Year In Review 2018

2018 was quite a busy year in the hockey world.  There were several big trades and free agent signings, plenty of changes behind the bench, and much more.  Over the past couple of weeks, PHR has looked back at the top stories from around the game on a month-by-month basis.  Last up is a look back at December which featured some notable news around the league.

Nylander Saga Ends: It took until mere minutes before the December 1st deadline but the Maple Leafs and RFA winger William Nylander were able to agree on a six-year, $45MM contract.  The deal is considerably front-loaded and contains over $24MM in signing bonuses over the life of the contract.  Because of its varied structure and the fact it was signed during the season, the cap hit to Toronto differs significantly this season compared to the next five years.  They’re carrying a cap hit of $10.277MM on the books in 2018-19, a number that drops to $6.96MM for next season and beyond.  The 22-year-old has gotten off to a very slow start since signing, collecting just a goal and two assists in 14 games.

Berglund Suspended, Contract Terminated: In a move that came out of nowhere, the Sabres announced that center Patrik Berglund had been suspended indefinitely for failure to report to the team.  He had missed the previous few games with what was being called an illness but before that, he had been a regular in Buffalo, albeit in a minor role.  Days later, he was placed on unconditional waivers and when he cleared, it paved the way for the team to terminate the remainder of his deal, which carried a $3.85MM cap hit through 2021-22.  Berglund has yet to sign anywhere since then.

More Changes In Philadelphia: After firing Ron Hextall in November, the Flyers found their replacement GM, naming Chuck Fletcher to the role.  One of the immediate questions that surfaced was the future of head coach Dave Hakstol.  While he stuck around for a couple of weeks, a move behind the bench was eventually made as Scott Gordon was promoted from the AHL to take over as head coach on an interim basis for the remainder of the season.  Hakstol’s tenure will be remembered for Philadelphia’s extreme streakiness while his overall record of 134-101-42 wasn’t particularly strong either.  Gordon has parts of three seasons of NHL head coaching experience with the Islanders but he hasn’t been able to turn the ship around as the Flyers are just 3-7-2 since his hire.

Seattle Becomes Official: This decision was expected for a while but the league officially announced that Seattle will become the NHL’s 32nd team after they were granted an expansion franchise for $650MM.  The hope was that they would be able to begin playing in 2020-21 but instead, they will hold off a year and hold their Expansion Draft in June of 2021.  It’s expected that the same rules that Vegas for the draft will be in place for Seattle.  On top of that, the city will also be hosting the All-Star Game and the NHL Entry Draft within the next seven years, league commissioner Gary Bettman told reporters today, including NHL.com’s Nick Cotsonika (Twitter link).

Dallas CEO Speaks Out: It’s rare when a CEO of an NHL team speaks out.  It’s even rarer when anyone speaks out as strongly as Dallas’ Jim Lites did.  He took aim at winger Jamie Benn and center Tyler Seguin, their two top players who have failed to live up to expectations this season in a planned expletive-filled tirade.  While ownership has stepped in to say that this isn’t a sign that one could be traded in the weeks to come, this could very well create a chasm between the team and its top players, especially if they continue to underachieve.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

2018 was quite a busy year in the hockey world.  There were several big trades and free agent signings, plenty of changes behind the bench, and much more.  Over the coming days, PHR will continue its look back at the top stories from around the game on a month-by-month basis.  Next up is a look back at November, a month that saw plenty of changes made around the league.

Coaching Changes: Last season, there weren’t any in-season coaching changes.  That’s not the case in 2018-19.  Four different teams opted to change things up behind the bench.  The Kings replaced John Stevens with former Vancouver coach Willie Desjardins, the Blackhawks relieved Joel Quenneville of his duties and replaced him with Jeremy Colliton, the Oilers brought Ken Hitchcock out of retirement to take Todd McLellan’s spot, and the Blues promoted Craig Berube in place of Mike Yeo.  It’s at least worth noting that only Chicago’s hire is likely to be a long-term one; Los Angeles and St. Louis placed interim tags on their new coaches while Hitchcock was billed as a possible interim option for the rest of the season as well if they don’t get back on track.  Aside from an early spark from the Oilers, none of these coaching changes drastically improved the fortunes of their respective teams.

