Latest On Anaheim Ducks Offseason
A little under three months remain until the start of the 2022-23 NHL regular season, but with the conclusion of the NHL Entry Draft and the first few days of free agency, things feel as though they’re mostly wrapped-up for many teams. At this point, signing some RFA contracts, evaluating what happened at development camp, and making a few more behind-the-scenes hires are all that is left for many organizations. However, as Anaheim Ducks GM Pat Verbeek made clear to Elliott Teaford of The Orange County Register, his team is not done with their offseason additions (link).
Verbeek mentioned that he would like to add another forward and defenseman to the organization, but before doing so, he wants to make sure the players he brings in are a good fit. Whoever the Ducks add, if anyone, wouldn’t be the first of this offseason, the team making a splash on the opening day of free agency, signing forwards Frank Vatrano and Ryan Strome to three and five year contracts respectively. Signing the two veterans seems to mark a turning point for Anaheim, who has been pretty clearly categorized as a rebuilder for the better part of the previous four seasons, last making the playoffs in 2017-18.
Regardless of whether Verbeek wants to add more talent, the Ducks are going to have to look to add salary considering they currently sit just under $9.3MM below the salary cap floor. Anaheim’s cap situation is not for a matter of trying, considering their signings of Vatrano and Strome, but they will have to find additional salary to take on. before the start of the season. Many of the most prized UFAs on the market have since signed, but two, who will command a significant salary, remain: forward Nazem Kadri and defenseman John Klingberg. However, neither has been connected to Anaheim thus far.
With the talk of Anaheim needing to add salary, failing to give qualifying offers to forwards Sonny Milano and Sam Steel would seem to be a counter-intuitive decision. However, Verbeek told Teaford, “It boiled down to role. What role would they play and did it make sense with the dollars?” The GM added that their individual mixed results also played a role in his decision. Both former first-round picks, Steel finished this season with six goals and 14 assists in 68 games, while Milano had a somewhat of a breakout season, tallying 14 goals and 20 assists in 66 games.
Finally, Verbeek discussed his hiring of Craig Johnson as an assistant coach, noting that he felt Johnson would be a key piece in developing their players. As Verbeek said, “I don’t subscribe to the idea that once you’ve made the NHL that development time is over.” That sentiment is of course very relevant for Anaheim as they work their way out of this rebuild, expecting to be lead by a young core including Trevor Zegras, Troy Terry, Mason McTavish, and Jamie Drysdale.
Andrej Sekera Retires From NHL
After 16 seasons, one of the best Slovak defensemen to ever lace them up is calling it a career. Andrej Sekera told a Slovak-language newspaper today that he’s stepping back from the NHL.
A 2004 third-round pick of the Buffalo Sabres, Sekera carved out a quite long, underrated NHL career with the Sabres, Carolina Hurricanes, Los Angeles Kings, Edmonton Oilers, and Dallas Stars, where he spent the last three years and 135 games of his career.
His peak season, interestingly enough, came during his only full season with Carolina, notching 11 goals and 44 points in 74 games while averaging a career-high 23:41 per game.
Sekera was one of the more overlooked pieces that helped the Edmonton Oilers return to relevancy with Connor McDavid at the helm. He was the team’s most important defensive player in the 2016-17 season that saw them make the playoffs for the first time in 11 years, but a torn ACL during the second round in 2017 really hurt his career. He never played more than 57 games in a season after that and never averaged higher than 18 minutes per game after consistently averaging 20 or more for a number of seasons prior.
Sekera retired third all-time in games played amongst Slovak defensemen, trailing the obvious (Zdeno Chara) and Lubomir Visnovsky.
Arizona Coyotes Give Conor Geekie Entry-Level Contract
2022 NHL Draft picks are continuing to fly off the “unsigned” board. Today, the Arizona Coyotes signed 11th overall pick Conor Geekie to his three-year entry-level contract, per general manager Bill Armstrong. Presumably, the contract will carry a max entry-level cap hit of $950K.
Geekie was ranked all over the map in the first round by public scouts, and although he wasn’t a consensus top-ten pick at the end of the season like he was at the beginning, Arizona still snatched him up just outside of that range. Playing second fiddle on the WHL’s Winnipeg ICE to ninth overall pick Matthew Savoie, Geekie notched 70 points in 63 games.
