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Snapshots: Nyquist, Bishop, Benn

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The Detroit Free Press’ Helene St. James reports that Red Wings forward Gustav Nyquist expects to bounce back following a disappointing 2015-16 campaign. Nyquist failed to reach the 20 goal mark for the first time since becoming a Wings regular. After being counted on to step up as one of the core players, Nyquist’s production slipped with 43 points (17-26) and just one goal in five playoff games. Though St. James believes Nyquist could recover with a new assistant coach in John Torchetti, she also writes that the 26-year-old Swede could be packaged in a deal to acquire a defenseman. With the Red Wings logjam at forward and Nyquist’s disappointing return last season, it’s a realistic scenario with forward Tomas Tatar due a hefty raise following the 2015-16 season.

In other NHL news:

  • The Hockey News’ Jared Clinton indicates that Ben Bishop believes he’ll be ready for the World Cup of Hockey. Clinton recaps the injury that torpedoed the Lightning’s attempt at a second straight Stanley Cup Final appearance, but writes that Bishop does feel better and plans on taking his recovery slow. Even if he does recover in time, Clinton reports that Bishop could easily be the third option behind Jonathan Quick and Cory Schneider.  Entering his final season in Tampa, Bishop could be shuttled to another team or kept as an insurance option during the post-season. Arguably a pre-season favorite to win the Stanley Cup, Bishop could once again backstop a deep run in the playofs should he remain healthy.
  • Clinton also reports that Dallas Stars’ forward Jamie Benn should also be ready for the World Cup of Hockey after undergoing surgery for a core muscle injury. While Benn believes he will suit up for the Canadian squad, Clinton writes that the Stars will have final say, especially after they inked their captain to an eight-year, $76MM extension.

Snapshots: Kane, Bartkowski, Jets

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Sabres forward Evander Kane pled not guilty at his arraignment in Buffalo court today stemming from charges last month, reports Aaron Besecker of the Buffalo News.  Kane faces a charge of misdemeanor criminal trespass, non-criminal disorderly conduct, plus four counts of non-criminal harassment.  WBEN’s Brian Mazurowski adds that the maximum sentence for Kane would be 90 days but that District Attorney Michael Flaherty noted that first time offenders rarely receive prison sentences.

Other news and notes from around the league:

  • Free agent defenseman Matt Bartkowski has received a few offers so far but has yet to land with a new team, writes Jeff Paterson of the Vancouver Province. Bartkowski’s agent, Stephen Reich, suggests that a deal isn’t likely to come until later in the offseason but is optimistic that he will be able to land a one way contract.  Bartkowski earned $1.75MM with Vancouver last season and got into 80 games with the Canucks, collecting six goals and 12 assists while averaging 18:37 of ice time per night.
  • Ken Wiebe of the Winnipeg Sun takes a closer look at Winnipeg’s defense depth and notes that there could be a bit of a logjam, particularly when RFA Jacob Trouba inks his new deal. He speculates that 2013 first round pick Josh Morrissey could be ready for full-time NHL duty but the Jets may deem it would be better for him to play a #1 role in the AHL over a depth role with the big club.  Wiebe also suggests that Paul Postma could be a candidate to be dealt between now and the start of next season.

Coyotes Buy Out Antoine Vermette

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The Coyotes announced that they have bought out center Antoine Vermette.  The announcement came less that two hours after it was reported that the team had placed him on unconditional waivers as first reported by AZSports’ Craig Morgan.

Vermette is able to be bought out as a result of the second buyout window that opened up after the Coyotes re-signed Michael Stone, who had filed for arbitration last month.  In a separate tweet, Morgan notes that GM John Chayka did try to trade Vermette before proceeding with this move.

The veteran had a decent year with the Coyotes last season, posting 17 goals and 21 assists, matching his 38 point output from the previous season.  His role with Arizona was reduced last season as his ice time dropped from 18:59 per game to 16:39 in 2015-16.

