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Capitals Rumors

Oft-Injured Teams Likely To Rebound In 2017-18

August 8, 2017 at 6:13 pm CDT | by Seth Lawrence Leave a Comment

Every year, some teams invariably get the short straw when it comes to injury. The Washington Capitals, notably, were the healthiest team in the league, and ended up winning the Presidents’ Trophy. That said, organizational depth is absolutely vital, as the Penguins survived well enough to repeat championships, even though they were bottom-5 in man games lost. Ultimately, there are a few franchises that are merely anticipating a restart in 2017-18, in hopes of entirely forgetting the abuses of last season. These three teams are those which suffered the worst, and have a solid chance to rebound in the upcoming campaign.

Tampa Bay Lightning

The Lightning lost Steven Stamkos for the majority of the season after he was diagnosed with a torn meniscus in November. He missed an astounding total of 65 games. Ryan Callahan was also lost for the majority of the year, losing 64 games of action to a lower-body injury. After that, the onslaught of injuries kept hammering away. Nikita Kucherov only lost 8 games, but was felled on three separate occasions. Ondrej Palat missed only 9 games as well, but his presence was sorely missed when absent. Cedric Paquette lost 23 games, while Tyler Johnson missed 16. It seemed that no one was safe on Tampa’s squad more man-games than an other teams when you factor in essentially retired players.

Tampa will look to remain healthy this season, after an incredibly unlucky venture in 2016-17. They have the depth to endure losses, but the sheer carnage last season was too catastrophic to overcome. Still, they finished only one point out of the final wild card spot. They could easily have squeaked into the playoffs and inflicted serious damage. This year, as long as the fates turn their way, they should be right back in the competitive mix.

Winnipeg Jets

Tyler Myers lost out on the bulk of the season, only playing in 11 contests. As a big component of the team’s defense, he will need to be back to peak performance if the Jets hope to stop some of the bleeding in their own end of the ice. Center Bryan Little lost 23 games to a lower-body injury, while Shawn Matthias missed 37 contests to an upper-body ailment. Not a single player survived the entire year without succumbing to some sort of injury or sickness, and the team as a whole struggled to find a consistent groove with so many bodies filling in and falling out.

The Jets need consistent goaltending and less obnoxiously aggressive defense if they hope to reach the post-season again. That said, simply remaining healthy will go a long way in transforming Winnipeg into a dangerous team. Mark Scheifele was absolutely dominant last season, and with reliable depth behind him, only good results lie ahead. The Central is also slightly less intimidating this year, even with Dallas making as many transactions as they did. Nashville and Chicago both took steps backward, the Blues remained relatively the same, while the Wild made lateral moves.

Vancouver Canucks

Vancouver will have a tough time entering the playoff conversation. In the relatively weak Pacific however, anything can happen. The Sedin twins are another year older, and GM Jim Benning hasn’t acquired any game-breakers in the off-season (Michael Del Zotto doesn’t count). Still, when a team loses over 300 man-games to injury in a year, things should theoretically improve the following year. Admittedly, some of their most heavily injured players were nominal players, like Derek Dorsett (68 lost) and Anton Rodin (79 lost). Still, they missed the presence of multiple depth players at a time and ultimately relied too heavily upon call-ups to crawl through the year. Jannik Hansen (39 lost), Chris Tanev (29 lost), and Erik Gudbranson (52 lost) are far from world-beaters, but on a team as thin at both offense and defense as the Canucks, their losses were unsustainable.

It remains to be seen how much of an impact general health will play for the Canucks. They still need their top players to find consistent production, and their younger players (Bo Horvat, Sven Baertschi) must continue to progress. That said, with a little luck, they might find themselves somewhere near the mix yet again. With new coach Travis Green and a fresh beginning, perhaps there is one more Wild Card berth left in a team that has been prolonging their inevitable full-on rebuild.

Injury| Jim Benning| Minnesota Wild| Pittsburgh Penguins| Players| St. Louis Blues| Tampa Bay Lightning| Transactions| Travis Green| Vancouver Canucks| Washington Capitals| Winnipeg Jets Anton Rodin| Bo Horvat| Bryan Little| Cedric Paquette| Chris Tanev| Derek Dorsett| Jannik Hansen| Mark Scheifele| Michael Del Zotto| Nikita Kucherov| Ondrej Palat

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Summer Predictions: Metropolitan Division

August 8, 2017 at 12:03 pm CDT | by Gavin Lee 5 Comments

The hockey world is at a standstill now that August has rolled around. With all of the arbitration cases now decided, and just a few restricted free agents left to sign players and fans alike are counting the days until training camp starts. While there are still several names in free agency that could still help an NHL club, it seems like many are destined either for professional tryouts or late-summer deals after injuries strike.