Wilson’s Suspension Reduced: Although Gary Bettman upheld Capitals winger Tom Wilson’s suspension in October, it was reduced by six games by arbitrator Shyam Das from 20 to 14.  Interestingly enough, 16 games had already passed by this point in time but Wilson at least got to keep the salary he would have otherwise forfeited.  When he has been in the lineup, the 24-year-old has been quite productive this year, tallying 11 goals and 19 points in just 21 games.

Blackhawks-Coyotes Swap: Arizona and Chicago swapped young players as the Coyotes dealt Dylan Strome and Brendan Perlini to the Blackhawks for Nick Schmaltz.  Strome, the third overall pick back in 2015, did not live up to expectations in the desert and was holding down a minor role while Perlini had taken a step back.  However, Strome has fared a lot better since the trade with the Blackhawks, collecting 13 points in 19 games.  As for Schmaltz, he was the most proven commodity in the trade and put up 52 points in Chicago last year.  Things weren’t going as well for him this season though before the move but he too has benefitted from the change of scenery, collecting 14 points in 17 contests.  Both teams are hopeful that they’ve found a long-term fixture down the middle with this move.

Hextall Fired: In a move that came as a surprise to many, the Flyers fired general manager Ron Hextall.  Team president Paul Holmgren cited a difference in philosophical approach as a reason for the move, leading to plenty of speculation that Philadelphia will be more aggressive on the trade front compared to Hextall’s slow build methodology.  He leaves the Flyers with a strong pipeline of prospects in the system and a pretty clean salary cap situation but at the same time, the team was often viewed as an underachiever during his tenure.

Extensions: The Lightning are facing a looming salary cap crunch but that didn’t stop them from locking up another cog in their attack as they inked Yanni Gourde to a six-year, $31MM extension.  The 27-year-old didn’t establish himself as a full-time NHL player until last season where he posted 64 points and is off to another strong start in 2018-19.  If he can keep up this pace, this could be a below-market deal fairly quickly.  Meanwhile, the Coyotes celebrated Jakob Chychrun’s return to the lineup with a six-year extension of their own, one that was worth $26.7MM.  The 16th pick back in 2016 has impressed over his first few seasons and, when healthy, is a key part of their back end.  However, staying in the lineup has proven to be difficult so far so while the AAV is more than reasonable for a top-four defender, there is some risk involved as well because of the injury history.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

2018 was quite a busy year in the hockey world.  There were several big trades and free agent signings, plenty of changes behind the bench, and much more.  Over the coming days, PHR will continue its look back at the top stories from around the game on a month-by-month basis.  Next up is a look back at October.

Seven Years For Tuch: Although he had barely a full year of regular season experience under his belt, the Golden Knights decided that they’d seen enough from Alex Tuch to hand him a seven-year, $33.25MM contract extension.  The winger was coming off a solid rookie season and showed signs that he will be a quality top-six forward.  While it raised some eyebrows at the time, it looks like a strong decision by GM George McPhee now as the 22-year-old is already up to 32 points in 36 games in the first half of the season.  A pace like that in the second half would put him over 60 which would have given him a lot of leverage if he was still unsigned for 2019-20.

Schultz Out Long-Term: The Penguins were dealt a significant blow early on as defenseman Justin Schultz sustained a broken leg in the fourth game of the season.  He underwent successful surgery that carried a recovery timeline of four months.  He’s only two years removed from a 51-point season and is a big part of Pittsburgh’s back end, especially since he’s one of only two regular right-shot rearguards.  Since he’s expected to return sometime next month, he’ll likely wind up being their significant ‘acquisition’ between now and the trade deadline since they will have to get back into salary cap compliance before he can be activated off LTIR.

