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Brett Leason Signs Entry-Level Contract

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Another top draft pick has inked his entry-level contract, as Brett Leason has signed with the Washington Capitals. Leason’s three-year entry-level deal will carry an average annual value of $842,500. Unlike many other draft picks, Leason’s deal does not have the opportunity to slide forward as he is already 20 years old after being passed over in the past two drafts. He will be a restricted free agent following the 2021-22 season.

Being selected 56th overall by the Capitals last month was the result of years of hard work by Leason, who wasn’t even a high pick in the 2014 WHL bantam draft and only played a single CHL game before the 2016-17 season. He would score just 18 point for the Tri-City Americans that year and went undrafted as an 18-year old who wasn’t even an offensive contributor in junior. The next season things started out poorly again for Leason with the Americans, scoring just a single goal in the first 12 games before a trade to the Prince Albert Raiders changed everything.

Leason would find success in Prince Albert scoring 32 points down the stretch but was still overlooked entirely at draft time. After all, 19-year old NHL prospects are expected to dominate the CHL at that point. Well, dominate he did in his third WHL season and first full year with the Raiders. Leason scored 36 goals and 89 points in 55 regular season games and added an appearance at the World Juniors for Team Canada. In the playoffs he would continue to be a force, adding 25 points in 22 games while taking home a WHL championship with the powerhouse Prince Albert squad.

The question now will be whether or not Leason can take that kind of production into the professional ranks, but betting against him at this point is probably a bad idea. Armed with an NHL-ready shot—in strength, accuracy and release—the 6’4″ forward will try to establish himself as a goal scorer and powerplay option in the minor leagues and force his way onto the Capitals roster before long. With so much money tied up in their top players, Washington will need some entry-level contributions over the next few seasons and Leason might be the right prospect to give them that on a hastened timeline.

Washington Capitals Sign Aliaksei Protas

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The Washington Capitals have signed another prospect, this time inking Aliaksei Protas to a three-year entry-level contract. Protas was selected 91st overall in last month’s draft.

Protas, 18, came over from Belarus to play for the Prince Albert Raiders of the WHL last season but took a while to get acclimated to the North American game. Scoring just 11 goals and 40 points in 61 regular season games, he also helped his country to a silver medal at the D1A World Juniors (those countries that do not qualify for the top tournament) before taking off in the WHL playoffs. The 6’5″ forward recorded 12 goals and 22 points in 23 games to help the Raiders to a WHL title and Memorial Cup berth.

His low point totals in the regular season can be somewhat explained by the tremendous depth that Prince Albert had as one of the very best teams in the CHL. The fact that by the time the playoffs rolled around Protas was a key part of that team—along with fellow Washington draft pick Brett Leason—can only be seen as a positive, and something that should have Capitals fans excited for his future. Even with his new NHL contract it is much more likely that Protas returns to the WHL next season and continues his development, meaning the deal will slide forward at least one year.

Metropolitan Notes: Devils Moves, Flyers Roster, Backstrom

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There still remains a number of intriguing free agents available on the open market, including Jake Gardiner, Ryan Dzingel and Micheal Ferland. However, despite having $20.77MM in projected cap space remaining on their roster, it’s unlikely the New Jersey Devils will be adding one of them unless their asking price drops significantly, according to The Athletic’s Corey Masisak (subscription required).

That cap number is somewhat deceiving as New Jersey has several restricted free agents they must deal with, including Pavel Zacha, Will Butcher, Mirco Mueller and Connor Carrick, amongst others. No player should walk away with too significant a deal, meaning the Devils would have the cap space to sign one of those free agents, but that still seems unlikely. The team already made their major moves earlier, trading for P.K. Subban and signing winger Wayne Simmonds in free agency. That, however, doesn’t mean they are done making moves.

“I made some calls,” Shero. “This week will be the same thing, and we certainly would want to see what’s out there, if there’s a chance as we go into the summertime and the rest of the summer into training camp.”

  • Sam Carchidi of Philly.com comes up with an early projection of the Philadelphia Flyers’ lineup with one interesting hole on the team’s third line. The scribe pencils in Nolan Patrick centering Oskar Lindblom, but lists the other wing position to a mystery man, likely to be battled during training camp. He notes that there are two logical candidates to win the role including veteran Scott Laughton as well as youngsters Morgan Frost and Joel Farabee. The 20-year-old Frost, a 2017 first-rounder, wrapped up his junior career last season and combined for 79 goals and 221 points over his last two years for the Soo Greyhounds of the OHL. The 19-year-old Farabee, a 2018 first-rounder, signed with the Flyers after one season with Boston University in which he scored 17 goals and 36 points in 37 games.
  • While the discussions of whether the Washington Capitals will be able to retain goaltender Braden Holtby after next season has been discussed, the Washington Capitals have another significant free agent as well next offseason in Niklas Backstrom. The Washington Post’s Barry Svrluga suggests that the Capitals are almost certainly going to find a way to bring the veteran center back. Backstrom will be 32 by then, but has been such an integral piece to the first line next to Alexander Ovechkin, that it seems inconceivable the team will allow the veteran to walk away, especially without a young center waiting in the wings, which Washington does not have. Backstrom is still putting up solid numbers as he scored 22 goals and 74 points last season.