He’s still a few years out from being an NHL impact player, in all likelihood. But Arizona is still getting a high-end prospect that mainly excels as a two-way center that’s tough to play against both at even strength and on the penalty kill. He’s got size teams and scouts dream of at 6′ 4″ and 200+ pounds, and he still boasts decent offensive upside (although maybe not as much as teams hoped pre-season).
San Jose Sharks Sign Luke Kunin, Kaapo Kahkonen
The San Jose Sharks have signed Luke Kunin to a two-year contract, according to PuckPedia. The deal will carry an average annual value of $2.75MM. Kunin was eligible for salary arbitration this summer but chose not to file. Sharks general manager Mike Grier also announced Monday afternoon that the team has signed goalie Kaapo Kahkonen to a two-year contract. Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reports the deal carries a cap hit of $2.75MM.
Kunin, 24, was acquired from the Nashville Predators this offseason in exchange for John Leonard (who also signed today) and a third-round pick. The young forward has changed his game in recent years to lean into his physicality, and after racking up a whopping 223 in 2021-22, he offers something new to the San Jose bottom six.
There’s also a bit of offensive skill in the 2016 first-round pick, who has double-digit goals in each of his last three seasons, all of them coming at even-strength or while short-handed. That kind of scoring upside will come in handy as the Sharks start to tear apart the old core and rebuild it under new general manager Mike Grier.
Notably, it will leave Kunin as a restricted free agent at its expiry, giving the Sharks a chance to re-assess whether he can be a long-term solution. He will once again be up for arbitration at that point.
Kahkonen excelled after San Jose acquired him at the Trade Deadline from the Minnesota Wild. The 2020 AHL Goalie of the Year had just a 2-6-1 record, but that was no fault of his own, posting a more-than-respectable .916 save percentage in 11 games played (10 starts). Kahkonen has a career .908 save percentage through 65 NHL games, 54 of which came with the Wild. He’ll join a crowded crease in San Jose next year that also includes James Reimer and Adin Hill.
The 25-year-old Finn will be an unrestricted free agent in 2024 when his new contract expires.
Montreal Canadiens Sign Sam Montembeault
Today, Montreal Canadiens general manager Kent Hughes announced that the team has agreed to terms on a two-year, one-way contract with goalie Sam Montembeault. The contract will take him to his first eligible year of unrestricted free agency in 2024. The Athletic’s Marc Antoine Godin reports the deal is worth $1MM per season.
Montembeault found his way to Montreal at the beginning of 2021-22 when the team claimed him off waivers from the Florida Panthers. With Carey Price‘s nagging knee injury keeping him out for the vast majority of 2021-22, Montembeault played in 38 games for Montreal this year, more than doubling his previous total of 25 with Florida. Serving as the backup to Jake Allen and the starter for brief periods when Allen was injured, Montembeault had a season to forget with an 8-18-6 record, .891 save percentage, and 3.77 goals against average along with one shutout.
The 2015 third-round pick is still relatively young in goalie years at 25, though, and there may be a small bit of untapped potential in the Quebec native. He’s yet to show it at the NHL level, though, as his save percentage hasn’t hit .900 in any of the three seasons he’s appeared in.
Montembeault’s role this season will once again depend entirely on the health of Price, barring a trade in the Montreal crease. If Price is able to battle back from what’s become an increasingly serious knee ailment to start the 2022-23 season on time, Montembeault and his seven-figure price tag would almost certainly pass through waivers unclaimed.
Snapshots: Tkachuk, Alberta Hockey Hall Of Fame, DiPietro
With Johnny Gaudreau‘s departure from the Calgary Flames organization, all eyes have turned to superstar Matthew Tkachuk and his future with the team. Currently, Tkachuk sits on the RFA market after unsurprisingly receiving a $9MM qualifying-offer from the Flames last week. Not much update has come since then on the 24-year-old’s situation until now, when it was revealed that Tkachuk declined to file for player-elected arbitration ahead of today’s deadline.