Wilson Gets 20: An illegal check by Capitals winger Tom Wilson on St. Louis center Oscar Sundqvist resulted in one of the longest suspensions for an on-ice incident in quite some time as the league handed him a 20-game suspension.  It was his fourth suspension in his last 105 games played and the league came down heavy given that he’s a repeat offender.  Wilson appealed to Gary Bettman who upheld the initial ruling, causing him to appeal to a neutral arbitrator, the same one that reduced Auston Watson’s suspension earlier in the month.  Also worth noting here is that the league granted him non-roster status, something that allowed Washington to call up a replacement.  That’s not something that typically occurs when a player is suspended so it will be worth watching to see if this winds up setting a precedent.

Boyle’s Cancer In Remission: Devils forward Brian Boyle revealed that his cancer is in full remission.  He was diagnosed with chronic myeloid leukemia last season, missing the first month as a result but the news this time around was much better.  The 2018 Bill Masterton Award winner has been fairly productive early on this season with 11 goals in 35 games.  If the Devils decide to become sellers in the coming weeks, Boyle (a pending UFA) will undoubtedly draw the interest of several contenders.

Schmidt Gets Six: It turns out that Tuch wasn’t the only player Vegas locked up in October.  They inked defenseman Nate Schmidt to a six-year, $35.7MM extension that will kick in next season and did so while he was serving a 20-game suspension after testing positive for a banned substance back in the summer.  The 27-year-old has made a significant impact since returning to the lineup as the Golden Knights have lost just seven of 24 games in that span while he leads the team in ice time at over 22 minutes a night.  Two years ago, Schmidt was a depth blueliner in Washington but with Vegas, he has emerged as a legitimate top pairing player.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

2018 was quite a busy year in the hockey world.  There were several big trades and free agent signings, plenty of changes behind the bench, and much more.  Over the coming days, PHR will continue its look back at the top stories from around the game on a month-by-month basis.  Next up is a look back at September, which made headlines with some big trades, contracts, plus a PED suspension and a material breach of a contract.

Pacioretty Trade, Extension: In a move that had been bubbling for quite some time, the Canadiens finally found a trade to their liking, dealing winger Max Pacioretty to Vegas for winger Tomas Tatar, prospect forward Nick Suzuki, and a 2019 second-round pick.  The Golden Knights then signed the former Montreal captain to a four-year, $28MM extension.  The deal has not worked out particularly well for Vegas thus far as Pacioretty has struggled with consistency and has been banged up a couple of times already.  Meanwhile, Tatar, whose inclusion was primarily for matching money, has actually out-produced Pacioretty and is on pace for a career year while Suzuki, a 2017 first-rounder, is having a strong season at the junior level.

Yzerman Resigns: In a stunning move, Lightning GM Steve Yzerman resigned from the role and moved into a consultant position while long-time assistant Julien BriseBois moved into the GM role.  Yzerman had been at the helm in Tampa Bay since 2010 and had built a team that appears to be set to contend for several years.  However, he decided to step away for family reasons and since his family remains in Detroit, there has been plenty of speculation already that he could resurface with the Red Wings when his contract – which runs through the remainder of this season – expires.

Karlsson To San Jose: In another move that had been percolating for a while after there was no response to a July 1st extension offer, the Senators shipped pending UFA defenseman Erik Karlsson to San Jose for a package that involved center Chris Tierney, defenseman Dylan DeMelo, 2017 first-round center Josh Norris, prospect Rudolfs Balcers (who was just recalled for the first time today), two guaranteed draft picks, and two conditional selections, one of which has a rather unique condition.  Karlsson hasn’t been overly productive in the goal department, taking until mid-November to score his first while he has just three on the season.  However, he sits in the top-ten among NHL defensemen in assists and points.  Meanwhile, Tierney and DeMelo are on pace for career seasons while Norris is averaging over a point per game in his sophomore NCAA campaign.  Karlsson is eligible to sign an extension at any time but if he wants a max eight-year, term, he has to wait to sign until after the trade deadline.

