Jake Dotchin Clears Unconditional Waivers
Saturday, 11:00am: Dotchin has cleared waivers, Smith reports.
Friday, 4:15pm: Smith reports this afternoon that the agent for Dotchin will look at any available option to appeal the decision to terminate his contract. Dotchin’s camp apparently “respectfully disagree” with the decision. There is definitely more to come in this story.
11:11am: It wasn’t so long ago that Jake Dotchin was an up and coming young defender for the Tampa Bay Lightning, with high hopes given the lack of options on the right side. Today, according to Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet, Dotchin has been placed on unconditional waivers for the purpose of terminating his contract. Joe Smith of The Athletic reports the transaction has been made due to a “material breach” of Dotchin’s contract, though doesn’t go into specifics on what has occurred. The Lightning will not comment further, though Friedman adds that the team was “unhappy with Dotchin’s conditioning at arrival” for their training camp.
Dotchin, 24, looked like he might solidify himself as Victor Hedman‘s partner at the end of 2016-17, when he played 35 games in the second half of the season and saw his ice time increase to over 20 minutes a night at times. That number dropped back down last year in just 48 contests, and now Dotchin will have to find himself another job in another organization. If his contract is terminated tomorrow as expected, he will be an unrestricted free agent and able to sign with any team in the league.
There was just one year remaining on Dotchin’s contract that would have paid him $925K this season, but there wasn’t even a guaranteed role on the blue line given the additions Tampa Bay has made over the last year. Mikhail Sergachev and Ryan McDonagh are both set to eat up huge minutes this season while Dan Girardi will still be a full-time option for the club.
Salary Cap Deep Dive: Boston Bruins
Navigating the Salary Cap is probably one of the more important tasks for any general manager to have. Teams that can avert total cap chaos by walking the tightrope of inking players to deals that match their value (or compensate for future value without breaking the bank) remain successful. Those that don’t see struggles and front office changes.
PHR will look at every NHL team and give a thorough look at their cap situation heading into the 2018-19 season. This will focus more on those players who are integral parts of the roster versus those who may find themselves shuttling between the AHL and NHL. All cap figures are courtesy of CapFriendly.
Boston Bruins
Current Projected Cap Hit: $76,540,667 (under the $79.5MM Upper Limit)
Entry Level Contracts
D Charlie McAvoy (one year, $917K)
D Brandon Carlo (one year, $789K)
F Jake DeBrusk (two years, $863K)
F Danton Heinen (one year, $873K)
F Ryan Donato (one year, $900K)
F Anders Bjork (two years, $925K)
Potential Bonuses:
McAvoy: $500K
DeBrusk: $425K
Heinen: $213K
Donato: $850K
Total: $1.99MM
Under $5.5MM in salary and under $2MM in potential bonuses for that group of players? It would be hard to find any team in the league who wouldn’t be excited about that scenario. Carlo has played a top four role for the Bruins for two seasons already and McAvoy asserted himself not only as the top defenseman on the team as a rookie last year, but one of the best defenders in the league; they’re both just beginning to show what they can be. The other four forwards will likely make up the bulk of the top nine in Boston this season. Heinen and DeBrusk finished fourth and sixth respectively among Bruins forwards in scoring last year, each with 40+ points, and noticeably improved as the season wore on. Bjork began the year in the top six and scored at a pace that would have put him at 30+ points on the year, if not for a roster crunch and later on an injury that kept him out of the lineup for much of the year. The latest addition is Donato, who joined the team down the stretch after leading both the NCAA and Winter Olympics in goals per game. If the Bruins’ top prospect finds chemistry with a scoring line and earns substantial ice time, he could be a legitimate Calder Trophy threat.
