference-maker in the postseason after being basically a supporting cast type of player when he has been in the lineup this year. If that happens, that will be a nice boost to a Vegas attack that was in the top ten in the NHL before the pandemic.
Goaltending Minutes
At the age of 35, Vegas was understandably hoping to limit Marc-Andre Fleury’s minutes this season. However, Malcolm Subban’s struggles made that a challenge and the team was ultimately forced to look for an upgrade for their backup goaltender.
However, they didn’t just get a backup when they acquired Robin Lehner from Chicago at the trade deadline for a package involving Subban. They got someone who is capable of handling a larger workload and he’s someone with a lot to play for as he’s slated to be one of the more intriguing netminders to hit the unrestricted free agent market this offseason.
If regular season games resume, there could be a few sets of back-to-backs which would have the Golden Knights well positioned to get through the stretch. But what if they jump to the playoffs right away? Fleury has been their undisputed starter since joining them in the Expansion Draft but with a capable number one in Lehner behind him, will his leash be shorter this time around? It’s a nice challenge for DeBoer to navigate if it happens although Lehner has been vocal that he doesn’t expect games to resume this season.
Scoring Race
While Max Pacioretty and Mark Stone won’t be contending for any scoring titles, the pair have been locked in a close battle for the team lead in scoring, one that could very well go down to the wire if games resume. Stone actually had the narrow advantage before suffering a lower-body injury in late February that caused him to miss the last six games and likely took him out of contention of pursuing a new career high. In his absence, Pacioretty picked up four points to take a three-point lead, 66 to 63.
Stone will be back to full health if play resumes and a small gap like that can easily be made up if they play close to an 82-game season. Pacioretty, meanwhile, would be in the midst of his own scoring battle as he sits just one point of his career best of 67, a mark he reached twice with the Canadiens in the past. If there are any more regular season contests to be played, this will be one of the tighter internal scoring races in the league.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Evening Notes: Greene, DeBoer, Gostisbehere
The New York Islander paid a premium price to acquire 37-year-old defenseman Andy Greene from the New Jersey Devils at the trade deadline, sending the Devils their 2021 second-round pick. However, with the suspension in place, the Islanders have only gotten 10 games from the veteran blueliner.
Newday’s Andrew Gross writes, however, that Greene has made it clear that he doesn’t have any intention to retire at the end of this season.
“Oh, yeah, for sure, in my mind, I’m definitely going to play,” Greene told Newsday this week.
While that doesn’t necessarily mean that Greene, an unrestricted free agent this offseason, would return to the Islanders next year, at least it’s still a possibility. Greene finished his 14th season in the league with two goals, 14 points and 155 blocked shots in 63 games.
- If the NHL decides to go with a playoff system with more than the standard 16 games, the Vegas Golden Knights would receive a bye in the first-round of the playoffs as they are the No. 1 seed in the Pacific Division. However, head coach Peter DeBoer suggested recently, via SinBin’s Ken Boehlke, that he isn’t enamored with that idea and would not be interested in a bye for his team. “I don’t want to be the team with the bye, sitting there after being off for a month or two months or three months. Having teams play two-out-of-threes and play-in games while you’re sitting there. There’s a huge advantage to having actually played games. I know the bye sounds like an advantage. And it is an advantage if you’ve been playing an entire 82-game season and you roll into that and you have 10 days to prepare for the next round. But when you’ve been sitting around for months, it’s a disadvantage. From a fairness point of view, that would be a concern for me.”
- Once considered to be a future franchise piece to their defense, Philadelphia Flyers defenseman Shayne Gostisbehere has struggled for two straight years, which includes a five-goal, 12-point season last year in 42 games. While there was talk that he could have been a trade candidate at the trade deadline, Philadelphia Inquirer’s Sam Carchidi writes that it’s extremely likely that Gostisbehere will be traded within the next year due to the expansion draft in 2021. With the team likely to only protect three defensemen, it’s a lock that the Flyers will protect Ivan Provorov, Travis Sanheim and Philippe Myers, leaving Gostisbehere available to Seattle. However, the scribe believes that team is more likely to trade him rather than just hand him over to Seattle for nothing.
Perunovich Contract Likely To Open Up Deals For Other Top Collegiates
While many undrafted college players have already signed in the last couple of weeks, only a handful of top collegiate players have inked new deals. One of the reasons is due to questions surrounding whether players could sign contracts for this year, since it the rest of the season remains in limbo. However, with the recent signing of defenseman Scott Perunovich with the St. Louis Blues to two different contracts, that could open up a flood of players who are ready to sign contacts, according to Scott Powers of The Athletic (subscription required).