Extensions: A pair of prominent potential unrestricted free agents decided to stick around and not test the open market.  The Jets inked winger Blake Wheeler to a five-year, $41.25MM following a season that saw him lead the league in assists (68) while setting a new career high in points (91).  While the deal may carry some risk towards the end (he’ll be 37 at the end of the contract), Wheeler has shown that he’s still capable of putting up the points as he gets older.  He’s on pace for a career-high once again in 2018-19.  Meanwhile, after Stars center Tyler Seguin voiced his displeasure over a lack of progress in contract talks, the two sides were able to agree on an eight-year, $78.8MM pact.  The 26-year-old is having a down year in goals with 13 through the first half but is on pace to surpass the 70-point-mark for the sixth straight season.  Of course, that didn’t stop the Stars’ CEO from voicing his frustration with Seguin’s production recently.

Zetterberg’s Career Over: Dating back to the summer, there were questions as to whether or not Red Wings center Henrik Zetterberg would be available when the season started.  It turns out that the answer was no.  Instead, it was revealed that his playing days were over due to a chronic back injury that he played with through last season.  Zetterberg came into the season with three years remaining on his contract with a $6.083MM cap hit but Detroit placed him on LTIR to free up some additional salary cap flexibility.  His career ends with 337 goals and 623 assists, ranking him fifth in franchise history in scoring.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

2018 has been quite a busy year in the hockey world.  There have been several big trades and free agent signings, plenty of changes behind the bench, and much more.  Over the coming days, PHR will take a look back at the top stories from around the game on a month-by-month basis.  Next up is a look back at August.

RFA Deals: August is typically a busy month for notable restricted free agents as they look to get a contract done before the potential for a training camp holdout starts to become a possibility.  Players in that situation included Detroit’s Dylan Larkin (five years, $30.5MM) and Noah Hanifin (six years, $29.7MM).  One player that wasn’t able to get a long-term deal done was Vegas center William Karlsson.  His case was a fascinating one given that he went from being a depth player to being one of the top goal scorers in the league.  Had that case gone to arbitration, it would have been a really tricky one to navigate.  Instead, they settled on a one year, $5.25MM contract the day of the hearing.

Mikita Passes Away: Chicago Blackhawks legend and Hockey Hall of Fame winger Stan Mikita passed away at the age of 78.  A two-time Hart Trophy winner and four-time league scoring leader, Mikita spent 22 years and nearly 1,400 regular season games with Chicago, the only NHL team he suited up for in his career.  He is the Blackhawks franchise leader in assists, points, plus/minus, and games played while sitting second in goals and shots to Bobby Hull.

Skinner To Buffalo: Carolina wasn’t hiding their willingness to trade Jeff Skinner and they found a willing taker in the Sabres who sent prospect Cliff Pu, a 2019 second-round pick, a 2020 third-round pick, and a 2020 sixth-rounder to the Hurricanes in return.  The 26-year-old has fit in extremely well with his new team and sits tied for second overall in goals this season with 26 in just 40 games and has been instrumental in Buffalo sitting in a playoff berth near the halfway point of the campaign.  Skinner is set to become an unrestricted free agent in July and is poised to land a sizable raise on his current $5.725MM cap hit.  Pu is off to a quiet start at the AHL level in his first professional year while the Hurricanes have been trying to trade for a top-six forward since early in the season.

Ducks Lock Up Gibson: Anaheim went into the summer looking to lock up some of their core players to extensions and they were able to do so with John Gibson, inking the netminder to an eight-year, $51.2MM contract.  While a $6.4MM AAV is a hefty increase on his current $2.3MM, it’s still towards the lower end of some of the contracts that have been handed out to established number one goalies.  Gibson had a fantastic first half of his season, posting a .924 SV% while leading the league in saves.  This contract is already looking like quite the bargain.

