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Rocco Grimaldi Receives Arbitration Award

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The final arbitration case of the 2019 off-season is in the books. The Nashville Predators announced that the independent arbitrator has awarded forward Rocco Grimaldi a one-year, one-way, $1MM contract. The Predators had requested a minimum $700K salary and two-way contract for Grimaldi, while the 26-year-old filed at $1.275MM, resulting in a $988K midpoint for the case. As such, this award is a win for Grimaldi’s camp in terms of both the nature and value of the contract.

Grimaldi finally found a fit for himself in Nashville last season and failing to impress in stops with the Florida Panthers and Colorado Avalanche. After recording ten points in his previous 37 NHL appearances over four seasons, Grimaldi played in 53 games for the Predators last season and contributed 13 points, plus three goals in five playoff games, while also developing an effective two-way game. Given his meager 5’6″ frame, Grimaldi’s defensive growth came as a nice addition, as did his ability to win puck battles and create offense when called upon by the team.

There are still doubts that the former University of North Dakota star can be a regular in the NHL, seeing as Nashville still sat him for nearly 30 games last season. However, a one-way deal makes it even less likely that the Predators will try to pass Grimaldi through waivers this season. Most likely, he will continue to serve an important depth role and could fight for even more starts in the upcoming campaign.

The award for Grimaldi currently leaves the Predators with just $1.34MM in projected cap space. However, he was their final unsigned restricted free agent, meaning Nashville is done adding to the payroll if they so choose. Additionally, that projection also accounts for 24 players, meaning the team will open up additional space when they are forced to cut a player from camp.

Central Notes: Girard, Dach, Honka, Robertson

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The seven-year, $35MM contract that Samuel Girard signed with the Colorado Avalanche earlier this week as a sign that the team has found an heir apparent for recently traded Tyson Barrie. While the team has a ton of talent in Cale Makar, as well as the 2019 fourth-overall pick in Bowen Byram, the Avalanche believe they have a top-four defenseman in their 21-year-old.

In fact, The Athletic’s Scott Burnside (subscription required) writes that he believes that general manager Joe Sakic believes strongly that the 162-pound Girard is ready for a full-time role this season as their top defender, which is a big task to take on. Barrie averaged 24:11 in the playoffs last year, while Girard averaged almost five minutes below that. However, the team believes he will take his game up a notch and make his seven-year deal a steal of a signing in the future.

  • Charlie Roumeliotis of NBC Sports Chicago writes in a mailbag column that he wonders whether the Chicago Blackhawks will seriously consider keeping 2019 third-overall pick Kirby Dach on the roster entering the season. Last year, the top four draft picks in the 2018 draft made their respective teams in the NHL, and Chicago does have an opening for a third-line center which could be a perfect match. Of course, much of that decision will come down to how Dach performs at training camp as well as how many minutes he might play as Dach is used to being a top-minutes player on his junior team.
  • In his latest mailbag, Sean Shapiro of The Athletic (subscription required) writes that the Dallas Stars may have trouble moving defenseman Julius Honka, who the team was expected to move this offseason. Shapiro believes the team is hoping to get a fourth-round pick for the 2014 first-rounder who has fallen out of favor in Dallas, but he writes that many teams believe that they can just get the blue liner off of waivers at the start of the season as its highly unlikely that Dallas will keep Honka on their roster.
  • Sticking with the Stars, Matthew DeFranks of SportsDay writes in a mailbag column that he believes that while Jason Robertson could be an excellent addition to the Dallas Stars team, he doubts that Robertson will play more than a handful of games with the Stars next season. The 20-year-old is turning pro this season after Dallas selected him in the second round of the 2017 draft and saw him net 48 goals and 117 points in 62 games in the OHL last season. Franks writes that Robertson will spend most of next season in the AHL with the Texas Stars as he learns to adjust to the pro game.

Calgary Flames To Buy Out Michael Stone

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Friday: Stone has cleared waivers and was officially bought out by the Flames. He is now an unrestricted free agent.