So now we’ll get into our summer predictions. Before the start of the year we’ll be releasing a full season preview with projections for each club and the expected playoff teams, but first we’ll ask you to give us your take on how you believe each division will end up. We’ll start with the Metropolitan Division, where defending Stanley Cup champions Pittsburgh will try for a three-peat in 2017-18.

Choose who you think will win the Metropolitan this season, and make sure to leave your full prediction for the division standings in the comments. We’ll be sure to publish these results alongside our own PHR rankings in September.

Who will win the Metropolitan Division?
Pittsburgh Penguins 40.88% (661 votes)
New York Rangers 16.33% (264 votes)
Washington Capitals 12.62% (204 votes)
Columbus Blue Jackets 12.12% (196 votes)
Philadelphia Flyers 8.16% (132 votes)
New York Islanders 4.33% (70 votes)
New Jersey Devils 3.40% (55 votes)
Carolina Hurricanes 2.16% (35 votes)
Total Votes: 1,617

[Mobile users click here to vote!]

Carolina Hurricanes| New Jersey Devils| New York Islanders| New York Rangers| Philadelphia Flyers| Pittsburgh Penguins| Washington Capitals

5 comments

Nate Schmidt, Vegas Golden Knights Exchange Arbitration Figures

August 1, 2017 at 8:33 am CDT | by Gavin Lee 3 Comments

Nate Schmidt is one of the final arbitration cases and is due to have a hearing on Thursday morning in Toronto with the Vegas Golden Knights. The two sides traded figures today, with the team offering a two-year deal worth a total of $1.95MM while Schmidt is looking for a one-year $2.75MM award according to Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet.

Schmidt is the final restricted free agent left to sign for the Golden Knights, who are still working towards avoiding arbitration with the young defender. With two years left before he hits unrestricted free agency, the team opted for the two-year term that will take him right to the open market. As discussed previously, the Golden Knights are clearly trying to position themselves as a player at the trade deadline, and seem uninterested in players signed for more than two years.

While they could still reach a longer term deal with Schmidt, it’s not clear if they view him as a long-term piece of the franchise or a valuable asset that can continue to kick start a build through the draft. The dynamic skater could easily be one of the top options for a team this deadline looking to shore up their defense, especially after the excellent showing he had in the playoffs for the Washington Capitals. Schmidt almost made Karl Alzner obsolete, arguably playing better than him when the now-Montreal Canadien went down to injury in the first round.

Schmidt is coming off a year where he made $875K, so Vegas is offering him a very modest raise heading into next season. As always, these are outer limits for the negotiation and an arbitration decision would almost certainly come somewhere in the middle. In 60 games, Schmidt put up 17 points and was generally effective, though he still doesn’t have a very high profile among fans mostly due to his lack of draft pedigree. He was signed out of the University of Minnesota in 2013.

Arbitration| Washington Capitals Elliotte Friedman| Nate Schmidt

3 comments

Nathan Walker Should Find Opening On Lean Capitals' Roster

July 30, 2017 at 4:04 pm CDT | by Seth Lawrence 1 Comment

  • Nathan Walker of the Washington Capitals re-signed with the organization at the beginning of the month, after playing the past two seasons in Hershey. As the Capitals are in a bit of a cap crunch, they will be relying on younger, cheaper players like Walker to fill holes, especially on the third and fourth lines. Walker, like the other two players in these snapshots, needs to prove that he can overcome his short height. At only 5’8, Walker plays a game well above his size. He can handle physicality and his energy can jump-start a shift in a pinch. He also has some level of offensive capability – he’s netted 64 points through 131 AHL contests in the last two seasons. Walker is particularly interesting to trivia buffs, because were he to make an NHL appearance (as seems likely), he would be the first Australian-born player to do so, as noted by Adam Gretz of NBC Sports. Walker’s competition in camp, as of now, isn’t too intimidating. Assuming Jakub Vrana makes the lineup, Walker will only need to beat out the likes of Travis Boyd, Wayne Simpson, Riley Barber and a host of AHL journeymen and minor prospects to cement his playing time.