Extension For Dvorak: The Coyotes curiously decided they had seen enough from Christian Dvorak over his first two seasons to hand him a six-year, $26.7MM deal that begins next season.  That’s a steep commitment for a player that has scored 15 goals each year but clearly, Arizona GM John Chayka was banking on Dvorak taking a step forward and becoming a legitimate top-six center.  That could still happen down the road but the 22-year-old has yet to play this season after undergoing surgery to repair a torn pectoral muscle back in October.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

2018 has been quite a busy year in the hockey world.  There have been several big trades and free agent signings, plenty of changes behind the bench, and much more.  Over the coming days, PHR will take a look back at the top stories from around the game on a month-by-month basis.  Next up is a look back at July, a month that featured plenty of movement around the league plus some other headlines as well.

July 1st Free Agent Activity: As always, the turning of the calendar of July meant the busiest day in the league in terms of player movement.  Several key players found new teams including Paul Stastny (Vegas), David Perron (St. Louis), and Ilya Kovalchuk (Los Angeles).  However, the biggest move was made by Toronto who convinced John Tavares to leave the Islanders and gave him a seven-year, $77MM contract for doing so.  All 31 teams had at least one move on this day and a full recap can be found here.

Kucherov Extension: Tampa Bay’s Nikita Kucherov had a career year in 2017-18 as he reached the 100-point plateau for the first time in his career.  The Lightning responded by giving him an eight-year, $76MM contract extension that will kick in starting next season.  That deal (which also carries varying no-trade and no-move protection) already looks like it could be a bit of a bargain as he leads the league in scoring with 63 points in just 39 games heading into play on Monday.

Hossa Traded: Even though he had missed all of last season and had announced that his playing days were over, the Blackhawks were still able to get out of the remaining three years of his contract as he was dealt to Arizona in a seven-player swap.  Arizona also picked up Vinnie Hinostroza and Jordan Oesterle while Chicago got back a package highlighted by veteran center Marcus Kruger along with prospect MacKenzie Entwistle who has had a strong showing at the World Juniors so far.  While Hossa’s cap hit is at $5.275MM, his salary for each season is $1MM of which insurance will pay 80%.  As a result, the Coyotes were able to gain a couple of roster players for a cheap cost while the Blackhawks now have salary cap flexibility as they look to reshape their team.

Linden Resigns: During his time as Canucks team president, Trevor Linden spoke about building for the long-term.  They appeared to be heading in that direction before somewhat reversing course in free agency with the additions of some veteran players.  Three weeks after the free agent frenzy, Linden surprisingly resigned his post and while no official reason for his departure was cited by either side, the belief is that ownership was looking to shift more into a win-now strategy over Linden’s plan to oversee a slow build of the roster.

O’Reilly Trade: While free agency and contract extensions dominated most of the headlines on July 1st, there was a significant trade made as well with the Sabres shipping Ryan O’Reilly to St. Louis.  He was owed a $7.5MM signing bonus on the 1st which made that day a firm deadline of sorts and the deal pretty much came down to the wire.  Heading to Buffalo were Vladimir Sobotka, Patrik Berglund, Tage Thompson, plus first and second-round picks.  O’Reilly has played quite well in St. Louis despite their struggles as a team; he leads the Blues in scoring by ten points on the next closest player.  Meanwhile, Sobotka and Thompson have played minor roles in Buffalo while Berglund had his contract terminated earlier this month.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

2018 has been quite a busy year in the hockey world.  There have been several big trades and free agent signings, plenty of changes behind the bench, and much more.  Over the coming days, PHR will take a look back at the top stories from around the game on a month-by-month basis.  Next up is a look back at June, a month that yielded some notable trades and re-signings among other things.

