Vegas Golden Knights Announce Chicago Wolves As AHL Affiliate
The NHL’s newest team has announced their AHL affiliate for the 2017-18 season. As expected, the Vegas Golden Knights have signed a multi-year partnership with the Chicago Wolves to work as their affiliate. The club wanted to wait until the Wolves season had finished, as it did on Saturday at the hands of the Grand Rapids Griffins. The Wolves made it back to the playoffs under the leadership of former Philadelphia Flyers head coach Craig Berube. The team has previously been the affiliate of the Atlanta Thrashers and Vancouver Canucks, winning two Calder Cups (2002, 2008) along the way.
Chicago has been the affiliate of the St. Louis Blues since 2013, and despite expectations that the two franchises would share the team this season, it won’t be exactly an even split. The Blues have not extended their agreement, but will “associate with the Vegas Golden Knights and supply players to the Golden Knights’ AHL affiliate next season.” Vegas will have full control of Wolves, including staffing decisions.
The Wolves actually play in Rosemont just outside of Chicago, but remain much closer geographically to the Blues than the Golden Knights. As teams try to get their AHL affiliates closer and closer, the Wolves don’t offer much long-term stability for the expansion franchise. Despite the current multi-year deal, a move to somewhere closer to Vegas seems inevitable down the road. There is no word on where the Blues’ next affiliate will be, but it won’t come until 2018-19 at the earliest.
As of this moment, the Golden Knights don’t have any players ticketed for the AHL as just Reid Duke and Vadim Shipachyov are under contract. That will change soon enough though, as the team selects 30 players in the expansion draft and another crop in the entry draft. Duke is likely to spend this year in the minors, as are several of the young options the team has in the expansion draft.
Snapshots: Niku, Nill, Braunstein
The Winnipeg Jets have signed seventh-round pick Sami Niku to a three-year entry-level contract. The Finnish defenseman broke out in Liiga this year, registering 27 points in 59 games while playing for Jyvaskyla. Niku has been praised for his mobility and offensive upside, but had trouble producing in a consistent manner before this season.
He’ll enter a Winnipeg Jets system that is fairly weak on the left side behind Logan Stanley, now that Josh Morrissey has graduated to the NHL. With some of the best right-handed depth in the NHL including newcomer Tucker Poolman, the Jets are likely ecstatic with Niku’s development. Should he come to North America next season, he’ll pencil in as one of the top defenders for the Manitoba Moose and try to adapt to the pro game here.
- Jim Nill is standing by the contract for Ben Bishop according to Yahoo! Sports’ Greg Wyshynski. Nill admitted that in a perfect world he wouldn’t have had to give up six years, but is happy that Bishop wanted to make a commitment to his team. He also seemed confident that there will be opportunities to move one of his goaltenders this summer because of their expiring contracts, something that is necessary after committing to Bishop. As we wrote last week, the Stars do have several options to rid themselves of a goaltender, with Antti Niemi seemingly being the leading candidate for a buyout. Even with a long-term deal, Bishop will have a lot of pressure on him to help the Stars bounce back from a disappointing season. They’ll be looking not only to make the playoffs but to contend in short order, after leading the Western Conference in 2015-16.
- The Vegas Golden Knights have hired Rick Braunstein away from the Arizona Coyotes as their new Director of Player Services according to Steve Carp of the Las Vegas Review-Journal. Braunstein was one of the Coyotes first hires after the move from Winnipeg, and had been with the franchise for their entire 21-year history. While not having an impact in personnel decisions, the Player Services role is an especially important one when it comes to Las Vegas, a city known for its endless temptation. Some of the hesitation by professional sports franchises for decades has been the worry that young, wealthy athletes will get into “trouble” in Vegas and the team will need a strong support system to stop it from happening; Braunstein represents some of that system.
World Championships Update: Shipachyov, Da Costa, Lundqvist
As always, international play is a time for players to shine. While plenty of NHL regulars (Johnny Gaudreau, Artemi Panarin) are lighting the lamp quite easily, there are a few names that should be interesting General Managers out there. Prospects and lesser knowns have a chance to really prove they can be difference makers at the top tier of hockey.