    [SOURCE LINK]

AHL| Dale Tallon| Florida Panthers| NHL| Pittsburgh Penguins| Players| Prospects| Snapshots| Washington Capitals Conor Sheary| Denis Malgin| Jakub Vrana| Jaromir Jagr| Jonathan Marchessault| Jussi Jokinen

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Washington Capitals Prospect Nathan Walker Could Make NHL History

July 29, 2017 at 5:15 pm CDT | by Holger Stolzenberg 1 Comment

  • Washington Capitals prospect Nathan Walker could make NHL history by becoming the first player from Australia to play a regular season game in the NHL. The third-round pick in 2014 has a legitimate chance to break the season with the Capitals this season, according to NBC Sports’ Adam Gretz. Walker, a high-energy, physical player despite his lack of size (5-foot-8, 186 pounds), could replace Daniel Winnik on the team’s fourth line this year. Walker has stepped up his game the last two years with the AHL Hershey Bears, putting up 28 goals and 64 points over the past two seasons.

Utah Mammoth| Washington Capitals Niklas Hjalmarsson| Oliver Ekman-Larsson

1 comment

Cap Space: The Washington Salary Situation

July 27, 2017 at 3:05 pm CDT | by Gavin Lee 1 Comment

The Washington Capitals have had a very interesting offseason. After being knocked out of the playoffs once again by the Pittsburgh Penguins, they’ve seen wholesale changes to their team structure and will head into 2017-18 with a much different look. Out went Justin Williams, Kevin Shattenkirk, Karl Alzner, Nate Schmidt, Daniel Winnik, Marcus Johansson and in came, well, almost nothing. The team did bring in Devante Smith-Pelly as a bottom-six option, but spent most of their time re-signing players like T.J. Oshie, Evgeny Kuznetsov and Dmitry Orlov to long-term deals that will keep them in town until at least 2023. Those extensions came with a price—not only were they forced to move Johansson in a salary dump to division rival New Jersey, but they’re in cap trouble heading into the season already.

When taking a look at the CapFriendly page for the Capitals, you will notice that they currently have about $4.1MM in space for the upcoming season. With that knowledge, you might surmise that they’ll be able to add at least a couple of veteran options to help them, or a bounce-back candidate or two. What you have to remember though, is that the Capitals are at their $70.9MM projected cap hit for just 17 players. A regular NHL roster holds 23, meaning there are several names coming up from the minors to fill the ranks.

Yes, the Capitals do have several players in the minor leagues who should be able to contribute positively this year like Christian Djoos, Nathan Walker and Chandler Stephenson, but each one comes with a cost of their own. Just because they’re on entry-level or two-way contracts doesn’t mean they’re free, and with each call up a minimum of $650K is added to that cap number. For some, like Jakub Vrana a top option to make the team after a solid season split between the AHL and NHL last year that number creeps even higher.

Even if you take that minimum $650K number for the six players to be added, it ends up putting the Capitals less than $200K under the cap to start the season meaning even a $1MM contract for a veteran option like Thomas Vanek would be out of their price range. Sure, there are ways they could work around the cap like any team but the clear picture here is that they’ve put themselves in quite a precarious position. Even if they work some magic to be right up against the cap with some help, any performance bonuses earned by those on entry-level deals will carry over to next season and put them in a tough position again when faced with the free agency of John Carlson. Washington relies on Carlson as a huge part of their defense corps, and seeing him walk because they didn’t have the money to pay him would set them back even further.

So when wondering if the Capitals can afford to make any more moves in free agency, or a trade that takes on a bit of salary don’t look at the $4.1MM cap space figure. They’re much closer than that in reality, and could be forced into relying on quite a young roster this season.

Free Agency| Washington Capitals

1 comment

Top 2018 Draft Picks That Have Already Been Traded

July 26, 2017 at 12:13 pm CDT | by Gavin Lee 5 Comments

About 11 months from now, 31 NHL general managers will come together in a room with thousands of people watching and select the next group of young players destined to make it to the professional ranks. The 2018 NHL Entry Draft will be a huge event, mostly because of the elite talent that will be available at the top.