Perunovich agreed to two contracts Friday, one that would start this year (assuming the season continues), while the other would start in the 2019-20 season, although both contracts would be two-year deals. The scribe notes that St. Louis had to get NHL approval of the two contracts, which now could open up possibilities for several college players, including Chicago Blackhawks’ Ian Mitchell, Vegas Golden Knights’ Jack Dugan and Winnipeg Jets’ Dylan Samberg.
Powers uses the example of Mitchell, who wrapped up his junior season at the University of Denver and has to sign a three-year, entry-level contract due to his age. Mitchell would prefer to sign starting this season as it would immediately burn that first year.
“Right now we are waiting to see what happens with the NHL season,” the 21-year-old Mitchell wrote. “There is a freeze on contracts being signed for this season. If I were to sign a contract now, I wouldn’t be able to play this year if the season resumes. So right now it is just wait and see.”
Technically, Perunovich has not signed either contact, but will sign one of the two once it’s decided on whether the 2019-20 season will continue or not. That could be the case for any other college prospects who are eager to sign, but would prefer to sign for this year and not wait an extra year.
Mitchell continues to wait on whether there is a season this year, but is suddenly more open to signing soon after Perunovich’s deal.
“Yes, all options are on the table,” said Mitchell in a text when asked about signing a similar deal.
Powers believes that the contract itself has already been worked out, especially since Chicago has been willing to hand out “A” bonuses to their top prospects in the past and with Mitchell having the ability to threaten to return to Denver for his senior year, he is likely to get that, although it’s believed that he is leaning towards signing a pro contract.
Golden Knights Sign Zach Whitecloud To Two-Year Extension
3:28: Puckpedia reports that the deal is a one-way deal, meaning that he will be paid the $725K regardless of whether he’s in the NHL or AHL next season.
1:11 pm: The Vegas Golden Knights announced they have signed defenseman Zach Whitecloud to a two-year, $1.45MM extension ($725K AAV), giving the team some significant flexibility for next season as the team is expected to be right up against the cap once again. It’s actually a pay cut as Whitecloud was making $925K on his entry-level deal.
“We really have seen in his time with the NHL team that he has developed into a real good NHL defenseman,” said Vegas general manager Kelly McCrimmon. “He has earned the extension. It was a real good free-agent signing by us to be able to put him on our organization.”
Whitecloud, who was heading for restricted free agency this offseason, had taken on a key role with the Golden Knights after the team recalled him on Feb. 1. He has since played in 16 games, offering Vegas a solid defensive-minded third-pairing option and saw his playing time increase over the past five games before the season was suspended. He has one assist in those 16 games, but is averaging 14:19 of ATOI.
The Golden Knights looked to have picked up a big victory in 2018 when they beat out several teams to sign Whitecloud, who was considered to be one of the prize unsigned college free-agents after two impressive seasons at Bemidji State University. Whitecloud has worked on his game with the Chicago Wolves in the AHL where he even showed a little offensive prowess. He had six goals and 28 points that season. Those offensive numbers dipped this year as Chicago has struggled more with just seven points in 35 games. However, it was believed he was ready to take on an NHL role when he swapped places with Vegas rookie defenseman Nicolas Hague.
Whitecloud’s role is likely to increase with both Jonathon Merrill and veteran Deryk Engelland both expected to hit unrestricted free agency. And with salary cap at a premium, the team is likely going to depend more on their young blueliners, including Whitecloud, Hague and Jimmy Schuldt.
College Notes: Dugan, Zegras, York, Beecher, Ahcan, Chaffee, Richards
So far when it comes to the college market, the Vegas Golden Knights have been quiet. However, rumors suggested that the Vegas franchise intended to bring aboard Hobey Baker Award finalist Jack Dugan, who wrapped up his sophomore season at Providence College. General manager Kelly McCrimmon confirmed that they will begin negotiations soon with Dugan, who led the NCAA in points this season, according to Las Vegas Review-Journal’s David Schoen.
“We’ll have discussions with his representatives here at an appropriate point,” said McCrimmon. “It hasn’t been pressing because there’s no hockey being played. But those are conversations we’ll have here as we move along.”
Dugan, the team’s fifth-round pick in 2017, has driven up his stock in two years at Providence. He had an impressive rookie season where he posted 10 goals and 39 points in 41 games and followed that up with a much more dominant sophomore campaign, scoring 10 goals and 52 points in just 34 games. The 6-foot-2 winger would likely challenge for a role with the Golden Knights if he signs, although the team could send him to the AHL to further develop his skills.
- In a Q&A, The Athletic’s Eric Stephens (subscription required) writes that from everyone he’s talked to, it’s expected that top prospect Trevor Zegras will leave Boston University and sign with Anaheim at some point during the offseason. Zegras, the ninth-overall pick in the 2019 draft, dominated at the World Junior Championships in December, leading the United States with nine assists in five games. He had 11 goals and 36 points in 33 games. Considered to be one of the top prospects in hockey, Zegras could conceivably make the Ducks squad next year and challenge for the Calder Trophy.
