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Washington Capitals Re-Sign Riley Sutter

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The Washington Capitals have re-signed forward prospect Riley Sutter to a one-year, two-way contract carrying a $775k AAV and a $90k AHL salary.

Sutter was a restricted free agent without any arbitration rights, meaning the overwhelming likelihood was always that he’d be back with the organization that drafted him 93rd overall in 2018, and now today’s announcement confirms it.

The versatile 23-year-old forward is coming off a fourth consecutive season playing with the AHL’s Hershey Bears, and this one was his most productive yet. He set a career-high with 12 points in 69 games, and he even had a big moment in the playoffs scoring the overtime winner in Game Three of the Calder Cup Finals. That goal secured a crucial win that helped turn the tide of the series and eventually lead to a Calder Cup Championship for Hershey.

Sutter is a six-foot-four, 204-pound winger who plays a hard-nosed physical game and serves as a bottom-six defensive forward for Hershey head coach Todd Nelson. Seeing as the offensive production he managed in the WHL has almost completely evaporated at the pro level, it’s not easy to imagine Sutter as a contender for an NHL call-up anytime soon.

But with his extension, he’ll get another year in Hershey and another season to develop his game and potentially make a push for an even greater role in the Bears’ lineup.

Washington Capitals Sign Alex Limoges

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The Washington Capitals have put in work signing players to add to their AHL affiliate, the Hershey Bears, for their next season where they’ll look to defend their Calder Cup Championship. Alongside an extension for Dylan McIlrath and the additions of Matthew Phillips and Pierrick Dube comes a signing of Alex Limoges from the Winnipeg Jets’ affiliate, the Manitoba Moose.

Per PuckPedia, the deal is a one-year, two-way contract carrying a $775k AAV and a $235k AHL salary. Seeing as Hershey already has their first-line center locked in with Michael Sgarbossa, Limoges figures to slot in either as the team’s second or third-line center, depending on the fate of 2020 first-rounder Hendrix Lapierre.

Limoges, 25, hasn’t yet played in the NHL but has been an extremely strong AHL scorer ever since he turned pro out of Penn State. The Virginia native scored 20 goals and 54 points for the Moose this past season, leading the team in scoring.

He only managed one goal and no assists in five playoff games and did not earn any NHL games or a qualifying offer, but his play was improved compared to last season and he firmly established himself as a top-six player in the AHL.

Now he’ll bring his services closer to home and play for the defending Calder Cup champion, with the hope of finally earning a call-up to make his NHL debut.

Washington Capitals Sign Matthew Phillips, Dylan McIlrath

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The depth signings continue today with the Washington Capitals, who have announced contracts for both Matthew Phillips and Dylan McIlrath. Phillips will sign a one-year, $775K, one-way contract, while McIlrath will sign a two-year, $1.55MM, two-way contract.

Given that it is a one-way contract, it’s a reasonable expectation that Phillips will start the year with the Capitals, for good reason. Over the past two years, he has been one of the best forwards in the AHL, scoring 67 goals and 77 assists in only 131 games played for the Flames’ AHL affiliates, also earning a First Team All-Star nod last year. Unfortunately for Phillips, over those two years, he hasn’t gotten a serious look at the NHL level, only appearing in three games for the Flames.

In now what will be his third season in the Capitals organization, McIlrath brings a hard-hitting defenseman to the blue line. He’s not much in the way of points, evidenced by his 23 points in 134 games for the Hershey Bears, but McIlrath is an intimidating force nonetheless. One of the AHL’s most elite brawlers, McIlrath has racked up 201 PIMs in his two years with the Bears.