Sergei Bobrovsky's Contract May Present Future Challenges For Washington

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  • The contract that Sergei Bobrovsky received from Florida presents a bit of a conundrum for the Capitals, suggests J.J. Regan of NBC Sports Washington. Braden Holtby is now a year away from free agency and has comparable career numbers to Bobrovsky but Washington would have a tough time handing him a new deal with an AAV around the $10MM mark.  However, given where they are in terms of trying to be a win-now team, trading him isn’t really an option either.  That puts them in a situation where they could potentially be losing their starter a year from now for nothing but there is plenty of time for that to change.

Washington Capitals Re-Sign Vitek Vanecek

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The Washington Capitals have re-signed restricted free agent goalie Vitek Vanecek to a three-year, $2.15MM contract that should set the young keeper up to emerge as an NHL candidate sooner rather than later. The team announced the long-term deal with their third-string goalie and noted that it becomes a one-way deal after year one and the salary jumps from $700K to $750K after year two. The 2014 second-round pick, who’s still searching for his first NHL appearance, at least adds some certainty to his future with this extension.

Vanecek, 23, was selected 39th overall in 2014 and has spent the last several seasons in the Capitals minor league system. Though obviously still young enough to take big steps forward, he has been passed over by Ilya Samsonov in terms of prospect ranking for Washington and will have to fight for playing time. The pair of young goaltenders will likely make up the AHL tandem this season, hopefully pushing each other to even greater performances.

It will be interesting to see where the Capitals go with their goaltending over the next several seasons, as current NHL starter Braden Holtby is on the final year of his current deal. After Sergei Bobrovsky likely set the market for any extension with his seven-year, $70MM deal with the Florida Panthers today, Washington may decide to try and hand off the duties to someone else while Samsonov and Vanecek mature in the minor leagues. A three-year deal for the latter will give him the time to do so, though he will not be waiver exempt starting in the 2020-21 season.

Washington Capitals Sign Brendan Leipsic

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The Washington Capitals have added another depth forward with a little upside, signing Brendan Leipsic to a one-year, one-way contract worth $700K. Leipsic split last season between the Vancouver Canucks and Los Angeles Kings. The team has also signed minor league forward Philippe Maillet to a two-year, two-way contract worth $700K at the NHL level.

Leipsic, 25, has shown flashes of brilliance in the NHL but hasn’t quite been able to establish himself as a full-time player just yet. In 45 games with the Kings last season he recorded 18 points, but failed to receive a qualifying offer and became an unrestricted free agent. That’s not the first team that passed on him over the years, as the third-round pick has been traded twice, picked in the expansion draft and claimed off waivers over the years. In Washington he’ll try to show that he can be an everyday player, but his $700K deal can be buried in the minor leagues if the team feels he’s not ready to contribute.

Maillet meanwhile is a minor league addition that won’t be expected to contribute at the NHL level at all. The 26-year old forward went undrafted out of the QMJHL despite strong scoring numbers and actually went to the University of New Brunswick for four seasons. Signing a minor league deal with the Ontario Reign, he showed that had still been overlooked and actually registered 94 points in 140 games for the AHL club. This deal represents his first NHL contract and a reward for years of hard work.

Arizona Coyotes Sign Ness, Miele, Bennett

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The Arizona Coyotes already made their big splash this off-season, acquiring Phil Kessel, so it comes as little surprise that the team made one unassuming announcement about three players signed to two-way contracts. Defenseman Aaron Ness has signed a two-year deal, as has forward Andy Miele, while forward Beau Bennett has signed a one-year deal. No financial terms have been disclosed.

Ness, 29, is the only one of the trio who spent last season in North America. A depth piece for the Washington Capitals, and before that the New York Islanders, Ness has played in 47 career NHL games and can be a useful minor league piece in case of emergency. The Coyotes have great depth on the blue line, but the team will be happy to let Ness, who scored a career-high 55 points last year with the AHL’s Hershey Bears, play a key role with the Tuscon Roadrunners while acting as deep option should injuries strike at the top level.

Miele, 31, begins his second stint with the Coyotes organization after spending the past two seasons abroad. A player with incredibly impressive numbers in the AHL, Miele branched out to the European ranks in search of a greater role. He enjoyed back-to-back strong seasons, first in the Swedish Hockey League and last year in the KHL, but appears ready to try his hand in the NHL again. Miele has only 15 NHL games to his credit, but he and the ’Yotes hope that his time overseas has further developed his game to the point that he can contribute in Arizona.

