Minor Transactions: 08/15/19
As August continues and we get further into contract negotiations, teams continue to fill our their organizational depth charts. Here are some minor moves from around the league. We’ll keep updating as more come in:
- The Toronto Marlies have re-signed Nicholas Baptiste to an AHL contract, giving them some firepower for next season. Baptiste was originally a third-round pick of the Buffalo Sabres but after 47 games in the NHL has been traded twice in the last ten months. The Toronto Maple Leafs decided not to offer Baptiste a qualifying offer this offseason which made him an unrestricted free agent, but he’ll stay with the Marlies for the time being.
- The Brandon Wheat Kings have convinced Vegas Golden Knights prospect Marcus Kallionkieli to sign in the CHL, something we suggested when the NHL club signed him to an entry-level contract earlier this summer. The Wheat Kings are owned by Vegas executive Kelly McCrimmon, who picked Kallionkieli in both the NHL draft and CHL Import Draft within just a few days in June.
Vegas Golden Knights Renew ECHL Affiliation
The Vegas Golden Knights and Fort Wayne Komets will be partners once again. The two organizations have renewed their affiliation for the 2019-20 season, giving Vegas a primary ECHL affiliate again this season. The Komets will once again benefit from receiving the Golden Knights’ raw or long-shot prospects and try to continue their streak of playoff appearances.
Last season saw the Komets post a 36-26-10 record in their first year with the Golden Knights, making it six consecutive seasons they had reached the postseason. That was thanks to a well-rounded attack and veteran goaltending. Former top Montreal Canadiens prospect Zach Fucale spent most of the season with the Komets, starting 34 games for the team and going 20-9-3. With Fucale now in the Syracuse Crunch organization the net will be open to other Golden Knights prospects. Dylan Ferguson, who will turn pro this season is a candidate, though it will depend what happens at the AHL level.
Top scorer Justin Hodgman has also moved on, taking his talents to Germany and the DEL. The former Arizona Coyotes forward had 57 points in 50 games for the Komets last season, edging out long-time ECHL superstar Shawn Szydlowski—who will return for 2019-20—for the team lead.
Vegas, Jimmy Schuldt Begin Negotiations
- The Vegas Golden Knights have most of their offseason business dealt with, but Jimmy Schuldt remains unsigned after burning through his entry-level contract in the last few weeks of the 2018-19 season. Jesse Granger of The Athletic reports that negotiations with the young defenseman only recently started, perhaps delayed because of all of the other moves the team needed to make. After trading away the likes of Nikita Gusev, Erik Haula and Colin Miller the Golden Knights got themselves under the salary cap, but not by a ton. It will be interesting to see what kind of salary Schuldt can command after playing just a single NHL game. The St. Cloud State standout signed with the Golden Knights after an excellent college career and could see regular time on their blueline this season.
Free Agent Profile: Cam Ward
Since the unrestricted free agency rush of July 1st subsided, just two NHL goaltenders have been signed off the open market: Anthony Stolarz with the Anaheim Ducks and Jared Coreau with the New York Islanders. That’s two goalie signings in 33 days, making it easily the quietest position of this off-season, despite a major re-shuffling of UFA starters early on and several RFA extensions as well.
Unsurprisingly, several notable names remain available – Scott Darling, Chad Johnson, Mike McKenna, Al Montoya – while Michal Neuvirth has already accepted a PTO. However, one name sticks out above the rest for both his career accomplishments and his meaningful role in 2018-19.
Cam Ward, 35, ventured outside of Carolina last season for the first time in his 14-year NHL career. Ward signed a one-year, $3MM contract with the Chicago Blackhawks last summer and proceeded to play a major tole for the team this past season. Dealing with ongoing issues with starter Corey Crawford, Ward ended up playing in 33 games to Crawford’s 39 and Collin Delia‘s 16. Although Ward’s .897 save percentage and 3.67 GAA were the worst among the trio, it was only a marginal gap. The Blackhawks struggled defensively and no goalie was safe, as all three finished with a save percentage below .910 and GAA above 2.90.