Of course, the caveat to all of this is that the Bruins can only enjoy most of these bargain deals for one more year. All but DeBrusk and Bjork will be due extensions by this time next year. McAvoy is in line for an expensive, long-term contract that could easily surpass the six-year, $29.7MM contract just recently signed by the Calgary Flames’ Noah Hanifin. Carlo will be due a much more modest raise, but a raise nonetheless. The real intrigue lies with Heinen and Donato. If Heinen is again the best non-first line forward on the Bruins this season, he will have cemented himself as a crucial piece of the core and will be able to command a hefty bump in salary. A regression and being overshadowed by other young forward could keep his next cap hit at a more comfortable level. The same goes for Donato, who could meet his lofty expectations as a rookie and significantly raise his asking price or could fail to stand out against Boston’s other young forwards and sign a more modest second contract. Perhaps even the Bruins don’t know which outcome they would prefer: their impending RFA’s playing incredibly well and boosting their value or instead playing secondary roles and staying reasonably priced? Either way, the team will at least be glad to have DeBrusk and other incoming prospects at ELC cap hits in 2019-20.
One Year Remaining, Non-Entry Level
D Zdeno Chara ($5MM, UFA)
D Adam McQuaid ($2.75MM, UFA)
F Noel Acciari ($725K, UFA)
Not much is going to change on the Bruins roster between 2018-19 and 2019-20 if unrestricted free agency is any indicator. Given how few current players are impending unrestricted free agents and the number and value of the likely RFA contracts that they will need to hand out, it will probably be a quiet summer in Boston next year.
Of this group, the one departure that seems certain is McQuaid. As it stands now, McQuaid might not only be a bench player for the Bruins this season but could even be considered the team’s #8 defenseman and very well could land on the trade block or even waivers over the course of the campaign. The loyal veteran is one of the remaining holdovers from the team’s 2011 Stanley Cup title and has only ever played hard-nosed, competent hockey in Boston. However, frequent injuries paired with the development of Kevan Miller into a better version of McQuaid has all but made the original superfluous. Now, Boston may not carry eight defenseman all season long and if someone other than McQuaid is traded, that would open up some more opportunity for the physical veteran. However, it still seems that – given the players signed on the blue line as it is and the crop of prospects in Providence (AHL) pushing for play time – that McQuaid’s days in Boston are numbered one way or another.
Counting the days until Chara retires may be a pointless effort, though. The 41-year-old continues to defy nature in every regard. Chara led all Boston skaters in ice time with 23 minutes per night and has been the team’s average ice-time leader for a whopping twelve years straight. While his offense remains in decline, his defensive game made a major comeback last season and the league’s oldest defenseman even garnered Norris Trophy votes. In all likelihood, the Bruins will look to reduce Chara’s role this year in an effort to make him even more effective in limited minutes. If that proves successful, don’t be surprised to see Boston give Chara incentive-laden one-year contracts until he finally decides to hand up his skates. At this rate, it could be another year or two after this current contract expires.
Some may discount what spark plug Acciari brings to the Bruins and consider his impending free agency to not be much of a factor. Yet, Acciari is considered by many to be one of the more underrated defensive forwards in the league. A versatile player and punishing checker, Acciari is an ideal fourth-liner who frustrates the opposition without landing in penalty trouble or ending up on the wrong side of turnovers. Acciari logged 152 hits last season versus just four minor penalty minutes and recorded 20 takeaways to just nine giveaways. Few players in the league are so efficient with their defensive play. Acciari is a local product who fits the style and culture of the Bruins well and could certainly wind up with a multi-year extension. With that said, the Bruins’ addition of Chris Wagner this summer adds a lot of the same ability that Acciari brings to the table. If cap space or roster space becomes an issue, Acciari is not guaranteed a new contract.
Edmonton Oilers Sign Jason Garrison To PTO
The Edmonton Oilers are out ahead of the crowd when it comes to locking up tryout candidates this off-season. After adding experienced two-way forward Scottie Upshall on a PTO last week, the team has now added another veteran to the mix. The Oilers have announced a PTO agreement with former Vegas Golden Knights defenseman Jason Garrison. With more than 500 NHL games under his belt, Garrison could help to make up for the loss of blue line leader Andrej Sekera if he performs well enough in camp.
Garrison is looking for any opportunity to get his career back on track. Once considered an elite defenseman, as evidenced by the six-year, $27.6MM contract that just expired, Garrison has been anything but in recent years. After his play slipped in his final years with the Tampa Bay Lightning, the team arranged for Garrison to be selected by Vegas in the 2017 NHL Expansion Draft, even giving up the rights to KHL star Nikita Gusev and a pair of high picks to do so. Garrison then skated in just eight games with the Knights last season, clearing waivers twice over the course of a campaign spent almost entirely in the AHL.