Presumably, the decision to let Vermette go was likely made to help free up a spot for some of their top prospects such as Dylan Strome and Christian Dvorak.  The 34 year old has one season left on a two year pact signed last offseason worth $3.75MM per year.

From a salary cap perspective, the buyout costs Arizona $1.25MM in both salary and cap hit for both 2016-17 and 2017-18.  That will free up $2.5MM on this season’s cap.  The Coyotes are no stranger to having cap charges for players who aren’t playing for them as Pavel Datsyuk, Chris Pronger, and Mike Ribeiro are all on their cap for 2016-17 despite the fact that none of them will suit up for the team.  Add in Vermette’s $1.25MM buyout charge and the Coyotes will have a cap charge of over $15.1MM for players who won’t actually play for them next year.

Week In Review: 7/25/16 – 7/31/16

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While the final week of July didn’t have much in the way of trade activity or UFA signings, it was still a busy one as many restricted free agents came to terms on new deals.  Here’s a look back at the week that was.

Notable Re-Signings

Brayden Schenn (Flyers) – Four years, $20.5MM
Peter Holland (Maple Leafs) – Two years, $2.5MM
Danny DeKeyser (Red Wings) – Six years, $30MM
Vladislav Namestnikov (Lightning) – Two years, $3.875MM
Mike Hoffman (Senators) – Four years, $20.75MM
Petr Mrazek (Red Wings) – Two years, $8MM
Calle Jarnkrok (Predators) – Six years, $12MM
Connor Murphy (Coyotes) – Six years, $23.1MM
Michael Stone (Coyotes) – One year, $4MM
Mathew Dumba (Wild) – Two years, $5.1MM
Martin Marincin (Maple Leafs) – Two years, $2.5MM
Tyson Barrie (Avalanche) – Four years, $22MM

UFA Signing

Matt Carle (Predators) – One year, $700K

Coaching Contract

Bill Peters (Hurricanes) – Two year extension through 2018-19

Players Signing Overseas

Kris Versteeg – SC Bern in Switzerland
Mike Santorelli – Geneve-Servette in Switzerland

Contract Termination

David Rundblad (Blackhawks) – Link

Training Camp Tryout

Maxim Lapierre (Rangers) – Link

Key Prospect Signing

Jakob Chychrun (Coyotes) – Three year, entry-level deal

Columbus Officially Signs Sam Gagner

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The Blue Jackets have officially signed center Sam Gagner to a one year contract, the team announced.  Aaron Portzline of the Columbus Dispatch reports that the deal is worth $650K.  The signing should come as little surprise as it was reported over the weekend that Columbus was nearing a deal with the 26 year old.

Last season was the worst of Gagner’s career.  He played in 53 games with the Flyers, recording just 16 points (eight goals and eight assists) while averaging just 13:52 per game.  After clearing waivers, he spent some time with Philadelphia’s AHL affiliate in Lehigh Valley, picking up a goal and five assists in nine games.  That marked the first minor league action for Gagner as he originally made the jump to the NHL straight out of junior.

This will be the fourth different team Gagner has suited up for in as many seasons despite spending seven seasons with Edmonton to start his career.  Overall, he has played in 615 NHL games between the Oilers, Coyotes, and Flyers, scoring 124 goals and 228 assists while playing an average of 16:56 per game.

Gagner was ranked 46th on PHR’s Top 50 UFA list.  We predicted that he would be forced to sign a cheap one year deal in the hopes of re-establishing his value but we figured he would have landed a $1MM contract.  He’ll likely battle for a bottom six roster spot with Columbus along with youngsters from their Calder Cup winning AHL team.

[Related: Blue Jackets’ Depth Chart]

With the signing, the Blue Jackets now have just over $3.8MM in cap space according to Cap Friendly.  However, that figure only factors a minimum-sized roster of 20 players so their actual amount of space to work with is lower than that.

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