- Although no longer technically considered a prospect, offensive dynamo Vadim Shipachyov is looking like a brilliant pickup for the Vegas Golden Knights. Through 5 games he has already accumulated 10 points (2 G, 8 A) and is driving possession for his Russian squad. His skill with the puck on his stick and his vision to find teammates through traffic has been mightily impressive. He may be slotted down the lineup as Capital Evgeny Kuznetsov joins the fray, but he still has a reasonable shot at tournament MVP if he keeps this work up.
- France’s Stephane da Costa has been nothing short of incredible for the home team, currently tied for the tournament lead in goals (6) and third in points (9). Da Costa is 27 years-old and went to play in the KHL following his up-and-down experience with Ottawa. He played 47 games for the Senators over 4 seasons but spent the majority of his time in the AHL’s Binghamton. Da Costa has played shortened seasons for the CSKA Moscow over the past three years, but has not entirely fallen off the radar of North American teams. He was even rumored to be linked to the Golden Knights in February by Dans les Coulisses journalist Max Truman, although there has been nothing since. This sort of performance could put him back in teams’ considerations.
- Swedish goalie (and New York Ranger cornerstone) Henrik Lundqvist survived a scary hit to the head when an opposing Danish player crashed his crease at full speed. He eventually got up and continued to play in the game. Trainers say he is all right. His injury would be huge, both for the Swedish national team’s chances, and the Rangers franchise. Although he’s just turned 35 and is signed for four more seasons on an outrageously expensive contract, Lundqvist is still a top goaltender at the NHL level. The clip can be viewed here.
Potential Buyout Options
NHL fans are looking ahead to an offseason which will likely see a lot of movement, but will also feature teams tight up against a stagnant cap ceiling. Buyouts are always an option teams will weigh, although certainly an avenue of last resort. Dumping a contract isn’t as simple as taking the player’s salary off the books. They will count as 1/3 or 2/3 of the original cap hit, for twice the remaining years on that contract. So if a 26 year old player has two years remaining at $3 MM, he will cost $1 MM for four years against the team’s cap total. That means a substantial savings of $2 MM, but is a habit GMs will not want to fall into. For players over 26, the 2/3 rule applies, and that same player would count for $2 MM each of the next four seasons. In such a scenario, the savings are rarely worth it. However, teams can be backed into this corner when trade options completely vanish.
For the 2017 offseason, there is an extra component at play – the expansion draft. Players with full No-Movement Clauses must be protected by their team, exposing potentially better, younger, cheaper options to selection by the Vegas Golden Knights. Prior to the expansion draft, on June 15-17th, there will be a buyout window. Consequently, there will most likely be at least one case where a player who otherwise would not have been bought out will be due to a team’s long-term prospects. This certainly isn’t what the NHLPA had hoped for when they agreed to another 20+ players in the league with the expansion of Vegas, but is an unfortunate unforeseen consequence. Here are just some of the players who could be facing the buyout option this summer:
Antti Niemi – Dallas Stars
Both Niemi and fellow goalie Kari Lehtonen should be expecting this fate. With Ben Bishop signing a massive six-year contract with Dallas, their time as starters in this league look all but complete. Both are paid an asburd amount of money, but Niemi’s $4.5 MM is the more unpalatable total. His .892 save percentage through 37 games this year was only edged in ineptitude by Michal Neuvirth among tenders who got more than 15 starts. At his pricetag he is virtually unmoveable, and with only one year remaining on his contract, the hit would be worth it for 2 seasons to keep him away from the team.
Kevin Bieksa – Anaheim Ducks
Bieksa might seem an odd inclusion on this list, considering his age, but it should be remembered that he has a No-Movement Clause, meaning he would need to be protected by the Ducks. Needing to also protect Sami Vatanen, Cam Fowler, and Hampus Lindholm, even under the 8 player protection model, this would likely expose Josh Manson. Considering his play in this post-season, and Bieksa’s complete inability to remain healthy, this is a darkhorse candidate for a last-minute buyout. Bieksa’s Corsi is the worst on the backend for his team and his skating has looked quite problematic of late. The flare of his Vancouver days seems long past and with only one year remaining at $4 MM, he seems an easy target to eliminate.
