The Tampa Bay Lightning announced the signing of prospect winger Mathieu Joseph to a three year, entry-level contract. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.
Joseph was Tampa’s fourth round pick (120th overall) in the 2015 NHL Entry Draft. He is in his fourth season at the junior level, with Saint John of the QMJHL. Through 29 games this season, Joseph has 25 goals (tied for the league lead) and 20 assists along with a +23 rating. He will be participating in the World Juniors for Team Canada which begins on Monday.
Unless Joseph plays in ten or more games with Tampa Bay this season which is quite unlikely, his contract will slide a year and begin in the 2017-18 season.
Other notes from around the league:
- While coach Bob Hartley recently agreed to coach the Latvian national team, he is not viewing the opportunity as a long-term option, he told Sportsnet’s Mark Spector. Hartley will be behind the bench for the World Championships in May but intends to pursue another NHL position this summer. Spector notes that Hartley has declined offers from Switzerland and the KHL but wouldn’t rule out extending his one year deal in Latvia for a second season if he’s unsuccessful in finding a spot back in North America.
- If Chicago wants to find a way to re-sign left winger Artemi Panarin beyond this season, the Blackhawks will likely have to shake up their core to find the salary cap space to do so. While many have speculated that one of their skaters would have to go, ESPN’s Craig Custance suggests an alternate route in a reader mailbag (Insider required). He opines that moving Corey Crawford and re-signing Scott Darling to go with a cheaper goalie tandem may be the best way to go. Darling is still largely unproven at the NHL level with only 65 games under his belt including the playoffs but fared relatively well as the starter in ten games while Corey Crawford was out following an appendectomy, going 6-3-1 with a 2.12 GAA and a .930 SV% during that span.
And the Blackhawks’ shuffle continues. I’m about done with the NHL and it’s pathetic salary cap management. Either raise the cap to a reasonable level or move the teams back to Canada.
Agreed. I wonder how many more cups they would have if they didn’t have to do this
if u want to fit Panarin into a contract-long term,then tell Kane,Toews and Hossa to each take a sizable salary cut to help with the team’s depth,theres no reason Hossa should be making $5.2 million at his age,and Kane and Toews have done more than enough to take a pay cut from $10 1/2 million each per season over the next 5 years in order to be able to fit Panarin under the cap,its time to do the right thing for the team’s future
First of all, Hossa is a productive player, so his age is not relevant to his production or value.
Additionally, you can’t question the market value of Kane and Toews. Considering their skills and accomplishments, they’ve earned every penny of their $10MM per (which is measly compared to top pro athletes in other sports). They haven’t even reached their prime years yet — saying they should take a pay cut is kind of ridiculous.
The salient issue here is the NHL continues to deflate the salary cap. Their refusal to raise the cap makes it virtually impossible for the Hawks to maintain any kind of depth on their roster.
Depth is not a luxury, it’s a necessity in a league that employs 4 rotations off the bench. Two home-grown star players should not force you into a situation where you can’t re-sign an average back-up goalie.
Also, if you can’t afford to keep young players that you drafted and developed, what’s the point? There’s no incentive to improve for poorly managed teams around the league.
welcome to Gary Bettman’s NHL.as long as a Stanley Cup-winning team doesn’t come from the east coast that jackass is going to tip the scales to get what he wants at the expense of 85% of the rest of the NHL