Headlines

Go To MLB Trade Rumors
Go To Hoops Rumors

Archives for July 2018

Dillon Heatherington Re-Signs With Dallas Stars

at CDT | by 1 Comment

After helping the Texas Stars to the Calder Cup Finals and making his NHL debut, Dillon Heatherington has re-signed with the Dallas Stars. The 23-year old defenseman wan’t eligible to file for arbitration and has instead signed a one-year two-way contract. He will be a restricted free agent once again next summer.

Heatherington made his NHL debut this season, suiting up for six games with Dallas and recording his first point. He also made quite the impact on the fan base by getting into two fights in his first three games, including coming to the defense of Antoine Roussel in late January. Heatherington isn’t known for his fighting ability having only four majors in his AHL career, but showed he was quite willing to do anything it took to make an impact for the Stars. That willingness to engage physically could lead to more NHL opportunities down the road for the 23-year old, but it’s not clear if he’ll get that chance right away.

The Stars did lose Greg Pateryn this summer and Dan Hamhuis remains an unrestricted free agent, but also brought in Roman Polak and could be ready to give some even younger players a full-time role. Julius Honka and Miro Heiskanen don’t bring the same kind of presence the 6’4″ Heatherington can provide, but are excellent puck movers and could be elite possession players in the NHL. If Heiskanen doesn’t make the club or goes through some struggles to adjust to the North American game, Heatherington will be waiting to step into the lineup. Unfortunately for Dallas the 23-year old is now waiver eligible, meaning he’ll have to clear in order to be sent down at the beginning of the season. There’s a real chance he could be claimed at that point given his solid performance and relatively high draft pedigree—50th-overall in 2013—so the team could choose to keep him around as a depth option even if they don’t have a full-time role for him.

New York Rangers Sign Five Players

at CDT | by 3 Comments

The New York Rangers have officially announced that Chris Bigras, Steven Fogarty, Boo Nieves and Rob O’Gara accepted their qualifying offers and have re-signed with the team for next season. John Gilmour, who was eligible for arbitration but decided not to file, has also agreed to a one-year two-way deal. Brett Cyrgalis of the New York Post gives us each player’s NHL salary next season:

  • Bigras: $832,500
  • Fogarty: $708,750
  • O’Gara: $874,125
  • Nieves: $709,750
  • Gilmour: $650,000

Perhaps the player with the greatest chance at making an NHL impact among this group is Gilmour, who performed admirably in a 28-game sample last season. The Providence College standout signed with the Rangers in 2016 after failing to come to a contract with the Calgary Flames who had drafted him in the sixth round, and promptly found success at the AHL level. In 120 minor league games the last two seasons Gilmour registered 51 points despite the Hartford Wolf Pack really struggling to contend. In his brief NHL taste with the Rangers he recorded five points but registered positive possession statistics and showed off his strong skating ability.

That skating and relative youth—Gilmour turned 25 in May—are exactly what the Rangers are trying to bring to their defense corps as they navigate a rebuild, giving Gilmour an inside chance to play in the NHL this season. He is still waiver-exempt, but could potentially be a full-time player if he performs well enough in camp to impress new coach David Quinn who should be very familiar with Gilmour from his time in Hockey East with Boston University.

Adam Henrique Signs Five-Year Extension

at CDT | by 3 Comments

The Anaheim Ducks acquired Adam Henrique last season to give them some more versatility and scoring punch up front, and now it looks like he’ll be around for the long haul. Henrique has signed a five-year extension with the Ducks, that will keep him in Anaheim through the 2023-24 season. The new deal carries an average annual value of $5.825MM, but Henrique has one year remaining on his current contract which will pay him $5.5MM ($4MM cap hit) this season. With the extension, the New Jersey Devils will now receive Anaheim’s third-round pick in 2019.

Henrique, 28, fit in incredibly well with the Ducks in the second half of the season, scoring 20 goals and 36 points in just 57 games. Add that to the 14 points he had for the Devils and Henrique posted the third 50-point campaign of his career while giving Anaheim a versatile player that can be moved all over the ice. Amazingly those 20 goals trailed only Rickard Rakell for the team lead (Ondrej Kase also scored 20 on the season) despite his relatively few games played, leading some to wonder what he can do in a full season with the team. Henrique has scored 30 goals in his career once, and will now be relied upon for that kind of production going forward. Earning nearly $6MM per season puts him behind only Ryan Getzlaf, Corey Perry and Ryan Kesler among the team’s forwards, and the deal falls in between contracts for players like Kyle Turris ($6MM for six years) and James Neal ($5.75MM for five years).