Scott Hartnell – Columbus Blue Jackets
Hartnell is considered a gutsy character player, a net-front presence, and a veteran leader. However, he has seen his production shift from being that of a decent offensive threat (28 G, 32 A in 2014-15) to an average third liner (13 goals, 24 A in 2016-17). His problems run deeper, though, as his brand of physical hockey has taken its toll on his play. No longer quite the intimidating wrecking-ball of his Philadelphia days, Hartnell is not as effective on the forecheck as he once was. The reason he is included on this list, however, is because Columbus has a lot of young, promising players they will wish to protect in the expansion draft, and Hartnell has a No-Movement Clause. At 34 years old and in a quickly diminishing role, it will be difficult for GM Jarmo Kekalainen to save a space for Hartnell. With toughness adequately filled by hard-nosed forwards in Brandon Dubinsky, Boone Jenner, Nick Foligno, and Brandon Saad, he seems even more superfluous. Assuming Dubinsky (NMC), Brandon Saad, Jenner, Foligno (NMC), Cam Atkinson, and Matt Calvert are protected, Hartnell’s inclusion would sacrifice the 24 year-old William Karlsson. That’s a difficult concession for the Jackets to make, even if the youngster took a step back offensively this season. If they would opt to buy out Hartnell’s contract at $4.75 MM, it would mean $3.16 MM in dead space for 4 more seasons, a hefty pill to swallow.
There are certain to be other candidates for buyouts as well, but these are three that could easily find themselves looking for a new contract come June 18th.
Notable Contracts Signed During Playoffs
The NHL’s regular season ended on April 9. Since then, there have been six notable contracts handed out by teams who either missed the playoffs or were eliminated early. We also saw the first major signing by the expansion Vegas Golden Knights.
At the half-way mark of the playoffs, let’s take a look at the bigger contracts signed so far:
April 24 – The New York Islanders re-signed Dennis Seidenberg to a one-year extension worth $1.25MM. A year removed from being bought-out by the Boston Bruins, Seidenberg signed with the Islanders during training camp. The defensive defenseman scored five goals and 22 points in 73 games with the Islanders. Seidenberg will be exposed in the expansion draft, but is not the most-appealing option that will be available to the Golden Knights from the Islanders roster.
May 2 – The Toronto Maple Leafs finally confirmed the long-rumored signing of defenseman Nikita Zaitsev to a seven-year, $31.5MM extension. That’s an average of $4.5MM per season, which is fair value for a top-four defenseman on a long-term deal. The 25-year old transitioned exceptionally to the NHL, registering 36 points while leading the Maple Leafs in ice-time and playing in all 82 regular season games. The term is likely longer than most Maple Leafs’ fans wanted, but will keep the cap hit down. He will also be exempt from this spring’s expansion draft.
May 4 – The Vegas Golden Knights made their first major acquisition (sorry, Reid Duke) by signing KHL star Vadim Shipachyov to a two-year, $9MM contract. The 30-year-old center scored 76 points in 50 games this season for SKA St. Petersburg. That was good for third in the KHL and second on SKA, behind only Ilya Kovalchuk. Shipachyov is a highly-skilled offensive player, but isn’t a big body at 6’1, 190 lbs. Vegas hopes he’ll be a marquee talent for the expansion club.
May 5 – The Carolina Hurricanes traded for Chicago Blackhawks backup goaltender Scott Darling in late April, and spent less than a week negotiating a new four-year, $16.6MM contract. Darling spent three seasons with the Blackhawks, going from a little-known name to one of this summer’s most highly sought-after goaltenders. In 32 games this season, Darling went 18-5-5 with a 0.924 SV% and a 2.38 GAA. The Hurricanes still owe Eddie Lack and Cam Ward over $6MM for the upcoming season.
May 9 – The Los Angeles Kings’ new GM Rob Blake locked up one of his team’s key young players to a four-year, $15MM contract. Tanner Pearson finished third on the Kings in scoring, with a career-high 44 points. The Kings had a disappointing season, but Pearson was one of their few bright spots.
May 11 – After a 22-goal season, Richard Panik signed a two-year, $5.8MM extension with the Chicago Blackhawks this morning. Panik caught on with the Chicago Blackhawks last season and has been a regular fixture with captain Jonathan Toews on the top line. Prior to his 44-points this season, Panik’s previous career-high was 17 points. While he left some money on the table, it was unlikely that he would find a better spot than on Toews’ wing.