At 33 years old, Garrison is hoping to show that he can still make a difference in the NHL. It is no surprise that the free agent market was quiet for the struggling defender, but he may have found a great option in a PTO with the Oilers. Since Sekera went down, there has been almost unanimous agreement among hockey pundits that Edmonton needed to make an addition. While the team has since added Jakub Jerabek, it would not be a shock to see the older, more experienced Garrison win a roster spot on a blue line that features an average NHL games played of 260 among the currently-slated starters. Garrison could not only make the team, but be a locker room leader for a squad that fell well short of expectations last year and could use some guidance in their effort to return to the postseason.
Atlantic Notes: Senators’ Youth, Walker, Howard, Nelson
The Ottawa Senators seem to have little go right over the last year or so, whether it was the unhappiness of their star defenseman Erik Karlsson to the Matt Duchene trade in which the team traded away their No. 1 overall pick for next season to Colorado. With the team shipping off players left and right, that pick could be a costly one for the team.
However, the Ottawa Sun’s Ken Warren writes that who the Senators need to look at the success of the New Jersey Devils last season had when they opted to add a struggling team with youth. Just a season ago, the Devils had a 28-40-14 season and just 70 points. However, New Jersey brought in an infusion of youth, including Nico Hischier, Jesper Bratt, Will Butcher, as well as second-year players like Miles Wood and Pavel Zacha. That group altered the makeup of the struggling franchise and turned last season into a 44-29-9 season for 97 points, an increase of 27 points on the year. The team even qualified for the playoffs.
The Senators, who are actually loaded with quality prospects within their system, could get a similar infusion from their prospects. That possibility might start with 2018 first-rounder Brady Tkachuk, who opted to turn pro last week and has a chance to walk right into the Senators lineup. The team has other young players who are ready for full seasons this year, including Colin White, Logan Brown, Thomas Chabot, Filip Chlapik and Drake Batherson. The team also has last year’s second-round pick Alex Formenton, who made the Senators squad out of training camp last year, who could also make the jump this year. Some success from some of those kids could make people forget a little about some of the franchise’s struggles.
- Former Toronto Maple Leafs enforcer Kurt Walker passed away Friday night at the age of 64 after a brief illness, according to the Toronto Sun’s Lance Hornby. Walker, who might have been better known after his short NHL career, was an advocate for retired NHL players. His efforts nearly a decade ago helped retired players and opened doors for affordable health care, concussion research on NHL retired players and stem-cell research. Walker played three seasons in the NHL, all for the Maple Leafs, playing in 71 games, tallying four goals, five assists and 152 penalty minutes.
- Mlive’s Ansar Khan writes that the Detroit Red Wings need a solid year out of 34-year-old goaltender Jimmy Howard, who has one year remaining on his contract. Howard started the 2017-18 season strong, but struggled in the second-half of the season, finishing the year with a 2.85 GAA and a .910 save percentage in 60 games. The team may have to lighten his workload now that the team added Jonathan Bernier, but if Howard will have to have a better year to earn another contract with the team. Khan writes the team might want to give him a two-year extension as they lack goalie prospects in their system.
- The Buffalo News’ Mike Harrington writes that Buffalo Sabres defensive prospect Casey Nelson has a good chance at breaking camp with the Sabres this year because he now requires Buffalo to pass him through waivers to send him to the AHL. Nelson, has played 55 games for Buffalo over the past three years and showed some promise last year, putting up three goals and eight assists in 37 games. However, because the team could conceivably lose him if they attempt to pass him through waivers, they may be more likely to hold onto him and send other prospects like Brendan Guhle to the AHL since he doesn’t require waivers.