Thursday: The Calgary Flames received a second buyout window after dealing with their arbitration cases and will use it to buy out Michael Stone. The veteran defenseman has been placed on unconditional waivers according to Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet, which will be followed by a buyout tomorrow. Stone has one year remaining on his contract and carries a $3.5MM cap hit. The move will result in the following cap hits being applied to the Flames:

  • 2019-20: $1,166,667
  • 2020-21: $1,166,667

Stone signed a three-year $10.5MM contract with the Flames in the summer of 2017 after being acquired earlier that year from the Arizona Coyotes. The 6’3″ defenseman at that point was just a year removed from a solid 36-point campaign and looked like he could be a big part of the Flames’ blueline. Unfortunately that first full year in Calgary didn’t go according to plan and Stone was routinely limited to third-pairing duty, playing fewer than 16 minutes 40 of his 82 games. He registered just ten points on an extremely disappointing team that failed to even make the playoffs.

His second year with the team didn’t go much better, this time marred by injury and a blood clotting issue that kept him out for some time. Stone ended up playing just 14 games for the Flames all season. With the emergence of Juuso Valimaki and Rasmus Andersson as legitimate NHL options, there wasn’t a lot of room left for Stone to try and rehab his value. He’ll have to do that elsewhere.

For Calgary, a move like this was absolutely necessary in order to re-sign Matthew Tkachuk. The team currently projects to have just $4.67MM in cap space prior to a Stone buyout, leaving them little wiggle room to get the young star under contract. If they’re planning on signing Tkachuk to a long-term deal it will likely take up a huge amount of cap space and make him their highest-paid player, something that wasn’t possible without a trade or buyout of some sort.

Stone though shouldn’t have to wait around long to find work if he is truly healthy and ready for the season. The right-handed defenseman is still just 29 years old and could represent a bargain pickup if he can reclaim any of his past success. That’s obviously not guaranteed, but for cap-strapped teams looking for a defensive upgrade he may be an option.

Tampa Bay, Dallas Among Teams Facing Contract Limit Crunch

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The Tampa Bay Lightning are not only up against the NHL’s $81.5MM salary cap upper limit, but also the league’s 50-contract limit. They’re not alone either; in addition to the Bolts, the Dallas Stars, Los Angeles Kings, Ottawa Senators, and Anaheim Ducks each have 48 players already signed to contracts next season as well. Six other teams have 46 or 47 players signed. The closer a club gets to 50, the less roster flexibility they have during the season. When it comes to making trades, claiming players on waivers, or signing college or junior free agents, teams without room can be hamstrung and forced to either pass up on possibilities or make desperation moves to free up roster space. It’s not an ideal situation and could force more than a few teams to make a move or two as the summer wears on.

Tampa Bay is in the worst position of all, as not only do they have just two contract slots available, but they also have two NHL regulars who remain unsigned restricted free agents in need of contracts – Brayden Point and Adam Erne. It’s hard to imagine that the Lightning, who also need to open up considerable cap space, don’t move out a player or two to help clear things up in both regards. One other possible saving grace could be sending 2019 first-round pick Nolan Foote or fellow prospect forward Gabriel Fortier back to their respective junior teams. Even if under contract, 18- and 19-year-old junior players who are still slide-eligible do not count against the 50-contract limit once returned to the junior level. If Foote and/or Fortier don’t crack the Tampa lineup, they would additionally clear up some room. A surefire contender, who also could use some affordable support where they can get it, the Bolts will definitely be a player on the trade and waiver markets this upcoming season, assuming they have the means to do so.

Dallas is in a similarly difficult situation. With just two contract slots available, the Stars need to re-sign (or do something with) defenseman Julius Honka. If the team signs Honka or trades him for another signed player or prospect, they are down to just one open space. Fortunately, unsigned RFA Niklas Hansson is expected to spend the season in Sweden and will not need a contract to become Dallas’ 50th man. Junior forwards Ty Dellandrea and Riley Damiani would also no longer count against the contract limit if sent back to their respective teams, although many in Dallas would like to see Dellandrea push for a spot on the roster.

L.A. has just one unsigned RFA remaining, promising forward Adrian Kempe, so they aren’t in danger to hit 50 at this time. The Kings also have a number of young players under contract who will battle for roster spots, which could force Akil Thomas back to juniors for one more year, removing his contract from the mix. L.A. has been a highly active team on the college free agent market of late and will want some contract room later in the season for potential additions.