Teams Trying To Take Advantage Of Vegas Free Agent Window
In a report that won’t surprise anyone, Pierre LeBrun of TSN writes that teams have considered using the free agent signing window that will be available to the Vegas Golden Knights to their own advantage. In this scenario, Vegas would sign a free agent prior to the expansion draft, only to flip that player to another team after the draft is complete. LeBrun clarifies that this sort of deal would be allowed by the league, though obviously there is no evidence one is in place just yet.
If Vegas were to agree to a deal like this, it means that they would have to relinquish their selection from the free agent’s current team. That might, as LeBrun writes, be beneficial for them if he comes from a team that doesn’t have much exposed anyway. As a purely hypothetical example, Vegas could sign Brian Boyle from the Maple Leafs in the window before the draft, only to flip him to Chicago a few days later. The Golden Knights wouldn’t get anyone else from the Leafs, but would instead collect an asset from the Blackhawks in return for the early signing of Boyle.
Teams around the league that want to speak to free agents a few weeks early may use this tactic to their advantage. No team in the league has more high profile free agents than Washington, but it has previously been expected that the Golden Knights would be interested in Philipp Grubauer, a player who they would have to pass on to use this method on T.J. Oshie, Kevin Shattenkirk or Karl Alzner. That’s also assuming that the Golden Knights themselves aren’t interested in these players, as they should be a front-runner for several sub-30 free agents this summer.
San Jose, home of a few other impressive free agents, will have several interesting defensemen available in the draft and would be a tough place to pass on a selection as well. In all, June is setting up to be one of the more interesting months in hockey transactions in recent history with hundreds of different scenarios available for each team. GMs around the league have continually said that they believe there will be tons of movement as soon as the Stanley Cup is awarded, and should continue right through the draft. This is just one more way teams can possibly get an advantage in the coming weeks.
Restricted Free Agents To Be Available In Vegas Signing Window
It was reported months ago that the Vegas Golden Knights would be given a window before the expansion draft in which to talk to pending free agents. Should they sign one of them, the player would “count” as the selection from his former team, making them exempt from giving up an additional player in the expansion draft. Today, Pierre LeBrun of TSN tweeted that not only will that window include unrestricted free agents, but unprotected restricted ones too with no offer sheets or compensation required.
He clarified that he believes the window will take place at some point between when the teams need to submit their protection lists (June 17th) and when the Golden Knights make their picks (June 20th). The league is still working on when and how long exactly the window will be open, before announcing the picks on June 21st.
While unprotected restricted free agents were theoretically always available to Vegas through the draft itself, it does open another interesting quirk in an already extremely complicated draft for the Golden Knights. The window will likely be spent talking to many RFAs to determine the likelihood of them signing long term in Vegas before picking/signing them, not wanting to lose an asset soon after acquiring it.
With the protection lists being released, a buyout window opening, the expansion selections, NHL awards and entry draft all coming in the span of 10 days, June is shaping up to be one of the busiest months of the year in the NHL without even thinking of the Stanley Cup Finals. Make sure to stay right here with PHR for all the news right through the offseason.
Capitals Have Four Of Top Eight Unrestricted Free Agents
The 2017 free agency class may not be the strongest, but the Washington Capitals have the most to gain (or more likely lose) if free agency doesn’t go their way. The Capitals, currently on the ropes, down 3-1, to the Pittsburgh Penguins (Game 5 tonight), have four of the top eight unrestricted free agents, according to Matt Larkin of the Hockey News, as he posts his Top-30 unrestricted free agents this summer.
Unlike previous years, Larkin writes that this year’s class falls short of firepower, which the scribe points out is bad news for the expansion Las Vegas Golden Knights, who get a 48-hour window to negotiate with any free agents before any other teams. Regardless, it’s the Capitals who will find themselves on the clock as defenseman Kevin Shattenkirk is listed as the number one free agent on the list, while winger T.J. Oshie is third. Defenseman Karl Alzner is ranked fifth, while veteran wing Justin Williams is eighth on their list.