Hoffman Traded Twice: The Senators had been looking to move winger Mike Hoffman for a little while and found a willing taker in San Jose.  While there were other picks and prospects in the swap, the primaries involved were Hoffman and winger Mikkel Boedker who headed to Ottawa.  However, his time with the Sharks was short-lived as two hours later, he was moved back into the Atlantic Division as the Panthers acquired him for a series of draft picks.  The deal looks pretty good for both Florida and San Jose – the Panthers added a top-six winger without losing anyone off their roster while San Jose got rid of a contract they were looking to move and added some picks as a bonus.  Meanwhile, Ottawa’s self-imposed restriction of trading within the division arguably yielded them a weaker return and ultimately wound up yielding one of the stranger trade conditions in recent memory in another move with the Sharks later on in the offseason.

Coaching Changes: Lou Lamoriello wasted little time making changes to the Islanders, relieving head coach Doug Weight (and GM Garth Snow) of their respective duties.  Meanwhile, despite winning the Stanley Cup, the Capitals and Barry Trotz were unable to come to terms on a new contract so Trotz resigned.  (The Cup victory triggered a two-year extension but the two sides couldn’t agree on a renegotiated salary.)  Lamoriello was quick to act once again, hiring Trotz as New York’s new bench boss.  In turn, Washington turned to assistant coach Todd Reirden, promoting him to their head coaching position.

Flames-Hurricanes Swap: There weren’t many trades of note at the draft but Calgary and Carolina made a significant one on the second day.  The Hurricanes moved pending restricted free agent defenseman Noah Hanifin and center Elias Lindholm to the Flames in exchange for blueliner Dougie Hamilton, winger Micheal Ferland, and prospect rearguard Adam Fox.  The deal has worked out quite well for Calgary so far as Hanifin is on pace for a career year while Lindholm has averaged over a point per game this season; he’ll pass his previous career high in points within the next week or two.  It hasn’t gone as well for Carolina.  While Ferland already has 11 goals, Hamilton has not made anywhere near the type of impact he was expected to.  After scoring 17 times last season, he has just three tallies in 2018-19.  Right now, this move looks like a big win for the Flames.  (In terms of other draft day moves, the Avs brought in goalie Phillip Grubauer for a second-round pick and defenseman Brooks Orpik who was bought out and eventually returned to Washington.)

Extensions For Defensemen: Washington was able to get blueliner John Carlson locked up without him testing free agency as they inked him to a front-loaded eight-year, $64MM extension.  While there were some questions about the sustainability of his 68-point offensive outburst last season, he has actually out-performed that pace this year with 37 points in 36 games while logging a career high in ice time.  Meanwhile, although they weren’t able to make it official until July 1st, the Coyotes reached a deal in principle to keep their captain around, giving him an eight-year, $66MM extension that will begin next summer.  The 27-year-old has his usual self in the desert this season but Arizona is once again near the bottom of the standings.

Galchenyuk For Domi: The Ekman-Larsson contract wasn’t Arizona’s only big move of the month as they dealt Max Domi to Montreal in exchange for Alex Galchenyuk.  (The Canadiens then quickly gave Domi a two-year, $6.3MM bridge deal.)  Neither team felt their former player could play down the middle but hoped their new one could.  Domi has rebounded quite well after a couple of quiet seasons and is currently leading Montreal in scoring while playing as a full-time center.  The move hasn’t worked quite as well for Galchenyuk.  He missed time with a lower-body injury and has just five goals in 28 games this season and while he started at center, he has since been moved back to the wing.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

2018 has been quite a busy year in the hockey world.  There have been several big trades and free agent signings, plenty of changes behind the bench, and much more.  Over the coming days, PHR will take a look back at the top stories from around the game on a month-by-month basis.  Next up is a look back at May.