Where Henrique will be used most often for the Ducks is unclear at this point. Though he does have experience on the wing in his career and was used there at times for the Ducks, the majority of Henrique’s time in the NHL has been spent at center. With the future for Kesler still up in the air given his recent injury troubles, there will likely be a hole in the middle for Anaheim this season that Henrique will be asked to fill. Rakell, also once considered a center, has found so much success on the wing the past few years that he likely won’t be asked to move back, leaving second line duties to the former Devils forward.

Henrique was also given time on both the powerplay and penalty kill last season, which is likely to continue given his role and new contract. He’ll be asked to be a key member on a squad that is continually trying to contend for the Stanley Cup, and could even be tasked with going head-to-head with the opponent’s best forward line depending on whether or not Kesler is healthy enough to continue his career. With Antoine Vermette also out of the picture there are big defensive responsibilities up for grabs in Anaheim, something that Henrique has shown himself capable of in the past. Unfortunately he doesn’t come with the same faceoff skill, but few come close to matching Vermette in that category.

It is somewhat curious that the Ducks would agree to such an expensive contract extension so quickly, given that they have huge question marks about their financial structure going forward. Brandon Montour, Nick Ritchie and Kase all remain unsigned for next season as restricted free agents, while John Gibson and Jakob Silfverberg will need expensive extensions before the start of 2019-20. Anaheim is already relatively tight to the salary cap this summer with just $9.5MM to spread out among their three RFAs, and could find themselves in a bind next year now that Henrique is taking up a big chunk. The outlook isn’t dire, but a $5.825MM cap hit for Henrique doesn’t give a lot of room for excess value and in fact brings some serious risk given he’ll turn 30 during the contract’s first season.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images

Devon Toews, Kyle Burroughs Agree To Terms With New York Islanders

at CDT | by Leave a Comment

The New York Islanders have locked up a pair of restricted free agents, agreeing to terms with Kyle Burroughs and Devon Toews to two-year contracts. Burroughs’ contract will be two-way, paying him a lower salary at the AHL level. No other financial details have been released.

Neither Toews nor Burroughs has made their debut at the NHL level yet, but are key parts of a Bridgeport Sound Tigers team that is looking to take another step forward this season. Toews especially could give the team a big boost after playing in only 30 games due to a shoulder injury. He had 22 points in those 30 contests though, showing off his offensive upside once again. In his first professional season in 2016-17, Toews recorded 45 points and was a dominant powerplay option for the Sound Tigers who at that point also had Ryan Pulock recording nearly nightly points. While Pulock has now moved on to the NHL, Toews will remain a strong option for Bridgeport this season.

Burroughs doesn’t have the same sort of offensive upside, but has developed into a solid minor league player over the last few seasons. Originally selected in the seventh round five years ago, he spent some time in the ECHL before cementing his spot with the Sound Tigers and providing a solid physical option for the club. With 25 points last season he showed that he can effectively move the puck as well, and should log big minutes this season in the AHL.

Neither signing represents much for the NHL team outside of potential injury call-ups, but does keep a solid core in place for Bridgeport. New GM Lou Lamoriello is determined to create a winning organization in New York, and part of that starts with a successful minor league development program. Though Toews and Burroughs aren’t likely to make a huge NHL impact given their ages (24 and 23 respectively) and lack of experience, they fill out an organizational depth chart that has been made deeper this offseason despite losing some of their very best players in John Tavares and Calvin de Haan.

Elias Lindholm Signs Six-Year Contract With Calgary Flames

at CDT | by 2 Comments

The Calgary Flames wanted to get Elias Lindholm under a long-term contract as soon as they acquired him from the Carolina Hurricanes, and today they’ve accomplished their goal. The team has signed Lindholm to a six-year deal worth $29.1MM ($4.85MM AAV). The deal will not include any trade or movement protection. Lindholm was scheduled for an arbitration hearing on August 1st, but will obviously no longer need to negotiate for a settlement.