Similarly, Ottawa has just Colin White left to sign, so barring further additions are not at risk of hitting 50 contracts. However, the Senators are just narrowly over the league’s salary cap floor, which could prompt them to add another contract so that they don’t have to risk falling below the floor during the year due to a trade. Right now, only Jonathan Gruden is a candidate to go back to junior and remove his contract from limit calculations, so if Ottawa does make another addition, they’ll likely look to make a subtraction or two as well to remain flexible in-season.

The final team at 48 contracts is the Ducks. Fortunately for them, Anaheim has no one left to sign and by all accounts are not looking to make any other moves this off-season. They should be safe, but may look to move a contract just in case the opportunities present themselves to add on during the season.

One team who isn’t at all worried about the contract limit: the New Jersey Devils. New Jersey currently has just 39 players under contract, third least behind Carolina and Winnipeg, but also have just two unsigned RFA’s in need of contracts while the Hurricanes and Jets each have a handful. The Devils project to enter the season with the fewest players under contract, as well the smallest payroll other than Ottawa. That could change though, as the team continues to be included in rumors pertaining to many of the top unsigned UFA’s and top trade targets this summer.

Evening Notes: Sharks Lineup, Gaudette, Johansson

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The San Jose Sharks had to cast off a number of forwards this offseason after they inked star defenseman Erik Karlsson to an eight-year, $92MM contract three weeks ago. The team let Joe Pavelski and Joonas Donskoi off and there continue to be rumors that they may have to trade off Melker Karlsson later on this summer to free up more cap room.

Of course, San Jose is expected to re-sign Joe Thornton and are likely to also bring back Patrick Marleau. Yet, despite those signings, there are likely going to be some holes in their lineup. In fact, The Athletic’s Kevin Kurz (subscription required) writes that there could be a major change in the top-six. The scribe writes that San Jose might look to its prospect depth to fill one of the wing positions on the second line this season as Sasha Chmelevski and Ivan Chekovich could be the beneficiaries of that job.

Chmelevski, a sixth-round gem found in the 2017 draft, has scored 70 goals and 151 points in the past two seasons with the Ottawa 67s of the OHL. Chekovich, a seventh-round stud picked up in the 2017 draft as well, scored 43 goals and 105 points last season in the QMJHL, but also gotten some time in the AHL with three goals and seven points in nine AHL games. Kurz writes that the only way they would make the team is if one of them played on the second line. A spot on the bottom-six would make less sense, however, as they could get valuable minutes with the San Jose Barracuda instead.

  • The Vancouver Canucks have been quite active this offseason and have added quite a bit of depth to their team. However, Patrick Johnson of the Vancouver Sun writes that the team will have a significant roster jam at the forward position this fall. The team currently has 13 healthy forwards under NHL deals and still have to sign Nikolay Goldobin and Brock Boeser to deals. Throw in the injured Antoine Roussel, the team has a lot of forwards with only 12 spots. That could put the spot of Adam Gaudette, who many people feel deserves a spot as the team’s third-line center, in jeopardy as the 22-year-old is the only player on the team (minus Elias Pettersson and Boeser) who can be sent down without having to pass through waivers. Unless Gaudette can have a dominant camp and beat out some of the others like Brandon Sutter, he could find himself starting the year off in Utica of the AHL.
  • The two-year deal that winger Marcus Johansson signed Saturday with the Buffalo Sabres includes a modified no-trade clause, according to CapFriendly. Johansson has the ability to provide Buffalo with a list of 10 teams he cannot be traded to during both his seasons. That’s an improvement on his previous deal where for the past two years he could submit five teams he couldn’t be traded to.

Anaheim Signs Anthony Stolarz

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After standing pat on day one of free agency, the Anaheim Ducks have come alive today with their third signing. Goaltender Anthony Stolarz, a Group 6 unrestricted free agent, has signed with the team, reports TVA’s Renaud Lavoie. It is expected to be a two-year, one-way contract for Stolarz worth $750K.

After parts of five seasons in the Philadelphia Flyers organization to begin his pro career, Stolarz finally got a change of scenery when he was dealt to the Edmonton Oilers in February for Cam Talbot. Stolarz was immediately considered a likely backup candidate for Edmonton moving forward, but failed to impress in six appearances with the team down the stretch and by all reports the Oilers made no attempt to keep him.