Minor League Signings 07/01/2023

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On day one of the free agent market opening up, the league saw a grand total of 166 signings, with a whopping $646.4MM handed out over the course of 291 total contract years. This class of free agents was expected to be one of the weaker in recent memory, but the excitement still remained as quite a few players switched cities. In all the chaos, there were some minor contracts that were inked yesterday that may have slipped under the radar for most:

  • The Montreal Canadiens signed defenseman Brady Keeper to a one-year, $775K, two-way contract. Keeper spent last season playing for the Vancouver Canucks AHL affiliate, the Abbotsford Canucks. He only managed to play for about half of the Canucks games, scoring one goal and five assists in 35 games. In the playoffs, although eliminated in the first round, Keeper scored one goal in two games for Abbotsford (CapFriendly).
  • Defenseman Ryan Shea has inked a one-year, $775K, two-way contract with the Pittsburgh Penguins. Shea was a former fourth-round pick of the Chicago Blackhawks back in 2015, but never actually signed with the team, joining the Dallas Stars on an entry-level contract in 2020. The Northeastern University product played a combined 162 games for the Texas Stars of the AHL, scoring 10 goals and 56 assists (CapFriendly).
  • The Washington Capitals signed forward, Pierrick Dube, to a two-year, $1.9MM, entry-level contract yesterday. An undrafted free agent last year, Dube joined the Laval Rocket, the AHL affiliate of the Montreal Canadiens. Dube played very well for the Rocket, scoring 16 goals and 16 assists in 44 games down the stretch. Still only 22 years old, Dube could factor into one of the top lines on the Hershey Bears next season, potentially even finding minutes with the Capitals in the near future (CapFriendly).
  • Another depth signing for the Penguins, the team has added forward Joona Koppanen to a two-year, $1.55MM, two-way contract. Koppanen was originally drafted by the Boston Bruins in the fifth round of the 2016 NHL Draft, playing the majority of his career up to this point with the Providence Bruins. Last season, Koppanen did get his first change in the NHL, playing five games for the Bruins in January, tallying only one assist while averaging just under 11 minutes of ice time a game (CapFriendly).
  • The Florida Panthers re-signed defenseman Lucas Carlsson to a one-year, $775K, two-way contract yesterday. The defenseman was acquired in 2021 from the Blackhawks in an early-April trade. Although playing in 40 games during 2021-22 for Florida, Carlsson spent the majority of last season with their AHL affiliate, the Charlotte Checkers. In the minor leagues, Carlsson was one of the highest-scoring defensemen in the league, scoring 20 goals and 34 assists in 61 games (CapFriendly).
  • Securing his first contract in professional hockey, the Edmonton Oilers have added defenseman Noel Hoefenmayer to a one-year, $845K, entry-level contract. A former fourth-round pick of the Arizona Coyotes back in 2017, Hoefenmayer never played in the Coyotes system, eventually playing on minor-league contracts with the Toronto Marlies after finishing his junior career with the Ottawa 67’s. Hoefenmayer played quite well for the Marlies, scoring 11 goals and 27 assists in 65 games last season (CapFriendly).
  • Returning back to North American hockey after spending the last two seasons playing for Metallurg Magnitogorsk of the Kontinental Hockey League, the Montreal Canadiens veteran forward Philippe Maillet to a one-year, $775K, two-way contract. Already 30 years old, Maillet has spent parts of his career with the Capitals and Los Angeles Kings organizations before finally making the jump overseas in 2021-22. In 66 games played for Metallurg last season, Maillet scored 22 goals and 31 assists (CapFriendly).
  • The recipient of the Jack A. Butterfield Trophy from the 2023 Calder Cup playoffs, Hunter Shepard, has signed a two-year, $1.55MM, two-way contract to remain with the Capitals organization. Shepard was sensational en route to the Hershey Bears winning the 2023 Calder Cup, managing a 14-6-0 record throughout the playoffs, carrying a 2.27 GAA and a .914 SV% (CapFriendly).

 

Max Pacioretty Signs With Washington Capitals

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The Washington Capitals are taking a potential high-reward gamble on winger Max Pacioretty. Daily Faceoff’s Frank Seravalli reports it’s a one-year, $2MM deal with an additional $2MM in potential performance bonuses. Per PuckPedia, the contract carries a no-movement clause. CapFriendly reports he’ll earn $1MM in bonuses for 10 games played, an additional $500K if he hits 15 games played, and the full $2MM in bonuses if he hits 20 games played.