Still, Ward cannot have been happy with his results last year. A Stanley Cup winner and former All-Star, Ward was rock solid for the Hurricanes for several years. He thrived early on as a workhorse, including a 2010-11 campaign in which he posted a career-high .923 save percentage in a league-best 74 appearances. He then settled nicely into a timeshare role, posting back-to-back seasons with a 2.40 GAA while playing in around 50 games each year from 2014 to 2016. Even as he continued to age and his numbers slipped slightly, no one could have predicted his pedestrian performance last season. It was a sharp decline from his career numbers that could have been an outlier or could be signaling the end of his career.
One thing that is certainly working against Ward finding work this off-season is the now well-established narrative that he does not play well as a backup. Over his career, Ward has played in four seasons, including last year in Chicago, in which he did not make at least half of his team’s starts. In those three seasons combined, Ward is 49-38-13, with a a save percentage of .895 and a GAA of 3.37. In all of his other seasons combined, Ward has a record of 285-218-75, with a save percentage of .911 and a GAA of 2.63. It is extremely clear that Ward does his best work with regular appearances and any team looking to make the most of signing him will want to offer that opportunity. But does such a landing spot exist?
Potential Suitors
The honest answer is that the team likely to sign Ward, if any, isn’t aware of the need just yet. Ward could very well be a veteran option that a team turns to in case of injury or poor performance that can be a temporary starter. While it’s impossible to project injuries, the New York Rangers have a starter who is even older than Ward and have very little depth behind him. A Henrik Lundqvist injury could certainly turn the Blueshirts on to Ward as an option to step in at starter during a season that brings high expectations to New York. The same could be said for the Vegas Golden Knights, whose 34-year-old starter Marc-Andre Fleury has dealt with injury issues before. Vegas is in better shape with their depth in net and could handle a short absence from Fleury, but without a proven NHL goalie elsewhere on the depth chart, a long-term injury could send them on the hunt for a solution. Despite having both John Gibson and Ryan Miller, the Anaheim Ducks are far from safe when it comes to injury risk and could be an option for Ward if disaster strikes. The Philadelphia Flyers shuffled through goalies like no other team in NHL history last year, so another issue with Brian Elliott could easily have the Flyers intrigued in Ward.
As for teams who risk needing a starter due to poor play, no team jumps out more than the Columbus Blue Jackets. It’s perhaps even fair to call them the most likely landing spot for Ward, as they are sure to go through some bumpy times with their young tandem of former backup Joonas Korpisalo and unproven import Elvis Merzlikins. The team only has more untested foreign talent in the minors as well. The Blue Jackets have ample cap space, so if there was a bidding war for Ward at any point, Columbus would be the favorite to beat out any other team in need of an emergency starter.
If Ward is intent on signing before the season begins though, rather than wait for a need-based market to develop in-season, there are a couple of teams who could still be looking for a backup. Again, that isn’t the ideal role for Ward, but it is one that the respected veteran would likely be willing to try his hand at again. The Florida Panthers spent big on Sergei Bobrovsky this summer, but 22-year-old Samuel Montembeault is slated to be the primary backup heading into next year. He is waiver-exempt still and could head to the AHL without issue if the team opted to look at a veteran backup. However, this doesn’t seem extremely likely, considering their investment in Bobrovsky, who they likely expect to make 65 starts. In Colorado, the Avalanche seemed hesitant to give last year’s third-string, Pavel Francouz, an extended look despite strong numbers in the NHL and AHL. He is now the likely backup to Philipp Grubauer, who himself is still finding his footing as a true starter. The Avs have almost no depth in net and could look to add another name to the mix in Ward.