Without a clear consensus on the top pick so far, the next year will be extremely interesting to watch for prospect hounds. Andrei Svechnikov, Rasmus Dahlin, Joe Veleno, Quinn Hughes and others all have incredible talent, and could push for the top spot with a big year (and perhaps a growth spurt or two). Like this year, we could also see a relative outsider like Nico Hischier fly up the ranks to take over the top spot by draft day. One thing is for sure though, that there is plenty of talent to find in the first round and beyond at next year’s draft.

It has already been clear that teams don’t want to give up their 2018 draft picks, as we saw with the collection of selections acquired by the Vegas Golden Knights. They have multiple second-round picks in 2019 and 2020, but couldn’t secure an extra top pick in 2018. That said, there have already been many transactions that have moved picks around. Here are the teams that have acquired extra picks in the first three rounds of the 2018 draft (key player traded in parentheses).

Arizona Coyotes:

Acquired 2018 2nd-round pick from Minnesota Wild (Hanzal)

Detroit Red Wings:

Acquired 2018 2nd-round pick (OTT) from New York Rangers (Smith)

Florida Panthers:

Acquired 2018 2nd-round pick from Arizona Coyotes (Crouse)

Minnesota Wild:

Acquired 2018 3rd-round pick from Buffalo Sabres (Scandella)
Acquired 2018 3rd-round pick from Vegas Golden Knights (Tuch)

Montreal Canadiens:

Acquired 2018 2nd-round pick from Chicago Blackhawks (Weise)

New York Islanders:

Acquired 2018 1st-round pick from Calgary Flames (Hamonic)
Acquired 2018 2nd-round pick from Calgary Flames (Hamonic)

Philadelphia Flyers:

Acquired conditional 2018 1st-round from St. Louis Blues (Schenn)

Tampa Bay Lightning:

Acquired conditional 2018 2nd-round pick (WSH) from Montreal Canadiens (Drouin)

Toronto Maple Leafs:

Acquired 2018 2nd-round pick from San Jose Sharks (Polak)
Acquired 2018 3rd-round pick from San Jose Sharks (Reimer)

Washington Capitals:

Acquired 2018 2nd-round pick (FLA) from New Jersey Devils (Johansson)
Acquired 2018 3rd-round pick (TOR) from New Jersey Devils (Johansson)

Calgary Flames| Detroit Red Wings| Florida Panthers| Minnesota Wild| Montreal Canadiens| Philadelphia Flyers| Tampa Bay Lightning| Toronto Maple Leafs| Transactions| Utah Mammoth| Washington Capitals Andrei Svechnikov| NHL Entry Draft

5 comments

Minor Transactions: 7/25/17

July 25, 2017 at 7:26 pm CDT | by Zach Leach 1 Comment

For a Tuesday in late July, it’s been an especially busy day for hockey transactions, including the NHL signings of Mika Zibanejad with the New York Rangers, Robin Lehner with the Buffalo Sabres, Mark Streit with the Montreal Canadiens, and several deals by the Colorado Avalanche and New Jersey Devils. Yet, there has been a flurry of notable activity in the AHL and overseas today too, including the following:

  • The once-promising NHL career of Matt Fraser has taken another odd turn away from its original path. Fraser, still just 27 years old, has signed with Dornbirner EC of the EBEL, a lower tier European league based mostly out of Austria. The team has announced the deal, though terms have not been released. Fraser moves to the EBEL after a season in Sweden, where injuries limited him to only four games with Rogle BK. Before that, many will remember Fraser as a star in the AHL for the Texas Stars and, after the Tyler Seguin trade, the Providence Bruins. Fraser even played in 60 NHL games with the Boston Bruins and Edmonton Oilers in 2014-15 and looked to be on his way to becoming an NHL regular. However, after signing a one-year deal with the Winnipeg Jets in 2015 and failing to make the team, Fraser had the worst AHL season of his career and decided to head overseas. So far, it has not worked out, but Fraser will now try his hand at EBEL action, where he could easily be the best player for Dornbirner, who currently count another former Bruin, Jamie Arniel, as their top scorer.
  • Another player who failed to meet expectatiosn in North America and will now head to a lesser European league is Dane Fox. The former Erie Otters superstar, who scored 107 points in 67 games in his final OHL season, has not found anywhere near the same success at the pro level. A high-profile signing by the Vancouver Canucks in 2014, the undrafted forward has made his last junior season look very much like a fluke with his play since then. Fox has skated almost exclusively in the ECHL over the past three seasons, playing in only two AHL games and not even in consideration for an NHL look with the Canucks and Carolina Hurricanes. Now, Fox will head to Germany to play with the Nurnberg Ice Tigers of the DEL. Nurnberg is the likely favorite in the DEL next season and roster many players with NHL experience, including 2016-17 top scorer Steve Reinprecht and recent signee Tom Gilbert. Fox’s pro hockey career is very much up in the air right now, but if he can shine through on an experience Ice Tigers roster, perhaps he’ll get another shot in North America .
  • The AHL’s San Diego Gulls, the Anaheim Ducks’ affiliate, has re-signed forward Jordan Samuels-Thomas to a two-year minor league deal, the league announced. The 27-year-old recorded a pro career-high 24 points and +13 rating for the Gulls last year and is a fan favorite and active member of the San Diego community. The former NCAA standout was a seventh-round pick of the Atlanta Thrashers in 2009, but was never signed to an entry-level deal after spending five years in college.
  • The Chicago Wolves, now the new affiliate of the Vegas Golden Knights, have signed one of their own, inking Scooter Vaughan to a one-year deal, according to a team release. The hard-nosed defenseman worked his way up through hockey’s ranks, spending four years at the University of Michigan, three years in the ECHL, and going on four years in the AHL, with the last two spent in Chicago. The next stop could be the NHL, now that the Wolves are associated with the Knights, who obviously have the least organizational depth of any team in the league. A career-best performance in 2017-18 could earn Vaughan his first NHL contract next year.
  • A pair of AHL defenseman will change teams for the upcoming season as Paul Geiger, recently of the Rochester Americans, has signed with the Hershey Bears, the Washington Capitals’ affiliate, while the Carolina Hurricanes’ minor league partners, the Charlotte Checkers, have signed former St. John’s Ice Caps defender Josiah Didier. Both Geiger and Didier are still just 24 years old and were solid college players, at Clarkson and Denver respectively, but need big seasons with their new teams after pedestrian starts to their pro careers, that is if they want to reach the NHL someday.
  • The 2016-17 captain at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) has found his new home, and he’s in a good spot. Riley Bourbonnais, a 23-year-old center who was nearly a point per game player for RPI last year, has inked his first AHL deal with the Wilkes-Barre Scranton Penguins, the feeder team of the two-time Stanley Cup champs. The team announced their newest addition and have high hopes that he can bring the same well-rounded game he showed in college to the pros.

AHL| Anaheim Ducks| Boston Bruins| Buffalo Sabres| CHL| Carolina Hurricanes| Colorado Avalanche| Dallas Stars| ECHL| Edmonton Oilers| Erie Otters| Montreal Canadiens| NCAA| NHL| New Jersey Devils| New York Rangers| OHL| Pittsburgh Penguins| Players| Transactions| Vancouver Canucks| Vegas Golden Knights| Washington Capitals| Winnipeg Jets Mark Streit| Mika Zibanejad

1 comment

Dead Space: Bought-Out, Buried, And Retained Salaries For Every Team

July 24, 2017 at 7:13 pm CDT | by Seth Lawrence 3 Comments

It’s something that often goes unnoticed, but with the cap showing minimal growth the last few years, teams are starting to feel the crunch more than ever. Buyouts have become more common, especially with players with under three remaining years on their contracts. And it’s not just the big name busts that have seen the ax lately – we’ve seen lesser names at lesser money take the fall for their respective teams, then needing to scramble for work elsewhere in the league. Additionally, salary retention in trades has become a more utilized tactic as of late. Teams with “unmovable” contracts have offered to retain part of a poor contract in order to entice a team into giving them some relief.

All this said, some teams have been better with foresight than others. Some teams have shown a track record of being entirely unable of handing out poor contracts over the past five or so seasons. Considering many teams showed some progress in being more frugal this off-season, it seems a wise time to review the dead space every team has accumulated, either due to poor management decisions or poor luck.

