Anthony Bitetto Signs With Winnipeg Jets
The Winnipeg Jets have added some more depth on their blue line, signing Anthony Bitetto to a one-year, two-way deal. It will pay the defenseman $700K at the NHL level.
Bitetto, 28, split last season between the Nashville Predators and Minnesota Wild, meaning he’ll be quite familiar with the Central Division and the Jets. In 36 games he recorded just three points, but was always willing to engage physically and protect a teammate if necessary. The sixth-round pick from 2010 has never been a full-time NHL player, but does have 132 games under his belt over the years and should serve as some injury insurance for a blue line that has been depleted through free agency this offseason.
Boston Bruins Announce Several Signings
While the Boston Bruins garnered some attention early on today with a long-term extension for defenseman Connor Clifton and the signings of young power forward Brett Ritchie and third-string goalie Maxime Lagace, the team was quietly working through a number of other deals that insiders failed to pick up on. The team has announced seven signings: extensions for Clifton and Ryan Fitzgerald, one-way contracts for Ritchie and Par Lindholm, two-way contracts for Lagace and Brendan Gaunce, and an AHL contract for defenseman Josiah Didier.
Outside of Clifton and Ritchie, the biggest news is the addition of Lindholm, who signed a two-year deal with an AAV of $850K. Although Lindholm, 27, just finished his first NHL season after a long career in Sweden, the Bruins got a good look at him as a member of the rival Toronto Maple Leafs. Lindholm recorded 12 points in 61 games for Toronto, but was held to just one point in four regular season games and two postseason games for the Winnipeg Jets following a late-season trade. However, defense is more Lindholm’s game anyway, as he proved to be a good physical presence and proved to be adept at blocking shots and creating turnovers. Lindholm is a good fourth-line depth option and penalty kill possibility for the Bruins, who lost Noel Acciari to the Florida Panthers, but replace much of the same ability at half the price.
Gaunce, 25, became a UFA after he was not tendered a qualifying offer by the Vancouver Canucks. A 2012 first-round pick, the Canucks expected more offense out of the forward, who instead recorded just 15 points in 117 NHL games through four seasons with the team. Last year, Gaunce played all but three games in the AHL. At his point, Gaunce is a player who uses his size and speed to play a physical, up-tempo style, but lacks the skill to play a scoring role in the NHL. At best, Gaunce will challenge Lindholm to be the next man up on the fourth line in Boston, and would be an affordable piece at $700K, but at worst he has a high floor of being a hard-working and experienced minor league presence that will make his Providence teammates better.
One such teammate is Fitzgerald, who returns to the team on a one-year, $700K deal, coming in below his qualifying offer. Fitzgerald has shown a well-rounded game and consistent production in two years with the Providence Bruins, as he did in four years at Boston College. The homegrown product comes from hockey bloodlines and plays a smart game. There’s still some question of whether the skill is enough to get to the NHL, though. Fitzgerald will still be searching for his Boston debut this coming season.
Another Providence addition is Didier, who strengthens a talented, but shallow AHL blue line for the Bruins. Didier is coming off a career-best offensive season for the AHL’s Charlotte Checkers, despite only being a part-time player for the Calder Cup champs. It’s unclear how much of a role he will play in Providence, but it’s a risk-free investment in a big, experienced defender by the Bruins.
Nathan Beaulieu Extended By Winnipeg Jets
Nathan Beaulieu made enough of an impression in Winnipeg as a minor trade deadline acquisition to earn a longer look. The Jets have announced that they have re-signed the defenseman to a one-year deal worth $1MM. Given the departure of Jacob Trouba, Tyler Myers and the unknown status of Ben Chiarot, Beaulieu could be asked to play a starting role in Winnipeg this year.
Winnipeg acquired Beaulieu for a small price at the deadline, only having to send a 2019 sixth-round pick to Buffalo for the 26-year-old. He immediately took a significant role for the Jets, playing 16:51 of ice time in his 18 games, putting up five assists. While he didn’t make the lineup during the playoffs, the team feels that he was worth bringing back.
The team, now without Trouba and Myers, must begin to rebuild their defense around Josh Morrissey, Dustin Byfuglien and Neal Pionk (barring a trade) and will have a number of young players battling for playing time, including Beaulieu, Sami Niku and Tucker Poolman.
Penguins To Sign Brandon Tanev To Long-Term Contract
The Pittsburgh Penguins were not expected to be major players in free agency, but have apparently fallen in love with one particular two-way forward. TSN’s Darren Dreger initially reported the deal, and the Penguins have now confirmed the signing of Brandon Tanev to a six-year contract with a $3.5MM AAV.
That’s a significant commitment to a player who made just $1.15MM last season and whose best season was 14 goals and 29 points, but the 27-year-old provides more than offense on the ice as Tanev finished with a career-high in hits with 278. That physicality, to go with the ability to show some offense and the fact that Tanev continues to improve every year suggests that Pittsburgh believes that his best years are still to come. The hope is that Tanev can provide the team with an energy booster in the bottom-six, but who can also help those lines add some offense.