Projected Contract
Ward has made at least $3MM in each of the past four seasons and more than $6MM on the contract prior to that. Those days are now over. Regardless of the impact that his role or the team’s defense had on his 2018-19 performance in Chicago, Ward has lost his leverage to command a sizable salary after such a poor season. If he is settling in to a backup role before the season, he will almost certainly land somewhere between $1MM and the league minimum of $700K. If he is signing mid-season to take over as a starter or at least in a timeshare, that number could go up, but not much higher. If Ward feels like he has several years left, he will be looking at this season as an investment in future earnings; he will accept a cheap deal to go to the right place where there is the potential to succeed, so as to hit the market next summer with some more bargaining power. The only question is whether that right fit exists, now or down the road after the season begins. Ward could call it a career if no such opportunities arise by the end of the calendar year.
Vegas Golden Knights Sign Marcus Kallionkieli
The Vegas Golden Knights have signed forward Marcus Kallionkieli to a three-year entry-level contract. The 18-year old was selected in the fifth round by the Golden Knights last month, and spent last season with the Sioux City Musketeers of the USHL.
Kallionkieli was one of the most dangerous players in the USHL early on last season and finished the year with 29 goals and 53 points in just 58 games. A solid rookie season in North America followed his development in Finland where he built a solid skating foundation. The 6’1″ winger is a good finisher around the net but there is still some uncertainty over where his offensive ceiling will eventually land.
Nevertheless the Golden Knights apparently saw enough to sign him right away. It’s unclear where he is going to play next season, but his contract can slide forward twice and not kick in until 2021-22 if he’s not in the NHL. He could end up in the WHL where the Brandon Wheat Kings own his rights after taking him 22nd overall in the recent CHL Import Draft. That seems to make sense as his next landing spot, given the Wheat Kings organization is owned by Vegas executive Kelly McCrimmon.
New Jersey Devils Acquire Nikita Gusev
Former Vegas Golden Knights forward Nikita Gusev was a restricted free agent, but he could not be signed to an offer sheet and was not eligible for arbitration. That left him in a tricky spot if he couldn’t reach an agreement with the Golden Knights on a new contract, and recently his Russian agent explained that there would be a deadline for him to consider a return to the KHL. That won’t be necessary, as instead the New Jersey Devils have acquired the forward in exchange for a 2020 third-round pick and a 2021 second-round pick. The Devils immediately signed Gusev to a two-year, $9MM contract. PuckPedia reports that the deal will break down as follows:
- 2019-20: $700K salary + $4.3MM signing bonus
- 2020-21: $4.0MM salary + modified no-trade clause
The 27-year old Gusev was originally drafted by the Tampa Bay Lightning back in 2012, but has played his entire career in the KHL to this point. He signed a one-year entry-level contract with the Golden Knights earlier this year, but didn’t get into a game with the team down the stretch. His contract was still burned, leading to a difficult situation for Vegas. The team is in cap trouble this offseason and already had to trade away the likes of Erik Haula, Colin Miller and David Clarkson to get under the ceiling, making it tough to sign Gusev to a deal even approaching the $4.5MM average annual value he got from the Devils.
In New Jersey though, the Devils are be more than able to take a chance on a player that has shown an incredible offensive ceiling in the KHL. Gusev has routinely been among the league leaders in Russia, including a record breaking 82-point performance in 62 games last year. There’s no certainty to his game translating to the NHL, but the Devils have plenty of cap space and have built a nice core through the draft and trade market. Already this summer they have added first overall pick Jack Hughes, Norris-winning defenseman P.K. Subban and former powerplay specialist Wayne Simmonds to go along with names like Taylor Hall and Nico Hischier. Bringing Gusev in gives them another weapon to ice against the tough Metropolitan Division as they try to make it back to the playoffs.
For Vegas, recouping some draft picks is at least a way of keeping their franchise at a high level moving forward. The team has spent a ton of prospect capital to acquire players like Mark Stone and Max Pacioretty through trade, leaving their cupboard a little more empty than George McPhee and Kelly McCrimmon probably want. The team is already a Stanley Cup contender without Gusev on the roster, making this a little draft bonus to what they had built.
Still, losing out on a chance to add him to the lineup may turn out to be a mistake down the line. If Gusev is able to bring the same level of offense to the NHL he may immediately become one of the most productive players in the league, something the Golden Knights (or anyone) could obviously use. The Devils though will only have a short time to find out, as Gusev will be an unrestricted free agent at the end of this two-year deal.