Colorado Avalanche – $4.83 MM in 2017-18, issues resolved after current year – Francois Beauchemin buyout; Cody McLeod retained

Arizona Coyotes – $4.61 MM in 2017-18, issues resolved after 2020-21 – Mike Smith retained; Mike Ribeiro, Antoine Vermette buyouts

Columbus Blue Jackets – $4.025 MM in 2017-18, issues resolved after 2020-21 – Fedor Tyutin, Jared Boll, Scott Hartnell buyouts

Carolina Hurricanes – $3.71 MM in 2017-18, issues resolved after 2020-21 – Eddie Lack retained; Alexander Semin, James Wisniewski buyouts

Toronto Maple Leafs – $3.28 MM in 2017-18, issues resolved after 2021-22 – Tim Gleason, Jared Cowen buyouts; Phil Kessel retained

Nashville Predators – $2.83 MM in 2017-18, issues resolved after 2018-19 – Viktor Stalberg, Eric Nystrom, Barret Jackman buyouts

Boston Bruins – $2.73 MM in 2017-18, issues resolved 2019-20 – Dennis Seidenberg, Jimmy Hayes buyouts

New York Rangers – $2.61 MM in 2017-18, issues resolved after 2022-23 – Dan Girardi buyout

Minnesota Wild – $2.5 MM in 2017-17, issues resolved after current year – Thomas Vanek buyout

Los Angeles Kings – $2.4 MM in 2017-18, issues resolved after 2023-24 – Matt Greene buyout; Mike Richards termination/recapture

Edmonton Oilers – $2.33 MM in 2017-18, issues resolved after 2020-21 – Lauri Korpikoski, Benoit Pouliot buyouts

Anaheim Ducks – $2.21 MM in 2017-18, issues resolved after 2023-24 – Mark Fistric, Simon Despres buyouts; Patrick Maroon retained

Vancouver Canucks – $2.13 MM in 2017-18, issues resolved after 2021-22 – Roberto Luongo, Jannik Hansen retained; Chris Higgins buyout

New Jersey Devils – $2.09 MM in 2017-18, issues resolved after 2023-24 – Mike Cammalleri, Devante Smith-Pelly buyouts; Ilya Kovalchuk recapture

Tampa Bay Lightning – $1.83 MM in 2017-18, issues resolved after 2019-20 – Matt Carle buyout

Calgary Flames – $1.82 MM in 2017-18, issues resolved after 2018-19 – Mason Raymond, Lance Bouma, Ryan Murphy buyouts

Detroit Red Wings – $1.67 MM in 2017-18, issues resolved after 2020-21 – Stephen Weiss buyout

Dallas Stars – $1.5 MM in 2017-18, issues resolved after 2018-19- Antti Niemi buyout

Philadelphia Flyers – $1.5 MM in 2017-18, issues resolved after current year – R.J. Umberger buyout

Winnipeg Jets – $1.46 MM in 2017-18, issues resolved after 2018-19 – Mark Stuart buyout

Florida Panthers – $1.33 MM in 2017-18, issues resolved after 2018-19 – Jussi Jokinen buyout

Las Vegas Golden Knights – $1.1 MM in 2017-18, issues resolved after current year – Alexei Emelin retained

Ottawa Senators – $350,000 in 2017-18, issues resolved after current year – Andrew Hammond buried

Buffalo Sabres – Minimal in 2017-18, increased issues ($791,00) resolved after 2022-23 – Cody Hodgson buyout

 

 

Chicago Blackhawks, St. Louis Blues, Washington Capitals, Pittsburgh Penguins, New York Islanders, San Jose Sharks,  Montreal Canadiens – No dead cap space

After compiling the list, it became clear that utilizing these options isn’t a complete hindrance to competing in the NHL. In fact, most clubs have between $1 MM and $3 MM in dead space. That said, of the teams that have not needed to utilize the buyout or retention options, there has been a great deal of success. And among the five worst offenders, the Leafs, Hurricanes, Blue Jackets, Avalanche, and Coyotes, none has moved past the first-round in multiple years. It’s hard to draw massive conclusions without taking the context of each individual situation into account, but there is something to be said for making every dollar of cap space count. Perhaps this is merely a byproduct of past success rather than an indicator of future success, but considering how amenable many managers have become to the option, it bears consideration.