GM Movement: Quite a few teams hired their new general managers in this month.  Kyle Dubas was put in charge of the Maple Leafs, a move that saw Mark Hunter (the other candidate for the job) resign while outgoing GM Lou Lamoriello took that same role with the Islanders.  Meanwhile, Paul Fenton got his first chance at running a franchise as the long-time Nashville executive was given the reins in Minnesota.

Kruger-Martinook Swap: Trades aren’t often made during the playoffs and are even rarer when they’re made at this time by someone in an interim GM role but that was the case when the Hurricanes shipped center Marcus Kruger and a 2018 third-round pick to the Coyotes for winger Jordan Martinook and a 2018 fourth-round selection.  Martinook has fared relatively well in Carolina with eight goals already on the season while Kruger never suited up in the desert.  He was flipped to Chicago later in the summer as part of the Marian Hossa trade.  Hossa, meanwhile, announced midway through May that his playing days were over.

Kane Extension: The Sharks liked what they saw after acquiring Evander Kane at the deadline as they gave the winger a seven-year, $49MM extension to get him to forego the UFA market.  The 27-year-old made an immediate impact down the stretch with 14 points in 17 games following the trade while adding four goals in the playoffs as well.  Worth noting here is that with the move, San Jose now owes Buffalo a first-round pick in 2019 (that can be deferred to 2020 if the Sharks miss the playoffs).  Kane hasn’t had as much of an impact through the first half of 2018-19 but still projects to be an impact top-six forward for the considerable future.

Coaching Hires: General managers weren’t the only ones securing new jobs in May.  Dallas found their replacement for Ken Hitchcock in Jim Montgomery while the Rangers also turned to the college ranks to hire David Quinn.  Carolina decided to promote from within, handing the head coaching role to Rod Brind’Amour while removing the interim GM tag from Don Waddell at the same time just days after the Kruger-Martinook trade.

Koskinen To Edmonton: The Oilers decided to do their goalie shopping early, inking KHL star Mikko Koskinen to a one-year, $2.5MM contract.  The deal was viewed as a significant gamble considering he had just four games of NHL experience under his belt with the Islanders before this, not to mention that spending that much money on a backup goalie (let alone an unproven one) was particularly risky give Edmonton’s salary cap situation.  Fortunately for them, the 30-year-old has overcome a slow start and has put up considerably better numbers than Cam Talbot in nearly equal playing time so far this season.  It may have been a gamble but it has paid off so far.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

2018 has been quite a busy year in the hockey world.  There have been several big trades and free agent signings, plenty of changes behind the bench, and much more.  Over the coming days, PHR will take a look back at the top stories from around the game on a month-by-month basis.  Next up is a look back at April, a month that featured a lot of activity off the ice including the Draft Lottery.

Coaching Departures: It was noteworthy that there weren’t any coaching changes made during the regular season.  That changed quickly.  The Rangers relieved Alain Vigneault of his duties as head coach while the Flames did the same with Glen Gulutzan.  Meanwhile, Ken Hitchcock retired from coaching, a decision that wound up not lasting very long.  Bill Peters decided to exercise his opt-out in Carolina but was only out of work for a few days as he wound up joining Calgary to be their new bench boss.

Extension For Raanta: The Coyotes were quite pleased with what they had seen from goaltender Antti Raanta when he was healthy and opted to sign him to a three-year, $12.75MM contract extension.  Less than two months after acquiring and extending Darcy Kuemper, it looked as if Arizona had found some stability between the pipes.  Unfortunately for them, Raanta has had issues staying in the lineup again this season and after just a dozen games, his 2018-19 campaign appears to be over due to a lower-body injury.

Sedins Announce Retirement: While there had been some speculation that Henrik Sedin and Daniel Sedin might stick around for another year and sign new deals in Vancouver, they instead decided to hang up their skates, announcing their decision just days before the end of the season.  The twins played together with the Canucks for their entire NHL career (spanning 17 years) after Brian Burke managed to make some moves in order to select both of them at the draft back in 1999.  Between them, the Sedins have Vancouver’s franchise records in games played, goals, assists, points, plus/minus, game-winning goals, and shots (among several other categories).