Immediately after the Flames acquired Lindholm, speculation exploded about a potential fit for him next to star forwards Johnny Gaudreau and Sean Monahan. Micheal Ferland, who was part of the package sent to Carolina in exchange for Lindholm and defenseman Noah Hanifin, had found success playing on the team’s first line but doesn’t possess the same level of skill as the former Hurricanes forward. This long-term deal only strengthens the idea that Lindholm will be inserted as a key part of the offensive group, and relied upon as a big contributor for the next several seasons. He immediately becomes the team’s fifth highest-paid forward, only behind Gaudreau, Monahan, Mikael Backlund and the recently signed James Neal.

Only 23, the Flames are expecting big things from Lindholm. Selected fifth overall in 2013, he jumped almost immediately to the NHL and has already played 374 games in his young career. With four consecutive seasons of at least 39 points, it’s not hard to expect him to fit in nicely alongside the forwards already in Calgary and develop into the kind of dominant two-way player many believe he can be. Lindholm has plenty of experience at center and could also be used in that role at times given his handedness—Monahan and Backlund are both left-handed centers, while Lindholm and newly signed Derek Ryan give the team a pair of right-handed options in the circle.

Though he does seem to be a perfect fit for the Calgary offense, it’s not like they’re signing a risk-free deal. After playing five seasons already, Lindholm was on track to hit free agency as a 25-year old, meaning that four of the years covered by the new deal are based on what he could earn as a unrestricted free agent. Unfortunately that has pushed the average annual value up to a point where should Lindholm struggle to improve on his career numbers he actually could be fairly overpaid. 40-point centers are extremely valuable in the NHL, but wingers with the same level of production are much less so. If Lindholm is moved out of the middle and can’t improve, the Flames may find themselves with a relatively overpriced asset.

That’s obviously a risk they’re willing to take though, and one that seems prudent given their competitive window. The Flames want to compete for the Stanley Cup right now and for the next several years, using the prime years of Gaudreau and Monahan to their full effectiveness. Both players are signed to team-friendly contracts at the moment, but will be looking for huge raises in a few seasons. The team also has an aging group on defense with Mark Giordano (34) the only one under contract for more than two seasons. Hanifin represents a big part the future on the Calgary blue line, but there’s no guarantee the other young prospects can handle the same load as players like Giordano Travis Hamonic and Troy Bodie do right now. The Flames are going for it, and need to bounce back from an extremely disappointing 2017-18.

For Lindholm, this is an excellent contract and one that will allow him to still hit the open market before his 30th birthday if he so chooses. He’ll be reunited with head coach Bill Peters who has also moved from Carolina to Calgary, and could get a chance with some of the most talented players he’s ever played with. It’s been an exciting summer for him already, but now he’ll have to prove he’s worth nearly $5MM per season going forward.

Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet broke the news on Twitter, including both length and AAV.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images

Ryan Hartman Re-Signs With Nashville Predators

at CDT | by Leave a Comment

The Nashville Predators will have Ryan Hartman back next season for a relative discount, after the team announced a new one-year contract worth $875K for the restricted free agent. Hartman is coming off his entry-level contract but won’t get much of a raise despite consecutive seasons with 31 points.

Hartman, 23, was acquired from the Chicago Blackhawks at the deadline for a package that included a first-round pick and talented prospect Victor Ejdsell. Nashville clearly believed that Hartman could be a key piece up front going forward for them, given his blend of physicality and skill. He scored 19 goals for the Blackhawks during the 2016-17 season and though that number dropped to just 11 last season his presence was still felt in the Predators lineup. In nine playoff games he recorded three points including a game-winning goal against the Colorado Avalanche.

Going forward, Hartman should be able to negotiate a bigger contract. Though he’ll be part of an extremely deep forward group in Nashville, there’s good reason to believe he can break that 31-point mark this season and represent one of the best bargains in the league. Making less than $1MM is usually reserved for fringe NHL players or veterans holding on to the end of their careers, not full-time roster players with enough upside to garner big trade packages at the deadline. The Predators are actually heading into the season with plenty of cap space given the relatively inexpensive restricted free agents that remain unsigned. The team could still make a big move this summer to bring in some more salary, but will have to be careful not to limit their ability to retain Ryan Ellis going forward. The defenseman is scheduled for unrestricted free agency in 2019 and could receive a huge extension at any time.