Pittsburgh likely wouldn’t have been able to make a deal like that work, but general manager Jim Rutherford freed up quite a bit of cap room in the last week by trading off defenseman Olli Maatta as well as finding a trade partner for Phil Kessel and his $8MM salary.
The Jets were thrilled with the 27-year-old’s play, but with Tanev having received quite a bit of attention on the open market, Winnipeg realized early on that they wouldn’t have enough money to keep him in the fold considering the team would already be up against the cap once the team re-signs some of their core, including Patrik Laine, Kyle Connor and Neal Pionk.
Jets Unlikely To Re-Sign Brandon Tanev And Ben Chiarot
- The Jets won’t likely be able to retain defenseman Ben Chiarot or winger Brandon Tanev, notes Postmedia’s Ken Wiebe (Twitter link). He notes that both players are likely to earn significant raises on what they made last season ($1.4MM AAV for Chiarot, $1.15MM for Tanev) which will price them out of what Winnipeg can afford. The 28-year-old Chiarot logged 18:37 per night last season and is one of the more underrated blueliners in free agency while Tanev, 27, had a career season offensively with 29 points (14-15-29) while being among the league leaders in hits with 278.
Pacific Notes: Heed, Coyotes, Gennaro
Defenseman Tim Heed is an impending unrestricted free agent that has received little media attention so far, and it sounds like he won’t be getting much more outside of his current market. The Athletic’s Kevin Kurz reports that Heed is expected to re-sign with the San Jose Sharks rather than test the market. Initially looking like the odd man out on San Jose’s blue line, the team has since traded Justin Braun and opted not to extend a qualifying offer to Joakim Ryan, opening up space for Heed’s return. The Sharks already have $66.7MM committed to just 15 players next season, with new contracts in store for RFA’s Timo Meier, Kevin Labanc, and Dylan Gambrell and decisions to make on UFA’s Joe Pavelski, Joe Thornton, and more. Heed would be an affordable addition who is already familiar with the team and can act as a capable bottom-pair defender. Kurz points out that the right-shot Heed would be an ideal replacement in old spot. After playing in a career-high 37 games last year, Heed has likely earned the trust of the San Jose staff to at least begin the year as a starter while a number of promising blue line prospects continue to develop.
- The Arizona Coyotes have announced several changes to their front office, the most notable of which is poaching Scott Walker from the division rival Vancouver Canucks. Walker, a former OHL coach, spent the past four years as the Canucks’ Director of Player Development, but has now been hired by Arizona as Special Assistant to the General Manager. Internally, three other executives have been promoted: Jake Goldberg has been named Assistant to the General Manager; Phil McRae has been named the Director of North American Amateur Scouting; and Bryan Stewart has been named the Coyotes’ Director of Pro Scouting.
- The ‘Yotes’ AHL affiliate, the Tuscon Roadrunners, have re-signed forward Matteo Gennaro to a one-year contract. Gennaro, a former Winnipeg Jets prospect, just wrapped up his first pro season with Tuscon. The 22-year-old center was a force in his junior days in the WHL, but got off to a slow start to the next stage of his career with just 12 points in 58 games. However, Gennaro has always been considered a raw prospect and should continue to grow and round out at the pro level. The Roadrunners hope Gennaro can get closer to the 80-point seasons he put up at the end of his junior career, but they’ll settle for steady improvement in his sophomore season.
Teams Contacting Top RFAs As Interview Period Opens
The NHL hasn’t seen an offer sheet in some time, but with an unprecedented amount of talent on the restricted free agent market this season some have speculated might be time for it to happen again. Today that speculation has turned into reporting that some teams are reaching out to at least inquire about the possibility. Darren Dreger of TSN reports that Mitch Marner‘s camp has received calls from multiple teams, while Pierre LeBrun of The Athletic reports on similar situations regarding Kyle Connor and Sebastian Aho. The Toronto Maple Leafs, Winnipeg Jets and Carolina Hurricanes remain at the forefront of any negotiations with their young free agents, but even this kind of outside contact is irregular for the NHL offseason.
Today was the first day teams could contact restricted free agents, and while it has likely happened in the past the media chatter this year has been at another level. It is important to remember that the player has to agree to sign an offer sheet and his original team is then given a chance to match it. If they choose not to, that team receives compensation in the form of draft picks depending on the value of the signed deal.
The Maple Leafs and Jets especially are in tight financial situations given their proximity to the cap ceiling, and could be at risk of an offer sheet if a team were willing to go high enough with the salary. That said, giving up a number of future draft choices just for the opportunity to overpay a player does seem quite counter-productive in terms of building a competitive team. Still, the RFA group includes some incredible talent this year that may never be available again.
NHL Announces 2019 Regular Season Schedule
We already learned the dates for the 2019 home openers, and now we have a full schedule for the 2019-20 NHL schedule. Things will kick off on October 2nd with four games including a match between the last two Stanley Cup winners. The St. Louis Blues will raise the first banner in franchise history with the Washington Capitals in town. The season is wrapped up on April 4th, 2020.