Jesse Granger of The Athletic reported earlier that Vegas gave Gusev permission to work out a deal with New Jersey.
Deryk Engelland Believes 2019-20 Won't Be His Final Season
- While many expected that veteran defenseman Deryk Engelland would end up staying with the Golden Knights, he told Ben Gotz of the Las Vegas Review-Journal that he still received one-year offers from other teams this summer. However, he ultimately waited for Vegas to clear out David Clarkson’s contract before signing a one-year, bonus-laden deal to stick around. While he’ll be 38 by the end of next season, Engelland admitted that he’s not viewing the upcoming campaign as his final year and that he anticipates playing another season beyond this one, preferably in Vegas.
West Notes: Engelland, Hutton, Eriksson
The bonus structure for Deryk Engelland‘s new contract has been reported by PuckPedia, and there are certainly some achievable milestones for the veteran defenseman. Engelland will receive a $300K bonus for playing in ten games, and an additional $100K at the 20 and 30 game thresholds. He’ll also get an additional $100K if he finishes the season in the top-five on the Vegas Golden Knights in ice time, an $100K for making the playoffs, and $25K for each successful round.
The relatively easy bonuses are another reason why the Golden Knights didn’t want to be using long-term injured reserve if they can avoid it, hence the trade of David Clarkson‘s contract earlier this week. If they were using LTIR and Engelland reached the bonuses, they would be applied as a cap overage in 2020-21 giving the team even less room for additional spending. Obviously $800K in overages isn’t the end of the world, but for a team like Vegas who is expected to be cap-strapped for some time they can make a difference.
- Ben Hutton‘s agent Andy Scott of Octagon Hockey spoke to Rick Dhaliwal on Sportsnet radio, and explained that he has no doubt the free agent defenseman will be signed before the year starts. Hutton has “plenty of offers” according to Scott, though nothing has been worked out so far. Scott also gave his take on the Brock Boeser situation (who is represented by fellow Octagon agent Ben Hankinson) explaining that “everyone is taking it slow” in the market right now. Boeser is one of a huge number of star restricted free agents still without contracts as August nears.
- The conversation around Vancouver Canucks forward Loui Eriksson continues, this time with Harman Dayal of The Athletic (subscription required) exploring potential trade options in the form of LTIR contracts coming back. The most eye-popping suggestion is one that revolves around Ryan Kesler, who is a polarizing figure in Vancouver. The veteran center heard boos for his entire career with the Anaheim Ducks whenever they traveled to Vancouver after forcing his way out of the Canucks organization in 2014, but is not expected to ever play again after debilitating hip injuries and multiple surgeries. Eriksson still has three years remaining on his contract which carries a $6MM cap hit.
Vegas Golden Knights Trade David Clarkson, Sign Deryk Engelland
The Toronto Maple Leafs have acquired the contract of retired forward David Clarkson from the Vegas Golden Knights. The deal will see Garret Sparks go to the Golden Knights while Toronto will also receive a 2020 fourth-round pick. Clarkson has one year remaining on his contract and carries a $5.25MM cap hit. He will spend the year on long-term injured reserve. With the extra space, the Golden Knights have re-signed Deryk Engelland to a one-year $700K contract that also includes up to $800K in performance bonuses.
A deal like this appears confusing on the surface, given Toronto’s cap crunch and the fact that they still need to sign Mitch Marner. The most likely reason for it though is that the team is already planning on going deep into LTIR with Nathan Horton‘s contract (and perhaps Zach Hyman and Travis Dermott who are both on the shelf to start the year following various surgeries) and can use the Clarkson deal to go even further. This is not necessarily the case for the Golden Knights, who were well over the cap before moving Clarkson and needed to shed salary before the end of the offseason. Technically the Maple Leafs could wait until the first day of the season to sign Marner, avoiding offseason LTIR (which has a slightly different calculation for how much is added to the cap ceiling) in order to open enough room. Clarkson and Horton have a combined $10.55MM cap hit which, depending on how close the Maple Leafs can get their roster to the current $81.5MM salary cap ceiling, would be added on top to give them a new ceiling of ~$92MM.