Executives On The Outs: There weren’t just changes made behind the bench as a pair of teams decided to go in a different direction with their GM.  Toronto opted to continue with their plan to make Lou Lamoriello a consultant while Minnesota chose not to renew Chuck Fletcher’s contract.  Meanwhile, shortly after promoting Ron Francis to President of Hockey Operations, the Hurricanes fired him even with the team still in the middle of their search for a new GM.

Lundqvist Declined A Trade: With the Rangers in rebuilding mode, there were questions about what Henrik Lundqvist’s future with the only NHL team he’s ever known would be.  It turns out that the team had a trade in place involving the 36-year-old but Lundqvist declined the move, instead wanting to see things through.  The veteran isn’t the elite netminder he once was but is off to a pretty good start to his season on a New York team that’s still hanging around the postseason picture.  He has two years remaining on his contract after this one with an AAV of $8.5MM.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

2018 has been quite a busy year in the hockey world.  There have been several big trades and free agent signings, plenty of changes behind the bench, and much more.  Over the coming days, PHR will take a look back at the top stories from around the game on a month-by-month basis.  Next up is a look back at March, a much quieter month around the league with the trade deadline having passed.

Surgery For Hanzal: Martin Hanzal’s first season in Dallas was nothing short of a disaster.  He had frequent minor injuries and when he was healthy, he wasn’t productive.  Things came to a head after he underwent spinal fusion surgery, ending his season prematurely.  The initial timeline was a six-to-seven month recovery but it ultimately kept him out until earlier this month.  Unfortunately for him and the Stars, the 31-year-old appears to be dealing with another back injury once again.

MacLellan Extension: Just days after the trade deadline, the Capitals announced that they had given GM Brian MacLellan a multi-year contract extension.  The reward was well-deserved after he reshaped the team and had the team in contention at the time despite losing several core veterans from the previous season due to salary cap reasons.  The move looks even better now after Washington went on to win the Stanley Cup back in June.  Some eyebrows were raised when Barry Trotz didn’t receive an extension at the same time and we all know how that ultimately turned out.

One More Year For Chara: Just days after he turned 41, Bruins defenseman Zdeno Chara decided that he wasn’t finished with the NHL just yet.  He inked a one-year, $5MM extension, a salary that actually represented a $1MM raise on his salary from the 2017-18 season.  The contract also carries $1.75MM of performance bonuses, $1.25MM of which have already been achieved (he can also earn $250K if Boston makes the playoffs and another $250K if he wins the Stanley Cup).  The veteran has missed the last six weeks with a knee issue but prior to getting injured, he was still logging over 21 minutes a night and providing a steadying presence on Boston’s back end.

Francis Out As GM: It didn’t take too long for new Hurricanes owner to start making changes as Ron Francis was relieved of his duties as Carolina’s GM and ‘promoted’ to President of Hockey Operations.  This started a bizarre and highly public search for a replacement before candidates started withdrawing from consideration as the month progressed.  Dundon ultimately decided to take a step back from the process which didn’t wind up resolving itself until May.

Four Years For Nutivaara: Blue Jackets defenseman Markus Nutivaara had a nice breakout year in his second NHL season and was rewarded for his efforts, signing a four-year, $10.8MM extension.  The 24-year-old is still playing a third pairing role most nights in Columbus but showed himself to be capable of moving up when injuries struck and is currently on pace for a new career high points as well as ice time per game.

On top of these, there was a frenzy of college players signing including drafted prospects putting pen to paper to burn the first year of their entry-level contract right away.  Notable players in this situation included Henrik Borgstrom (FLA), Ryan Donato (BOS), Adam Gaudette (VAN), Jordan Greenway (MIN), Casey Mittelstadt (BUF), Dylan Sikura (CHI), and Troy Terry (ANA).

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.