In light of the decision not to file, Flames Nation’s Ryan Pike believes the Flames will not elect arbitration on their end before tomorrow’s 5:00 pm ET deadline for teams to elect. Pike cites the fact that by doing so, the Flames would have to offer in arbitration, at the very least, the $9MM qualifying offer. Even still, the arbitrator in Tkachuk’s case could award a number higher than $9MM, perhaps the number Tkachuk were to file at, making arbitration all the more unpredictable at this point for Calgary. Not filing for arbitration will also keep the offer-sheet avenue open, which could pave the way to a long-term resolution for both player and team.
- Two familiar names are set to be inducted into the Alberta Hockey Hall of Fame this evening. Former NHL Head Coach Ken Hitchcock and former NHL goaltender and current Columbus Blue Jackets President of Hockey Operations John Davidson will join alongside Cassie Campbell-Pascall, Bill Bucyk, Bob Clark, Dr. Randy Gregg, Jamie Macoun and the 1974-75 Lethbridge Native Sons.
- According to CHEK’s Rick Dhaliwal, the Vancouver Canucks have given goaltender Michael DiPietro and his agent, Darren Ferris, permission to talk with other teams to help facilitate a trade for the goaltender (link). Once a heralded goaltending prospect out of the OHL, DiPietro has yet to live up to the expectations set for him when Vancouver drafted him in the third-round in 2017. The goaltender had a strong 2019-20, his first full pro season, but dealt with injuries and limited playing time in 2020-21. He would rebound in 2021-22, but still hasn’t been able to pull himself back to the blue-chip status he once had. Even if DiPietro could make a full turnaround, he’ll find the net in Vancouver considerably blocked by that of 26-year-old star netminder Thatcher Demko, who is signed through 2025-26. A key distinction with this permission to talk to other teams is not to negotiate a contract, much like Anthony DeAngelo was allowed to do earlier this offseason, but to help find a trade to a destination that will work for DiPietro, with the goaltender having already accepted his qualifying offer yesterday.
24 Players Elect Salary Arbitration
The National Hockey League Players Association (NHLPA) announced that 24 players have filed for player-elected salary arbitration, the deadline for which came this afternoon. This list is not necessarily the final and complete list of players headed for arbitration, with clubs now eligible to elect salary arbitration until tomorrow, July 18th at 5:00 pm ET.
Mason Appleton (WPG)
Ethan Bear (CAR)
Jesper Bratt (NJD)
Lawson Crouse (ARI)
Morgan Geekie (SEA)
Mathieu Joseph (OTT)
Kaapo Kahkonen (SJS)
Kasperi Kapanen (PIT)
Keegan Kolesar (VGK)
Oliver Kylington (CGY)
Maxime Lajoie (CAR)
Steven Lorentz (SJS)
Isac Lundestrom (ANA)
Zack MacEwen (PHI)
Niko Mikkola (STL)
Andrew Mangiapane (CGY)
Matthew Phillips (CGY)
Jesse Puljujarvi (EDM)
Tyce Thompson (NJD)
Yakov Trenin (NSH)
Vitek Vanecek (NJD)
Jake Walman (DET)
Kailer Yamamoto (EDM)
Pavel Zacha (BOS)
Notably out of this list, Mikkola had previously filed for arbitration, but the two sides were able to settle on a one-year, $1.9MM contract that will leave the defenseman an UFA after next season.
A key distinction to add is that any player who has filed for arbitration is no longer eligible to sign an offer sheet, effectively taking the players on this list off the market. Three notable names that did not file for arbitration are Winnipeg Jets forward Pierre-Luc Dubois, Calgary Flames forward Matthew Tkachuk and Columbus Blue Jackets forward Patrik Laine. Though contract talks have been quiet on Dubois and Tkachuck, word of amicable discussions between Laine’s camp and Columbus has been made known. Once tomorrow’s club-elected salary arbitration deadline passes, teams and players will have time to prepare their cases before hearings begin, running from July 27th through August 11th.