Clarkson only has $1MM of actual salary remaining on his contract, but was making things much more difficult for the Golden Knights as they approach the season. If they can avoid it, it is almost always better for a team to not be using long-term injured reserve space as it can cause huge roster issues if you get into injury trouble and has the potential to cause cap overages from performance bonuses. By moving Clarkson, the Golden Knights are actually now projected to be a little more than $1MM under the cap ceiling, though they still have Nikita Gusev to sign (or trade).
Vegas also adds Sparks in the deal, giving the team a legitimate third (or perhaps second) option in net behind Marc-Andre Fleury and Malcolm Subban. The former AHL Goaltender of the Year has just a $750K one-way contract, making him more than affordable if the team decides Subban is not up to the task or someone suffers an injury. Sparks has played in 37 NHL games, recording an .898 save percentage. His numbers in the minor leagues though are spectacular, meaning he may have more to give at the highest level. The 26-year old goaltender will be an unrestricted free agent next summer and the Maple Leafs had seemingly moved on by re-signing Michael Hutchinson and bringing in Michal Neuvirth on a professional tryout.
Interestingly, a deal like this may not only open up enough room for Marner to sign. Depending on what the Maple Leafs do, they may be able to clear enough space to fit in Jake Gardiner, who remains unsigned despite coming into the offseason as arguably the best defenseman in unrestricted free agency. Gardiner has indicated his desire to stay if possible, though obviously nothing is official at this point.
Basically, the Maple Leafs admitted to themselves that they would need to use long-term injured reserve once again this season and have pushed even more chips to the middle. This kind of a move is only possible because Auston Matthews has now graduated out of his entry-level deal, which brought with it the opportunity for millions of dollars in performance bonuses. It’s important to note though that this is not just free cap space, but an intricate transaction that requires the team to be very careful with how they use their roster throughout the season. The Maple Leafs can afford to do things like this because of the organization’s financial might, an advantage some other teams do not have.
Snapshots: Gusev, Dotchin, Prospects
The Vegas Golden Knights still haven’t come to an agreement with Nikita Gusev, but there is coming a time when they’ll need to make a final decision on the restricted free agent. Gusev’s Russian agent Yuriy Nikolayev spoke to Championat and explained (via Google translate) that there is a “certain deadline” when they will turn to negotiate with SKA St. Petersburg, who currently own his rights in the KHL.
Gusev signed his entry-level contract with the Golden Knights just a few months ago and burned through it without actually ever playing a game for the team. The team issued him a qualifying offer as an RFA, but haven’t yet been able to come to an agreement on a new contract. The only bit of leverage Gusev really has in this position is a possible return to the KHL, as he was not eligible for arbitration and cannot sign an offer sheet.
- According to Joe Smith of The Athletic, the Tampa Bay Lightning have reached a settlement with Jake Dotchin on the grievance he filed after seeing his contract terminated last fall. Dotchin allegedly showed up to training camp out of shape, causing the Lightning to place him on unconditional waivers and cut ties with him. He eventually signed with the Anaheim Ducks and played 20 games in the NHL last season, but had filed a grievance through the NHLPA for his lost salary. Smith reports that the two sides settled without having to go to an arbitration, which potentially could have set a precedent for other cases in the future. The details have not been disclosed.
- Scott Wheeler of The Athletic (subscription required) has released his top-50 drafted prospect list, and recent first overall selection Jack Hughes comes in on top. The list includes 11 others from the 2019 draft, but is also led by names like Quinn Hughes and Cale Makar who made their NHL debuts at the end of last season. Notably the Colorado Avalanche and New York Rangers each have two players in the top-10, giving them plenty of hope for the future—and the present, if Makar and Kaapo Kakko have anything to say about it.