A bonus-laden contract was always going to be what Pacioretty would have to settle with. After starting the season in January due to his recovery of a torn Achilles tendon, Pacioretty would then, unfortunately, tear the same tendon just two weeks later. In his first recovery battle, it only took four months for Pacioretty to return to NHL action; but this time, it will likely take a full six months to heal.

Although the contract for Pacioretty is unsurprising, the team that he eventually landed with, is. Entering this offseason, Washington had a pressing need in finding players to put the puck in the net. Only averaging 3.09 GF/G during the 2022-23 season, it was a depressed number for a team already sporting one of the greatest goal-scorers of all time. In the Capitals’ defense, they will have a much healthier Tom Wilson and Nicklas Backstrom to start the year, but something more surefire than Pacioretty would have been a better play.

In the goal-scoring category, Pacioretty has been one of the better ones over the last several years, scoring anywhere between 25-35 a season in a healthy year. However, the hard truth of the matter is that there is a potential that Pacioretty never touches the ice with Washington. Suffering two Achilles tears in less than a year is not something easy to come back from, and with the Capitals aging core, they need to surround their top players with talent immediately if they have any chance of competing for the Cup again.

Carolina Hurricanes Sign Dmitry Orlov

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The Carolina Hurricanes have signed arguably the top defenseman available on the free agent market, inking former Boston Bruins and Washington Capitals rearguard Dmitry Orlov to a two-year, $7.75MM AAV deal.

As a leading free agent defenseman, Orlov securing just a two-year term on his deal comes as a bit of a surprise. IF any defenseman was going to get a maximum-term seven-year deal, it would be Orlov.

But instead, he follows the lead of countryman and Los Angeles Kings defenseman Vladislav Gavrikov, who secured his own pricey two-year deal earlier this offseason.

Orlov is an all-situations minutes-eating top-four defenseman who averages over 20 minutes of ice time per night for his career, including this past season where he averaged over 22.

Not only is Orlov a capable defensive defenseman and a penalty-kill contributor, he’s also a valuable offensive defenseman as well.

After a mid-season trade to the Boston Bruins, Orlov scored 17 points in just 23 regular-season games as well as eight points in seven playoff games.

That put Orlov in his peak range which has been around 35 points, though his scorching hot run with the Bruins suggests there’s more offensive potential in Orlov’s game than he may have shown as a Capital.

Orlov will be turning 34 when this contract with the Hurricanes ends, meaning one has to wonder if he’ll truly be in line to cash in on a significant long-term deal. That being said, there are few better places for him to land than Carolina. Adding to incumbent left-handers Jaccob Slavin and Brady Skjei, Orlov gives the Hurricanes easily the NHL’s best left side of their defense.

He’ll be leaned upon heavily by head coach Rod Brind’Amour and be a major help to the Hurricanes’ hopes for a Stanley Cup championship, all without the long-term commitment that can bite teams in later years.

Photos courtesy of USA Today Sports Images

Washington Capitals Acquire Joel Edmundson

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The Washington Capitals are close to solidifying their defense corps. Per Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman, they’re working on a deal to acquire left-shot Joel Edmundson from the Montreal Canadiens. Per TSN’s Darren Dreger, Montreal is receiving draft picks in return. Those picks are a 2024 third-round pick and a 2024 seventh-rounder. The Canadiens are retaining 50% of Edmundson’s $3.5MM cap hit as part of the deal.

This is a trade that’s easy to like from both sides of the equation. For Washington, they get to add an accomplished veteran defenseman who is both a respected stay-at-home blueliner as well as a valued locker-room leader. While he’s had injury issues crop up more recently during his tenure in Montreal, Edmundson is a Stanley Cup champion with significant playoff experience.

He’s provided the Canadiens with steady play and at times a ferocious net-front presence. He’s likely a better fit on a bottom-pairing with penalty-killing time than he is as a bona fide top-four player.

Thankfully in Washington they have the type of defensive depth that will allow new head coach Spencer Carbery to utilize Edmundson how he prefers.