Stolarz now joins yet another team in Anaheim and hopes he can get his career back on track. Stolarz was a second-round pick in 2012 and injuries have prevented him from playing up to the expectations of his high draft price. Still just 25 though, Stolarz still has upside and his underlying numbers, in both the NHL and AHL, have been good when healthy.

Managing their depth in net could be tricky for the Ducks, however. Anaheim re-signed Ryan Miller to a one-year deal and may see Stolarz as the future backup to John Gibson after that deal expires, but in 2019-20 the team will either have to carry all three goalies or risk losing Stolarz on waivers. How it all plays out will be interesting to watch.

Ryan Carpenter Signs With Chicago Blackhawks

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The Chicago Blackhawks have added a depth forward, signing Ryan Carpenter to a three-year deal. The contract carries just a $1MM average annual value, giving the team an inexpensive center to plug into the bottom-six.

Carpenter signed with the San Jose Sharks after three years at Bowling Green State University and had trouble cracking the San Jose Sharks’ lineup, playing just 27 NHL games for them over three seasons before the Sharks opted to place him on waivers. He was claimed back in 2017 by the Vegas Golden Knights in their inaugural season and his physicality and offensive ability earned him a spot on the team’s bottom six as he scored nine goals in 36 games and returned for a full season last year. Carpenter played in a career-high 68 games, but found himself often scratched late in the season as Vegas was rotating him and a number of other forwards in and out of their third line, including Brandon Pirri, Tomas Nosek and Valentin Zykov, although Carpenter also was able to fill in on the team’s fourth line as well. With the addition of Nikita Gusev, Carpenter was expendable.

In Chicago, the 28-year-old should find a more permanent home on the Blackhawks’ fourth line. The team just added forward Andrew Shaw, who will likely center that line. Carpenter should add that combination of physical play with some offensive ability. Regardless, he’ll have to hold off a number of players who will be looking for playing time, including John Quenneville, Dylan Sikura, Dominik Kubalik, Anton Wedin.

Andrej Sekera, David Schlemko To Be Bought Out

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Two players have been placed on unconditional waivers today as the Edmonton Oilers announced they have placed veteran defenseman Andrej Sekera on unconditional waivers for the purposes of a buyout, while the Philadelphia Flyers also reported the same about defenseman David Schlemko.

Sekera had two years remaining on his six-year, $33MM deal ($5.5MM AAV) he signed in 2015 when he was the team’s No. 1 defenseman. However, major injuries have derailed his career since then as the 33-year-0ld has played just 60 games combined over the past two seasons. He played 24 games last season, putting up just four assists. While the team was hoping that Sekera might work his way back into his old form, the team decided they would rather move forward. The team is loaded with a number of young defenseman who the team wants to give a chance to on the ice, including Evan Bouchard, Ethan Bear, William Lagesson, Caleb Jones, Joel Persson, Dmitri Samorukov as well as their unsigned 2019 first-round pick, Philip Broberg. The team had been trying to find a trade partner to take Sekera off their hands, but failed even though the Oilers were willing to retain half his salary. Thus, with no trade partner available, Edmonton opted to buy him out.

The buyout will last four years with the following cap hit (according to CapFriendly):

2019-20: $2.5M
2020-21: $2.5M
2021-22: $1.5M
2022-23: $1.5M

With Sekera’s contract cleared, the Oilers should have an extra $3MM to spend as they now should have $11.3MM in projected cap space this summer with a roster of 17, including nine forwards and seven defensemen.

Schlmeko, on the other hand, has bounced around over the last few years and the 32-year-old never took the ice for Philadelphia. He was acquired along with Byron Froese in February of this year in a trade with Montreal for Christian Folin and Dale Weise. Schlemko spent the rest of his season playing for the Lehigh Valley Phantoms in the AHL, where he played 18 games, tallying four assists in the process.

The veteran was going into the final year of a four-year, $8.4MM deal ($2.1MM AAV) he signed with the San Jose Sharks. The Sharks, however, chose to expose Schlemko to the expansion draft in 2017 and the Golden Knights selected him and then flipped him to Montreal for a fifth-round pick in this year’s draft. Although he’s dealt with numerous injuries, he spent most of his time in Montreal as the seventh defenseman, playing just 55 games over those two years.