Options For The Oilers To Replace Andrej Sekera
Normally, it takes training camp before any teams begin scrambling for an unanticipated injury replacement among the leftovers of the market. It is unclear how long the Edmonton Oilers knew about the injury to defenseman Andrej Sekera – they announced the surgery today indicating they knew of the injury prior – but what is clear is that the team will need to add another body to the mix in Sekera’s stead. Out indefinitely with a torn Achilles tendon, Sekera is likely to miss a substantial amount of time and extremely unlikely to be back at 100% at any point in the 2018-19 season. It is no coincidence that with Sekera missing most of last season due to a knee injury, the Oilers defense struggled on all fronts. Sekera had easily been the team’s top defender over the two years prior and this will now be the second straight season where he cannot be relied upon. The team must do something to avoid another frustrating campaign on the blue line, but what?
In replacing Sekera, Edmonton will likely target a right-handed defenseman. Although Sekera is a lefty himself, the team is set on the left side regardless with Oscar Klefbom, Darnell Nurse, and Kris Russell. There is also free agent addition Kevin Gravel, also a left-handed defenseman, though he is best suited for his current extra man slot. The right side however poses questions behind Adam Larsson, with Matt Benning likely slated for the second pair and now a hole on the third pair. It is unlikely that the Oilers want to press Benning into a top-four role this season, nor do they want a left-handed depth option like Gravel, Ryan Stanton, or Keegan Lowe as a regular on the right side. As such, they are likely looking for a second-pair caliber righty.
The easy answer is the free agent market. In a relatively stagnant summer, there remains ample talent available in unrestricted free agent defensemen. However, the Oilers are not in the most flexible of positions. The team currently has all but approximately $5MM in cap space committed to their roster which doesn’t include restricted free agent defenseman Nurse, still in need of a new contract. If and when Nurse re-signs, the team will be left with little to no cap space. Fortunately, at this point in the summer they face little competition on the free agent market and could negotiate several tryout deals with available defenders, signing one or more after the start of the season once Sekera’s $5.5MM cap hit can be buried on injured reserve. Yet, the pickings are slim on the right side. Cody Franson could be the team’s best bet with Paul Postma potentially as the next-best option. Ryan Sproul or Frank Corrado could be younger dark horse candidates, while the team could possibly look at veteran Kevin Bieksa. However, if the Oilers consider overloading on lefties as they would have anyway with Sekera, then Toby Enstrom, Luca Sbisa, Alexei Emelin, Johnny Oduya, or even old friend Brandon Davidson jump out as attractive options.
If the team is set on adding a right-hander and not sold on the available free agents, they could also wait for training camp cuts. While there is no guarantee that the right player would wind up on waivers, it’s also well within the realm of possibility. Robert Bortuzzo, Nate Prosser, Jake Dotchin, Steven Kampfer, Brad Hunt, Alex Biega, and Adam McQuaid – a former favorite of Oilers GM Peter Chiarelli in Boston – are just some of the names who could wind up on the waiver wire and fit in on the right side of the Edmonton blue line. It would not be a surprise to see the team sign multiple defenders to PTO’s and also keep an close eye on who gets cut from training camps.
Finally, Edmonton could simply stand pat and attempt to replace Sekera internally. On paper, it doesn’t seem like the Oilers have the pieces to do so effectively, but some of their defensive prospects have not yet been given the opportunity to show what they can do at the NHL level. Many will clamor for recent first-round pick Evan Bouchard to get a shot at sticking with the team. Although very talented – and a right shot – it would be asking a lot for the 18-year-old to step into the top pro game and succeed. It’s not unprecedented, but it is unlikely. Recent Swedish import Joel Persson, currently on loan to his SHL club, is a 24-year-old righty who could be an intriguing experiment and has more experience with the pro game. William Lagesson, on loan in Sweden last season but now back in North America, is a left-shot defenseman but played on the right side frequently during his college days at UMass and is a very safe defensive player who could be a stopgap. Elsewhere in the system, small puck-mover Ethan Bear and hulking Ryan Mantha are both righties who could provide some different style options alongside Lagesson in the AHL. Between these young possibilities and some veteran depth, the Oilers could opt to just let camp battles decide who steps into Sekera’s shoes.