With Rasmus Sandin and Martin Fehervary already penciled into slots on Washington’s left side, Edmundson is likely to pair with Trevor Van Riemsdyk, giving Washington a bulletproof third-pairing that Carbery can deploy in high-leverage defensive situations. With 50% retention, it’s hard to argue at the draft pick cost for the Capitals.

As for Montreal’s side of the equation, it undoubtedly hurts to lose Edmundson’s locker room leadership for their young team. But Montreal has a crop of young blueliners that’ll need ice time to develop, and with Jordan Harris, Arber Xhekaj, and Kaiden Guhle all left-handers, not to mention veteran Mike Matheson, there simply wasn’t room for Edmundson if the priority in Montreal is player development.

By retaining salary, Montreal gets the best possible draft compensation to further their rebuild, while also clearing space for their growing group of promising young blueliners.

Photos courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Capitals "Haven't Had One Discussion" About Trading Tom Wilson

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  • Another trade that seems extremely unlikely is one involving Washington Capitals forward Tom Wilson, at least according to Capitals general manager Brian MacLellan. MacLellan told the media, including The Washington Post’s Bailey Johnson, that the team “we haven’t had one discussion about” trading Wilson this summer. Some have speculated that Wilson, a 29-year-old winger with a $5.16MM AAV deal that expires in a year, could be a player Washington dangles in trade talks, but it appears in actuality the team has zero interest in dealing the three-time 20-goal scorer, despite an injury-plagued 2022-23 campaign.

Henrik Borgstrom Signs In Sweden

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June 26: Finally official, Borgstrom has signed a two-year deal with HV71, meaning he’ll be an unrestricted free agent by the time any NHL team has another shot at him.

May 3: After seeing action in just one NHL game this season, it seemed like there was a good chance that Capitals center Henrik Borgstrom would be looking to go elsewhere for 2023-24.  Rather than wait to see if he’d be tendered by Washington, it appears that Borgstrom has found his next team as SportExpressen’s Johan Svensson reports that the middleman is expected to play for HV71 in Sweden next season.

The 25-year-old returned to North America in 2021-22, signing a two-year deal with Chicago.  However, after struggling in 52 contests with them, the Blackhawks opted to buy out the final year of that deal, making him an unrestricted free agent.  Borgstrom quickly signed with the Capitals, hoping to push for a spot at the bottom of their roster.

That didn’t exactly happen.  Instead, Borgstrom cleared waivers before the start of the season and spent almost the entire year with AHL Hershey.  He wasn’t overly productive with them either, picking up eight goals and 13 assists in 55 games, hardly the type of impact he was hoping to have.  That resulted in him getting just a single recall at the end of the season, playing in Washington’s penultimate contest where he was limited to just over eight minutes of playing time.

Borgstrom, who has 111 career NHL appearances under his belt, is a restricted free agent with arbitration rights this summer and Washington could have his rights for two more years if they qualify him.  At this point, the term of the agreement will likely dictate what the Capitals do.  If it’s a multi-year pact, he’ll be an NHL free agent by the time it expires, meaning there’s little point in qualifying him.  But if it’s a one-year agreement, it would make some sense to tender that offer just in case he has a breakout year that would get him back on the NHL radar.

Offensive Freedom Could Reestablish Trust Between Kuznetsov And Capitals

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  • There has been some speculation that Capitals center Evgeny Kuznetsov might welcome a change of scenery. However, Russian player agent Alexei Dementiev told RB Sport in Russia that Kuznetsov’s discontent has been around a lack of offensive freedom.  It’s worth noting that Dementiev is not Kuznetsov’s agent (that would be Newport’s Craig Oster) but he suggested that if new coach Spencer Carbery is willing to give the 31-year-old some more room to try to create offensively, the relationship between him and the team could be repaired.  Kuznetsov is coming off a 55-point season but is only a year removed from a 78-point campaign.  Getting him back in form would certainly go a long way toward trying to get Washington back into the postseason picture.

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