Bennett, 27, was limited to just five games with the KHL’s Dinamo Minsk last season, his first outside North America, but that didn’t stop the Coyotes from taking a chance on him. Now in his fourth NHL stop, Bennett is looking to get back to being a regular in the league, as he was in his first five pro seasons. The 2010 first-round pick has skated in 200 NHL games, recording 64 points, and enjoyed the best season of his career just a few years ago in 2016-17 with the New Jersey Devils. If GM John Chayka and company see the residual upside in Bennett, he could be an intriguing option for the Coyotes this seaosn.

Florida Panthers Sign Brett Connolly

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Monday: As expected, the Panthers have confirmed a four-year deal with Connolly. However, the team has set to disclose the financial terms. GM Dale Tallon calls Connolly “a Stanley Cup Champion who knows what it takes to win in this league (and) brings a dimension of both size and skill to our young forward group and will strengthen our depth.” There is clearly an expectation that the scoring winger will continue to grow into a true top-six player over his time with Florida.

Sunday: While the Panthers have been linked to some of the top players in the free agent class, it appears as if they will be making some smaller free agent splashes as well.  Bob Stauffer of 630 CHED reports (Twitter link) that Florida could be signing winger Brett Connolly to a four-year contract when the market officially opens up on Monday.  Pierre LeBrun of TSN and The Athletic echoes (Twitter link) that the Panthers are expected to land Connolly while Fox Sports Midwest’s Andy Strickland adds (via Twitter) that the deal will carry a $3.5MM AAV.

The 27-year-old is coming off of a career year with Washington.  After putting up 27 points (his previous high) in 2017-18, he blew past that as he posted 22 goals and 24 assists in 81 games while chipping in with a pair of goals in the postseason.  Most notably, 44 of his 46 points came at even strength and finding players that are capable of producing without power play time are hard to find.  That helped vault him to 17th on our Top 50 UFA Rankings.

That said, this deal won’t be without its risks.  Connolly is only a few seasons removed from being non-tendered in two straight summers (2014-15 with Tampa Bay and 2015-16 with Boston) and his point production had been in the twenties for the three previous seasons before 2018-19.  If he reverts to his career averages, this contract could become an overpayment fairly quickly.  On the other hand, if he can come close to that level of five-on-five production once again, it could wind up as a bargain.

Riley Barber Signs With Montreal Canadiens

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Young forward Riley Barber will try his luck in Montreal next season. The Canadiens have announced a one-year, two-way deal with the 25-year-old that pays him the minimum $700K at the NHL level with $400K guaranteed. The former college standout at Miami University has played in just three NHL games with the Washington Capitals over four seasons in the organization and will look for more of an opportunity next year.

After signing with Washington out of Miami University (Ohio) after three years, he immediately put up big numbers for the Hershey Bears of the AHL, but opportunities with a loaded Capitals squad were few and far between as he only got a three-game stint with the team in the 2016-17 season. However, while his name was often brought up in the last two years as a potential fourth-line option, the 25-year-old Barber has never been able win a spot with the team, despite showing his offensive skills. He tallied 31 goals and 60 points for Hershey this season.

He should get a solid chance to prove himself although he will have to prove compete with players like Matthew Peca, Nate Thompson and Jordan Weal if he wants to establish himself in the NHL.

Richard Panik Signs With Washington Capitals

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Monday: The Capitals have officially announced a four-year, $11MM contract with Panik, a deal that pays the two-way winger a $2.75MM AAV.

Sunday: The Washington Capitals were able to shed some salary recently by flipping restricted free agent Andre Burakovsky and his expensive qualifying offer to the Colorado Avalanche, and now they’re set to replace him with a more experienced winger. According to Bob McKenzie of TSN Richard Panik is expected to sign a four-year contract with the Capitals tomorrow. The deal could carry an average annual value “somewhere north of $2.5MM” tweets McKenzie.

Panik, 28, recorded 33 points in 75 games with the Arizona Coyotes last season and has now gone three years in a row with at least that many. That kind of production is exactly what the Capitals are looking for out of their bottom-six, especially after likely losing Brett Connolly to free agency as well. There’s actually a chance that the veteran forward could become even more than that playing in Washington, as Panik has been known to fit in well beside top players in a support role. The Capitals already have their superstars up front but needed a little more punch on the right side.

The question will be how this affects the rest of the summer for Washington, who may have a little flexibility right now but need to pay Jakub Vrana, Chandler Stephenson and Christian Djoos at some point. They also have to think about the future with Nicklas Backstrom and Braden Holtby set to become free agents in a year’s time. While Panik is likely a bargain at $2.5MM, the four-year term could present some risk to a team that is always near the cap if he somehow fails to produce in Washington.

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