The only thing that is for sure is that Sekera is not going to be suiting up for Edmonton any time soon. Whether the team finds a way to add a capable free agent, gets lucky on the waiver wire, or trusts their young depth, the Oilers will need someone to step up in his stead. An injury to a top defenseman is not how they wanted to begin the season, but the Oilers now have some time to figure it out before the puck drops on the new campaign.
Over The Cap: Detroit Red Wings
Although the St. Louis Blues are dangerously close to the salary cap ceiling and the defending Stanley Cup champs of the past three years, the Washington Capitals and Pittsburgh Penguins, are within an uncomfortable distance, the Detroit Red Wings are the only team who have surpassed the NHL’s $79.5MM limit at this point in time. When the team re-signed franchise center Dylan Larkin to a five-year, $30.5MM contract last week, his $6.1MM salary boosted Detroit’s payroll for the coming season to $82.772MM for just 21 players. The Red Wings currently sit more than $3.2MM over the salary cap with a roster that contains just six defenseman. While the NHL CBA allows teams to surpass the cap by 10% in the off-season – up to $87.45MM – the Red Wings must clear enough space to begin the season under the cap.
Once the season is underway, the salary cap is unlikely to be much of an issue. Johan Franzen, who last played in October of 2015, has been sidelined with post-concussion symptoms for the past three seasons and is almost surely not going to return to the Detroit lineup. His $3.955MM contract on the long-term injured reserve will wipe out all of the Red Wings’ cap overages. Additionally, it remains a very real possibility that captain Henrik Zetterberg may also be on the shelf this year and possibly done with his hockey career altogether, with a nagging back injury reportedly making his availability over the final two years of his contract an “unknown”. If Zetterberg doesn’t play, his $6MM cap hit added to Franzen’s on LTIR would give the Wings more than enough space.
However, injured reserve transactions cannot be made until after the official start of the NHL season. This has previously caused teams to trade away players unlikely to ever play again due to health, with the Chicago Blackhawks’ Marian Hossa as the latest example, even though their cap hits can be absorbed. A team tight against the cap, like Detroit, may struggle to manipulate their roster enough to fit those injured players under the cap on day one. As such, the easiest way that the team could get under the cap prior to the start of the season would be to find a taker for Franzen’s contract. The Wings would have to part with a pick or prospect, but may be able to unload the deal to a team far from the cap ceiling. If Detroit is certain that Zetterberg is also done, they could do the same with his contract, although a higher cap hit means parting with greater trade capital.
Barring an injured player salary dump, the Red Wings are likely left with the reality that they must trade a roster player in the next two months. The team may be able to sneak players like Martin Frk and Luke Witkowski through waivers before the season begins, but it would not result in enough savings to make a difference. Detroit would be unlikely to expose anyone else to waivers simply to clear space briefly. As such, it appears as if someone must go. While Red Wings fans and leadership alike might like the idea of shipping an aging defenseman like Niklas Kronwall or Jonathan Ericsson away or trying to sweet talk some team into taking on the behemoth contract of Frans Nielsen or Justin Abdelkader, it would be a surprise to see any team with interest in that foursome. The likes of Danny DeKeyser and Trevor Daley may also be immovable for a team rife with poor contracts. Instead, impending free agent Gustav Nyquist or two-way center Darren Helm are the most likely candidates, while a player like Luke Glendening heading elsewhere paired with some clever waiver action could do the trick. There is also a chance that, if he proves to be healthy, some team might be interested in Zetterberg.
It’s never a great situation for a team to be forced into trading away assets simply to become cap compliant for one day, but trading away an older player would nevertheless be a step in the right direction for a team that has never truly embraced a rebuild. Opening up salary with a trade, as well as an LTIR placement for Franzen, would allow the Red Wings some flexibility to test out some young players this season while building around their established young core, headlined by Larkin. The salary cap crunch could prove to be their ally long-term, but in the short-term the team is left with little option but to make a move and hope for the best.
Troy Brouwer Bought Out By Calgary Flames
As expected, Troy Brouwer has been bought out by the Calgary Flames after clearing unconditional waivers today. The 32-year old forward had two years remaining on his contract, meaning the Flames will now carry a $1.5MM cap hit for the next four seasons. Brouwer is now free to sign with any other team as an unrestricted free agent.