- Michigan Daily’s Bailey Johnson reports that University of Michigan head coach Mel Pearson said that while he hasn’t had exit meetings with two of his top players, defenseman Cam York and center John Beecher, he expects both players to return to the Wolverines next season. York, the Philadelphia Flyers first-round pick (14th overall) in 2019, had five goals and 16 points in 30 games for Michigan. Beecher, the Boston Bruins first-round pick (30th overall) had nine goals and 16 points in 31 contests for the Wolverines. Pearson said both players are home and he’s giving them time before discussing the subject with them, but he believes both intend to stay in school.
- AHL reporter Mark Divver reports that the Boston Bruins are expected to be in the mix for two of the remaining top NCAA free agents in St. Cloud State’s Jack Ahcan and University of Massachusetts-Amherst’s Mitchell Chaffee. Ahcan, a 22-year-old defenseman, wrapped up his senior campaign with seven goals and 25 points. Chaffee, who also is 22, scored 16 goals and 29 points in 30 games last season, his junior year, and is rumored to be courted by the Golden Knights as well. Divver adds that University of Minnesota-Duluth center Justin Richards is also on Boston’s radar.
College Notes: Perunovich, Poolman, McLaughlin
Among the ten finalists for the Hobey Baker award, there are several seniors that don’t have much of a decision coming for them this summer. Their college careers are over, and they’ll be starting their professional careers in one fashion or another. Some of the others however, including St. Louis Blues draft pick Scott Perunovich, still have college eligibility remaining and could return.
The potential Blues’ prospect is one of considerable intrigue, especially after making a post on Instagram yesterday thanking his teammates and the Minnesota-Duluth program. For a player as accomplished as the UMD junior, signing his entry-level contract for 2019-20 and making his NHL debut was a possibility. With the season now up in the air, it’s unclear how the negotiations will proceed. The 21-year old defenseman had 105 points in 115 games at the college level and could be an impact player quickly for the Blues.
- Brad Elliott Schlossman of the Grand Forks Herald reports that the Calgary Flames are a frontrunner for the services of Colton Poolman, an undrafted collegiate defenseman out of the University of North Dakota. The younger brother of Winnipeg Jets defenseman Tucker Poolman, Colton captained UND this season and recorded 17 points in 31 games. Not quite as big as his brother, the younger Poolman is also already 24 and will have to cover a lot of development ground quickly if he wants to become a regular NHL player.
- Jake McLaughlin, another undrafted college defenseman about to turn 24, has minor league contract offers from six different teams according to AHL reporter Mark Divver. McLaughlin recently finished his senior season at UMass, scoring 14 points in 34 games. UPDATE (3/19): McLaughlin is officially off the market. The Amherst standout, who was one of the NCAA’s best defensive defenseman this season, has signed an AHL deal with the Vegas Golden Knights, per Divver. Seeing as this is a contract beginning in 2020-21, McLaughlin could technically be considered the first ever signing by the future Henderson Silver Knights, the soon-to-be-relocated version of the San Antonio Rampage, who were purchased by Vegas last month.
Peter Diliberatore Expected To Return For Junior Season
The Vegas Golden Knights won’t be signing Peter Diliberatore this spring, as according to Chip Malafronte of the New Haven Register the defenseman has turned down an NHL contract offer to return to Quinnipiac for his junior season.
If you haven’t heard of the 19-year old Diliberatore, even as a Golden Knights fan, you’re probably not alone. A sixth-round selection in 2018, he was picked out of the high school hockey circuit in Connecticut and was never a part of the major international tournaments for players of his age. That is, he didn’t actually take part in any—but he was certainly on their radar.
Diliberatore was invited to Canada’s selection camp for the most recent World Junior Championship, and though he didn’t make the cut it was a huge accomplishment for such an unheralded prospect. Scott Wheeler of The Athletic (subscription required) chronicled that journey, including speaking to his high school coach who explained exactly what makes him special:
He’s elusive, he evades forecheckers really well and then he passes the puck off to a forward and who knows where it goes from there. And he quarterbacked our power play but his ability to run the breakout is much greater than his ability to run the power play. That contributed to him not having huge, huge numbers. What contributed to him being a draft pick was his skating and his compete level.
He hasn’t had huge, huge numbers at Quinnipiac either, but 40 points in 72 games over his first two seasons is still a very interesting total for a player that isn’t offense-only. It’s no wonder that the Golden Knights wanted to get him into their development system quickly, but they’ll have to wait to try and convince him next year.
Deliberatore’s exclusive draft rights will continue to be held by Vegas until August, 2022.