Minnesota Wild Re-Sign Mitchell Chaffee, Nick Swaney
The Minnesota Wild are officially bringing back a couple young depth forwards in that of Mitchell Chaffee and Nick Swaney on one-year, two-way deals, the team announced. Chaffee’s deal will pay him $750K at the NHL level and $125K in the minor leagues, while Swaney’s will pay $750K in the NHL and $120K in the minors (link). Having extended the pair, the Wild have re-signed all pending players, meaning their offseason work, absent any free agent signings or extensions of already-signed players, is complete, with just over $4.3MM in salary cap space to spare.
Both players represent quality depth for Minnesota as well as quality pieces of the Iowa Wild’s roster at the AHL level. Chaffee in fact made his NHL debut last season, getting into two games with Minnesota, but has yet to record a point. Besides the brief NHL appearance, the 24-year-old Chaffee has spent the previous two seasons with Iowa, putting up strong numbers, including 23 goals and 16 assists in 49 games this past season. Prior to turning pro as a college free agent, Chaffee spent two seasons in the USHL split between the Bloomington Thunder and the Fargo Force before heading off to college at UMass-Amherst, where he spent three seasons, averaging a point-per-game in the final two.
Despite not having made his NHL debut yet, Swaney has had a very similar career to Chaffee thus far. Swaney, 24, spent four years in the USHL as a member of the Waterloo Blackhawks, leading him to become a seventh-round draft pick of the Wild in 2017. After being drafted, the Minnesota native stayed close to home, playing at the University of Minnesota Duluth for four seasons, serving as an alternate captain in 2020-21. At the conclusion of that season, Swaney turned pro, getting into six games with Iowa, recording a goal and an assist. 2021-22 would mark Swaney’s first professional season, and he didn’t disappoint, putting up 16 goals and 22 assists in 62 games for Iowa. With a two-way contract in-hand, Swaney, and Chaffee for that matter, will be key pieces of Iowa’s AHL lineup, but if they impress will also be important depth for the NHL club too.
Ottawa Senators Sign Tomas Hamara To Entry-Level Contract
Just the second pick outside of the first round from the 2022 NHL Draft has now signed the entry-level contract. Per CapFriendly, the Ottawa Senators did so today with Czech defenseman Tomas Hamara, who they selected in the third round (87th overall). His entry-level deal carries a cap hit of $852K with the following breakdown:
2022-23: $750K NHL salary, $85K signing bonus, $15K performance bonus, $80K minors salary
2023-24: $775K NHL salary, $85K signing bonus, $80K minors salary
2024-25: $775K NHL salary, $85K signing bonus, $80K minors salary
Most public scouts would agree Hamara was a bit of a steal in that range, with most pegging him to go in the mid-to-late second round. Hamara played in a lot of different leagues and tournaments this past year, but he spent most of his time with Tappara in the Finnish Liiga, split between their main team and their junior team. He had a strong performance in juniors with 25 points in 32 games, and played in 24 games in the Liiga as well. He also saw some time in the Champions League tournament with Tappara, playing in four games.
In all likelihood, Ottawa will loan Hamara back to Tappara for the next two seasons, as he’s under contract there until 2024. He’s also a more raw prospect, and he likely needs some more conditioning before he’s even ready for AHL ice. Yet, he projects as a well-rounded two-way defenseman who should add nicely to Ottawa’s defensive depth on the left side with players like Thomas Chabot and Jake Sanderson.
Arizona Coyotes Sign Lukas Klok
You’ve heard of Ronald Knot, get ready for Lukas Klok. The Arizona Coyotes have picked up their second 27-year-old Czech defenseman of the offseason, bringing in Klok from Nizhnekamsk in the KHL on a one-year, two-way entry-level deal, per CapFriendly. It has a cap hit of $845K, which includes an NHL salary of $750K, $105K in performance bonuses, $95K in signing bonuses, and a minors salary of $82.5K.
Klok is actually a solid under-the-radar candidate to make the Coyotes this fall. He had a strong season in the KHL, notching 31 points in 44 games. He also had three points in four games for Czechia at the 2022 Winter Olympics. Both Klok and Knot, a previous Arizona signing this offseason, played for the same team in Russia and were both on the Czech Olympic squad.
Klok was never drafted, but he does have 29 games of experience in North America. He played 29 games with the USHL’s Youngstown Phantoms back in 2013-14, registering three points.