Brouwer came to the Flames on July 1st, 2016 during a day which many teams around the league have come to regret. The free agent market that season was relatively weak, but several complementary players were given big dollars and term. Milan Lucic, Loui Eriksson, David Backes, and Andrew Ladd have all been including in trade speculation since, while others like Kyle Okposo and Frans Nielsen have been somewhat disappointing for their respective clubs. Brouwer, who was 31 by the time he played his first game in Calgary, actually looked like he might be a perfect fit for Calgary during his first game when he scored a short-handed goal and recorded three hits. The team had wanted to get more physical and bring some experience and defensive responsibility to their lineup, and Brouwer had a history of each.
Unfortunately, the offense would dry up for long stretches of 2016-17 and Brouwer would end up with just 13 goals and 25 points. Last season was even worse, as the veteran forward registered just six goals in 76 games and saw his playing time reduced to the lowest it has been his entire career. The writing was on the wall, and when the Flames went out and brought in James Neal, Derek Ryan, Austin Czarnik and Elias Lindholm to bolster their forward group, someone had to go. The team has plenty of young forwards ready to push for those limited minutes on the fourth line, just waiting for an opportunity to show what they can do at the NHL level.
More importantly perhaps than the roster spot is the $3MM in cap space created, which now allows the Flames to discuss a long-term extension for Noah Hanifin if they so choose. Before getting rid of Brouwer’s contract, the team might not have had the money to buy out several UFA seasons from Hanifin and likely would have needed to go with a bridge deal to keep the cap hit reasonably low. Now, with over $7.5MM in cap space they could lock up their young defender for many years to come and make sure he’s a part of the future. Hanifin remember already has three years under his belt, meaning he’ll become a UFA after four more seasons at the age of 25.
The cap space will also allow Calgary to be more flexible during the season, and perhaps be players once again on the trade market come February. After a disappointing 2017-18 season in which they missed the playoffs completely, the team should be at least competing for the postseason this time around. With a deeper forward corps and talented defensive group, they’ll have to hope for a healthy season from Mike Smith or for one of David Rittich or Jon Gillies to step up and show they can be a starter at the NHL level.
Brouwer meanwhile will likely land somewhere else quickly, as even with his reduced offensive impact he’s still well respected around the league as a bottom-six player. With what will now be an extremely reduced price tag, the veteran forward could sign a one-year deal to prove he can still be effective. He has played some center before, though his natural position is on the wing, and has a long history of penalty killing. His extremely low goal total can also at least somewhat be attributed to the huge drop in shooting percentage he experienced last season. After scoring on an above average 14.2% of his shots through the first decade of his career, Brouwer registered just a 7.6% shooting percentage this season. Though his shot creation numbers also fell dramatically, he could still be relied upon for somewhere around 10 goals and 25 points next season, a fine total for a fourth-line player—as long as he’s not making $4.5MM.
Troy Brouwer Placed On Unconditional Waivers, Will Be Bought Out
The Calgary Flames earned a second buyout window after wrapping up their arbitration cases, and are going to take advantage of it. The team has placed Troy Brouwer on unconditional waivers for the purpose of a buyout, something that we suggested might happen when Garnet Hathaway settled on Monday. Brouwer has two years remaining on his current deal, and carries a $4.5MM cap hit.
Because Brouwer’s contract has no signing bonuses remaining and was not front-loaded, the Flames will save a considerable amount over the next two years. They will now carry just a $1.5MM cap hit for the next four seasons, giving them plenty of flexibility for 2018-19. Not only will the team now have around $7.5MM in cap space with only Noah Hanifin and Hunter Shinkaruk left to sign, but they also will gain a roster spot for some of their younger forwards. Hathaway, Curtis Lazar, Dillon Dube and Spencer Foo will all be battling for playing time in training camp, as the Flames try to get quicker and more skilled on their fourth line.
That lack of skill and speed was the downfall of Brouwer, who plays a physical, bruising game. While he put up consistent offensive numbers throughout a good portion of his career, those numbers dropped off dramatically since signing a four-year $18MM contract with Calgary in 2016. It was a scary contract right from the outset given Brouwer was already 31 when he played his first game in a Flames uniform, and those fears came true almost immediately. In 2016-17 he recorded just 13 goals, his lowest total since his rookie season and followed it with just six last year in a diminished role.