(All totals courtesy of the fantastic CapFriendly.com)

Anaheim Ducks| Boston Bruins| Buffalo Sabres| Calgary Flames| Carolina Hurricanes| Chicago Blackhawks| Colorado Avalanche| Columbus Blue Jackets| Dallas Stars| Detroit Red Wings| Edmonton Oilers| Florida Panthers| Los Angeles Kings| Minnesota Wild| Montreal Canadiens| NHL| Nashville Predators| New Jersey Devils| New York Islanders| New York Rangers| Ottawa Senators| Philadelphia Flyers| Pittsburgh Penguins| Players| San Jose Sharks| St. Louis Blues| Tampa Bay Lightning| Toronto Maple Leafs| Utah Mammoth| Vancouver Canucks| Vegas Golden Knights| Washington Capitals| Winnipeg Jets Alexei Emelin| Andrew Hammond| Antoine Vermette| Antti Niemi| Barret Jackman| Benoit Pouliot| Chris Higgins| Cody McLeod| Dan Girardi| Dennis Seidenberg| Devante Smith-Pelly| Eddie Lack| Eric Nystrom| Fedor Tyutin| Francois Beauchemin| Ilya Kovalchuk| James Wisniewski| Jannik Hansen| Jared Boll| Jared Cowen| Jimmy Hayes| Jussi Jokinen| Lance Bouma| Las Vegas| Lauri Korpikoski| Mason Raymond| Matt Carle| Matt Greene| Mike Cammalleri| Mike Ribeiro| Mike Richards| Mike Smith| Patrick Maroon| Phil Kessel

3 comments

Free Agent Profile: Johnny Oduya

July 23, 2017 at 4:07 pm CDT | by Seth Lawrence 1 Comment

Johnny Oduya is a name that has fallen off most hockey fanatics’ radar this off-season, and perhaps there is good reason for that. Oduya is 35 years old and came off a brutal playoff performance in their sweep against Nashville. The league is certainly trending in the “what have you done for me lately” direction, so no one should be entirely shocked that he remains unclaimed this deep into July.

That said, it’s still conceivable that he has a bounce back year. For a bargain bin price, he’s worth taking a shot on. Although his dreadful 2016-17 outing had him finish with only 9 points and an uninspiring 46.8% Corsi For, he’d been above the 50% mark the prior 5 seasons. He can lo longer handle a ton of minutes, and he will need sheltering from top competition, as many bottom-pairing defensemen do. He only averaged 18:16 of ice-time through the year, but considering that 59.3% of his zone starts were in the defensive end, he managed to hold his own. As a veteran 6th or 7th defenseman, he may still have something to offer.

Potential Suitors

The Blackhawks are seemingly always looking to re-unite with names from their past glories, but the fit may not be one Stan Bowman is willing to try again. He looked sluggish and out of sorts, and got blown by on numerous occasion by the depth players of Nashville. That said, the team will likely need at least another defenseman on the roster, so it’s not impossible. But with Duncan Keith (34), Brent Seabrook (32), and Michal Rozsival (38) already making up half the defense, do they really want to get older still?

Oduya hasn’t been definitively linked to practically anyone. It’s quite possible he’s holding on to see what opens up as teams enter training camp. Teams like the Washington Capitals, Philadelphia Flyers, and Los Angeles Kings could use another 6/7, and would be on the hunt for a bargain. The New Jersey Devils of course completely lacking on the back-end, and might want a mentor for 22 year olds Mirco Mueller, Damon Severson, and Michael Kapla. In truth, a good 50% of the league that could afford to take a chance on him for a single season, but the question remains, who will?

Ultimately, we aren’t likely to hear much chatter on this front until the arbitration period has passed. Teams want to have their organizational contracts set in stone before offering a contract to what will ultimately amount to a stop-gap defender solution.

Projected Contract

Last month, we projected a one-year, $2.5MM deal for Oduya back with Chicago, but they certainly no longer have him in their plans. We had him ranked at a respectable 32nd in a weak UFA class, but even that may have been overestimating his remaining value around the league. Oduya will likely have to settle for a one-year deal to prove he still “has it”, and the monetary value of that contract will be far less. He could always decide to play in Europe, but at the bare minimum he’ll attract at PTO, much like Cody Franson. If he does sign before the end of summer, it will likely be for under $1 MM, quite the paycut from his 2016-17 AAV of $3.75 MM.

Arbitration| Chicago Blackhawks| Los Angeles Kings| New Jersey Devils| Philadelphia Flyers| Players| Stan Bowman| Washington Capitals Brent Seabrook| Cody Franson| Damon Severson| Duncan Keith| Johnny Oduya| Mirco Mueller

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