The buyout will last just two years with the following cap hit (according to CapFriendly):

2019-20: $900K
2020-21: $600K

The team will now have $16.3MM in projected salary cap space for the offseason with 18 players on their roster, including nine forwards, six defensemen and three goaltenders.

 

Dallas Stars Buy Out Valeri Nichushkin

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Sunday: The buyout is official, and Nichushkin is now an unrestricted free agent.

Saturday: Last summer, winger Valeri Nichushkin was a key part of the offseason additions for the Stars.  Now, he’s on his way out the door.  Fox Sports Midwest’s Andy Strickland reports (Twitter link) that Dallas will be placing him on unconditional waivers for the purposes of buying out the final year of his contract.

Nichushkin had a rough year in 2018-19 to put it lightly.  He failed to score a single goal in 57 regular season games and went from seeing a bit of time in the top six to a depth role to basically out of the lineup altogether.  In their postseason run, he suited up just once in 13 games.  Needless to say, he didn’t come close to living up to the expectations of his two-year, $5.9MM contract.

As he is just 25, the cost of buying out Nichushkin is considerably cheaper than the standard cost.  Instead of Dallas needing to pay two-thirds of the contract over two times the remaining term, they only have to pay one-third over that same term.  As a result, the payout will be as follows:

2019-20: $700K
2020-21: $450K

As a result of this move, Dallas will save $2.25MM on the salary cap for next season which will up their payroll room to a little under $12.5MM.  With only a pair of depth restricted free agents to re-sign in defenseman Julius Honka and center Jason Dickinson, the Stars are poised to be an impact team in free agency next week.

Meanwhile, it will be interesting to see what the future holds for Nichushkin.  He now enters the open market as one of the younger free agents available and while his 2018-19 campaign was one to forget, he has had some success in the past with Dallas in his first stint with the team before he went back to the KHL.  There should be a fair bit of interest in his services from teams thinking that a change of scenery can rejuvenate him but at the same time, there should be a lot of interest from the KHL as well.  Either way, he’s an intriguing late addition to this free agent class.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Canucks Place Ryan Spooner On Unconditional Waivers

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The Canucks are parting ways with Ryan Spooner.  Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reports (Twitter link) that Vancouver has placed the forward on unconditional waivers for the purposes of buying out the final year of his contract.

2018-19 represented a remarkable fall from grace for the 27-year-old.  One season earlier, he had an impressive 41 points in 59 games between the Bruins and the Rangers and he looked as if he could be a useful secondary scorer in New York.  The team certainly felt the same way, handing him a two-year, $8MM contract last summer.

However, things did not go anywhere near as well for Spooner this past season.  He struggled in the early going with the Rangers and was flipped with $900K of salary retention to Edmonton for Ryan Strome.  The move worked out a lot better for the Rangers than it did for the Oilers.

Spooner picked up just two goals and an assist in 25 games with Edmonton before he was ultimately waived and sent to the minors.  Shortly after that, he was flipped in a swap of bad contracts to the Canucks with Sam Gagner going back to the Oilers.  Unfortunately for Vancouver, the struggles continued as he had just four assists in 11 games.  Overall, he wound up with only three goals and six helpers over 52 NHL games between the three teams, hardly the type of production befitting that type of contract.

As a result of the Rangers holding onto part of Spooner’s contract, they’re also affected by this move.  The buyout cost per team is as follows:

Vancouver

2019-20: $1.033MM
2020-21: $1.033MM

New York

2019-20: $300K
2020-21: $300K

With the buyout, Vancouver will save a little under $2MM for next season which will help offset the salary recapture penalty that hit their books following the retirement of Roberto Luongo but will take on the extra charge for 2020-21.  Meanwhile, the Rangers will save $600K for the upcoming season with the extra $300K on the books for the following season.

Meanwhile, Spooner will enter a UFA market where he will now find himself battling for a depth spot in a lineup.  While his 2018-19 performance wasn’t strong, there should still be a few teams thinking that there could still be a bit of upside and that in the right spot, he could be a decent producer from the bottom six.  At any rate, his next contract will be a fraction of the one he is being bought out of.

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