A diminished role is exactly what he might find elsewhere this season, as there will surely be teams lined up to sign him for a lower salary. Teams looking for leadership, physicality and plenty of experience on their fourth line will be interested in a cheap Brouwer, who can sign as soon as the Flames officially buy him out.
Gemel Smith, Dallas Stars Submit Arbitration Figures
The Dallas Stars risked losing Gemel Smith on waivers last week in order to establish his value around the league, and today filed their arbitration figure for the hearing scheduled on Wednesday. Chris Johnston of Sportsnet reports that the Stars have filed for a two-way contract, while Smith submitted a one-way $900K contract request. Sean Shapiro of The Athletic reports that Smith’s two-way qualifying offer is worth $715K.
Brett Kulak, who was also put through the waiver process before his arbitration hearing, and offered a $650K two-way deal by the Calgary Flames, was eventually awarded a $900K contract after filing for $1.15MM. Smith will likely land somewhere in between the two filings, provided he doesn’t settle with the Stars in the next few days. He and Cody Ceci are scheduled to have their hearings on Wednesday.
Smith will be in tough this season as he tries to carve out a bottom-six role on the Stars, and a two-way offer only strengthens the idea that he could find himself behind players like Remi Elie and Jason Dickinson on the depth chart. The additions of Blake Comeau and Valeri Nichushkin have given the Stars more secondary scoring options and left fewer minutes available. Smith will have to show he can contribute in those limited minutes, or face another assignment to the minor leagues. The fact that he’s already cleared waivers recently doesn’t guarantee that he would make it through the process unclaimed in September, but does make it easier for the Stars to risk him if he can’t crack the roster out of training camp.
Concerns Remain About Corey Crawford’s Health
The other day, Mark Lazerus of the Chicago Sun-Times spoke with Blackhawks head coach Joel Quenneville, who admitted that he won’t be carrying three goalies this season. With veteran Cam Ward now in the fold as backup, Lazerus took that to mean that young Anton Forsberg could be the odd man out, likely to be placed on waivers prior to the start of the season. Now, after speaking to the starting goaltender himself, Corey Crawford, Lazerus could be changing his tune. Although he was limited to only 28 appearances last season due to injury, Chicago has been confident that Crawford would be fully ready to begin the 2018-19 season. Not so fast says Crawford; the two-time Jennings Trophy winner admits that he is still not back to 100%.
Since before the disappointing 2017-18 campaign even came to an end, the Blackhawks have been adamant that Crawford would be back for training camp and the start of the upcoming season. Despite the fact that Crawford did not see any action after December as his recovery dragged on through the second half of the year, the team had all but assured the fans that he would be the Opening Night starter. To that promise, Crawford told the press this weekend:
“That’s hard to say right now, but it’s very possible. We’ve come a long way in the last couple months, and there’s a really good chance that could happen… (I am) feeling pretty good right now, [but] I am not at 100 percent yet… Treatments are going well, and we’re making small steps. And I’m getting a little better, so it’s a process,” he said. “It’s been a process since I left in December. It hasn’t been easy.”
Clearly, Crawford is heading in the right direction, but his own apprehension – as well as the strong emotions Lazerus noted – indicate that this injury saga may not be over just yet. Crawford’s injury has never been specified by the team, but whatever it is has taken a lot of work to get through. Crawford has no doubt that he will back to his old self at some point, but he just isn’t sure when that will be.
The Blackhawks desperately need Crawford to be back at his elite level as soon as possible and in shape to avoid further injury. Much of their struggle last season came from incompetent goaltending after Crawford, who began the year with a stellar .929 save percentage and 2.27 GAA, went down. Forsberg, Jean-Francois Berube, and Jeff Glass all struggled immensely in his absence, although Forsberg was the best of the three. Ward is a step up as backup and he and Forsberg could carry the torch for a short period, but a healthy Crawford is the only way that Chicago gets back to the postseason this year. That makes his news all the more troublesome for Blackhawks fans.