Larkin adds that he believes the Capitals will only be able to ink two of those players and will be forced to let two go. Shattenkirk, who was acquired in a February trade from the St. Louis Blues for their playoff run, has struggled in the playoffs this year, but is listed first due to the fact that blueliners in the prime of their careers, who can play 20 minutes a night, are always rewarded. Whether Washington can keep him at a high price tag is the tough question.
The team is likely to do everything to sign Oshie, however. The 30-year-old winger has had a breakout season with Washington on the first line with Alex Ovechkin and Niklas Backstrom. He has tallied 59 regular-season goals in the two seasons he has played for the Capitals since being acquired by trade from the Blues.
The Capitals then have to look at Alzner, a rugged blueliner who at age 28, could get a large contract in a weak year of free agent defensemen, while Williams playoff success could make him a well-paid second-liner as well. The Capitals have to decide what priorities they have as it’s unlikely they can afford to keep all four players.
Montreal Canadiens veteran winger Alexander Radulov, who returned to the NHL last year after a long stint in the KHL, is ranked second on the list, although he has said he would like to resign with the Canadiens. Goaltender Ben Bishop is listed fourth on that free agent list and the 30-year-old netminder should be in high demand. Veterans Martin Hanzal (No. 6), Joe Thornton (No. 7), Radim Vrbata (No. 9) and Patrick Eaves (No. 10) round out the first ten on that list.
Poll: Where Will Evgeni Dadonov End Up?
Now that Vadim Shipachyov has signed with the Vegas Golden Knights, all eyes turn to Evgeni Dadonov for the next big name to come out of the KHL (sorry Ilya). Dadonov may not have the elite-level skill that some Russian snipers have had in the past, but make no mistake that he can be an effective offensive winger at the NHL level.
The team the most often linked to Dadonov are those same Golden Knights, as they try to find ways to make their team competitive right from the start. Even today George McPhee admitted that he has had discussions with the 28-year old, but isn’t sure where he’ll land.
Outside of Vegas, there has been considerable interest around the league but no concrete discussions between a team and Dadonov’s camp. The Maple Leafs have been rumored to have interest, while he has been tenuously linked to the Canadiens, Rangers and Hurricanes. He could always return to the team that drafted him in Florida, though that seems like a dark horse given their history.
So we ask you, the PHR public where you think Dadonov will end up. Make sure you leave a comment to explain why, and take a guess at the contract details.
Where Will Dadonov Sign?
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Vegas Golden Knights 41% (213)
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Montreal Canadiens 11% (59)
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Toronto Maple Leafs 11% (55)
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Stays in KHL 9% (48)
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New York Rangers 9% (46)
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Chicago Blackhawks 7% (38)
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Other (explain in comments) 7% (36)
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St. Louis Blues 2% (12)
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Florida Panthers 2% (11)
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Carolina Hurricanes 1% (4)
Total votes: 522
Mobile users click here to vote!
Vegas Notes: Shipachyov, Clauses, Dadonov
Vegas Golden Knights’ GM George McPhee had a conference call with the media today, and was candid about many topics. Most of the call had to do with Vadim Shipachyov, the newest (and second) member of the Golden Knights. McPhee made it clear that Shipachyov will play in their top-six and get a lot of ice-time.
McPhee also put into words what many people have thought about the upcoming expansion draft:
He’s a skilled center iceman. They’re very, very, very hard to find. We are going to need skill, and trying to get that position in the expansion draft would be difficult.
While there are going to be interesting players available, finding top-line skill will be extremely rare in the expansion draft. Some may dispute if Shipachyov has that, but it’s clear he can at least keep up with top players.
- McPhee also announced that Shipachyov’s deal doesn’t include a no-movement clause, for one simple reason: he doesn’t give those out. The GM said that he doesn’t negotiate those, but in today’s NHL where they are almost automatically included for long-term deals, he may have to soften his stance at some point in the future.
- The Vegas GM admitted that he has been in contact with Evgeni Dadonov, but isn’t even convinced at this point that he’s coming to the NHL. It does seem like Vegas has a lot of interest if he decides to change leagues, as SinBin relays an answer regarding Dadonov: “it wouldn’t hurt to have other Russian players here.”