Notable breaks in the schedule are between December 24-26 for Christmas and January 23-26 for the All-Star festivities. There will also be several overseas games taking place at the beginning of the year as Chicago and Phildelphia face off in the Czech Republic while Buffalo and Tampa Bay play in Sweden. Outdoor games include a matchup between the Calgary Flames and Winnipeg Jets on October 26th, the Dallas Stars and Nashville Predators on New Year’s Day, and the Los Angels Kings and Colorado Avalanche on February 15th, 2020.
Snapshots: Puljujarvi, Myers, Smith
Jesse Puljujarvi might have no plans of playing for the Edmonton Oilers this season, but that doesn’t mean the team is simply going to give up his rights. Mark Spector of Sportsnet reports that the Oilers will issue Puljujarvi a qualifying offer before tomorrow’s deadline in order to retain his rights even if the young forward plays in Europe. This is obviously the expected move as even though he hasn’t worked out in Edmonton the Oilers invested quite a bit of draft capital in Puljujarvi when the selected him fourth overall in 2016.
A qualifying offer for Puljujarvi would only amount to $874,125 in NHL salary, but would still be a two-way deal because he has played so few games for the Oilers the last three years. It seems very unlikely that he would accept it at this point, even if he does still need to prove his worth at the NHL level. Puljujarvi has recorded 37 points in his 139 NHL games, including just nine last season.
- Tyler Myers is expected to be one of the top defensemen available this offseason now that Erik Karlsson has re-signed, and the Winnipeg Jets free agent may be in line for a huge contract. Renaud Lavoie of TVA Sports was on Sportsnet radio today and suggested that Myers may get a seven-year deal somewhere between $6-8MM per season. The 29-year old is coming off a seven-year, $38.5MM deal ($5.5MM AAV) originally signed with the Buffalo Sabres, and has the added benefit of being arguably the top right-handed defenseman left in free agency. Myers recorded 31 points in 80 games last season for the Jets, while averaging more than 20 minutes a night.
- Goaltender Mike Smith has spoken to several teams now that the free agent interview period has opened according to Frank Seravalli of TSN, who notes that the “door isn’t completely closed” on a potential return to the Calgary Flames. Seravalli suggests that the Carolina Hurricanes could be a team to watch however, a team whose own goaltenders—Petr Mrazek and Curtis McElhinney—are also pending free agents.
Pacific Notes: Myers, Kings Qualifying Offers, Puljujarvi, Thompson
With reports that the Vancouver Canucks intend to focus their sites on adding a top-level defenseman in free agency, its looks like general manager Jim Benning has made it clear who is at the top of his wishlist as Sportsnet’s Rick Dhaliwal reports that Vancouver expects to meet with unrestricted free agent Tyler Myers today, the first day teams can speak to unrestricted free agents.
Myers, who has played with the Winnipeg Jets for the past five years, is one of the top three unrestricted free agent defensemen along with Toronto’s Jake Gardiner and Montreal’s Jordie Benn. The 29-year-old could add some offense as he tallied nine goals and 31 points last season in Winnipeg. The 6-foot-8, 229-pound blueliner would give the team a solid top-four defenseman for the Canucks, who have lacked a solid top-four for years. Myers, along with a full season of 2018 first-rounder Quinn Hughes, could help bolster the team’s defense for a long time if the Canucks can convince him to sign with them.
- The Los Angeles Times’ Curtis Zupke reports that the Los Angeles Kings will tender qualifying offers to Alex Iafallo, Adrian Kempe, Michael Amadio, Daniel Brickley, Calvin Petersen, Sheldon Rempal and Matt Roy. No surprises there. He adds the team also does not intend to make qualifying offers to Nikita Scherbak, Alex Lintuniemi, Matteson Iacopelli and Pavel Jenys. Scherbak, who was claimed off waivers from Montreal, struggled after coming over to the Kings, while Lintuniemi has been passed by a number of Kings defenseman on their depth chart after the former second-round pick finished the season in Ontario in the AHL with a minus-30 rating.
- The Edmonton Journal’s Kurt Leavins reports that the Edmonton Oilers haven’t had much success so far in trying to trade winger Jesse Puljujarvi, who has asked for a trade, and had been shopped at the NHL Entry Draft Friday and Saturday. Edmonton has already made it clear they do not intend to trade him away for nothing and supposedly are asking for quite a bit. Leavins writes that they did talk to Pittsburgh Penguins general manager Jim Rutherford, but he balked at the asking price, which was winger Bryan Rust. Puljujarvi, a restricted free agent, has made it clear if he isn’t traded, he will play in Europe.
- Sportsnet’s John Shannon reports that the Toronto Maple Leafs are considering Chicago Wolves head coach Rocky Thompson to join Mike Babcock‘s staff this upcoming season. Thompson, who led Chicago to the Calder Cup Finals in the AHL this season, has been considered a candidate to move to the NHL. Toronto has lost two assistant coaches this offseason. D.J. Smith was hired as the Ottawa Senators head coach, while Jim Hiller left the team to join Lou Lamoriello and Barry Trotz with the New York Islanders. No word on whether the Vegas Golden Knights will release him from his contract.