This is the epitome of a “prove it” contract for Hartman, who only scored six points down the stretch for the Predators following the trade. Though he is effective in more ways than just offense, it will look like a big miss on the part of GM David Poile if he can’t generate the kind of offense he did in Chicago. If a career-high mark is coming this season he’ll certainly set himself up to negotiate a long-term contract next summer, especially given that he will be arbitration eligible for the first time. Hartman is putting most of the risk on his shoulders though, as any struggles could limit his earning potential going forward. For both sides, offensive production and on-ice success is the goal of any contract, but especially so in such an inexpensive short-term deal.

Ottawa Senators Re-Sign Nick Paul

at CDT | by Leave a Comment

The Ottawa Senators have signed one of their restricted free agents, inking Nick Paul to a one-year two-way contract worth $650K at the NHL level. Paul was not eligible to file for salary arbitration, and will be an RFA at the conclusion of the deal.

Paul, 23, only played 11 games for Ottawa last season, instead spending most of the year with the Belleville Senators of the AHL. The 6’4″ forward is an excellent offensive contributor at the minor league level, but can’t seem to carve out a full-time role in the NHL. There may be more opportunity this season with players like Mike Hoffman and Alexandre Burrows not around, but Paul will have to show that he can contribute in various ways to really make an impact.

Originally selected in the fourth round by the Dallas Stars, Paul has just 36 NHL games under his career to this point. It wouldn’t be surprising to see him add to that total this year, but he doesn’t look like a key part of the turnaround in Ottawa. The Senators are expected to struggle on the ice even if they keep captain Erik Karlsson around, and are looking to add more young talent into the pipeline. Even with his relative youth, Paul doesn’t possess the type of high-end skill that is needed for Ottawa to really get back to contending.

Maple Leafs Sign Rasmus Sandin To An Entry-Level Contract

at CDT | by 6 Comments

Monday: The team has officially announced the contract.

Sunday: The Maple Leafs have signed their top pick from last month’s draft as CapFriendly reports (Twitter link) that the team has signed defenseman Rasmus Sandin to a three-year, entry-level contract.  The contract carries an AAV of $925K in the NHL and does not contain any performance bonuses.  The deal will pay him $70K at the AHL level, the maximum for an entry-level pact.

Sandin started last season with Rogle of the SHL but after just five games in Sweden, he was loaned to Sault Ste. Marie of the OHL.  He made a big impact with the eventual league champions, collecting 12 goals and 33 assists in just 51 regular season games and followed that up with 13 points (1-12-13) in 24 postseason contests.  That performance helped him get selected 29th overall by Toronto last month.

Where the 18-year-old plays next season remains to be seen.  Technically, his loan from Rogle was just for last season so he could go back there but the Greyhounds still have his junior rights as well.  Because he was on loan from an international team last season, he also becomes AHL-eligible.  Toronto getting Sandin signed will allow them to choose where he suits up in 2018-19.

Unless Sandin plays in ten or more NHL games next season, this contract will slide back a year and still have three years remaining on it starting in 2019-20.  (This also can happen a second time if Sandin doesn’t play in ten or more NHL contests the following year.)

Artemi Panarin Meets With Columbus Blue Jackets, Still No Extension Progress

at CDT | by Leave a Comment

One of the most interesting emerging storylines of this offseason has been the future of Columbus Blue Jackets forward Artemi Panarin. The 26-year old forward told the team he was not interested in signing a long-term extension right away, instead needing some time to decide where he wants play and live for the next several years. Today, Panarin met with Blue Jackets GM Jarmo Kekalainen in Nice, France to discuss the situation, but didn’t come out with a resolution. Aaron Portzline of The Athletic spoke with Panarin’s agent Dan Milstein after the meeting, who told him there was still “no contract progress at this time.” Igor Eronko of Sport-Express was also told that Panarin is still not willing to sign a long-term deal right now, despite the 45-minute meeting.

Panarin’s contract talks are such a big story in the NHL because there are some who believe the Blue Jackets would consider trading their superstar if they can’t get the security of an extension over the next few months. If it becomes clear that he is going to head to unrestricted free agency in the summer of 2019, there is likely an urgency to receive something of value for him before long. The recent departure of John Tavares from New York likely only strengthens the idea of trading Panarin, as the Islanders weren’t able to cash in on their expiring asset, believing that he would eventually re-sign. A Panarin trade would demand a huge return for the Blue Jackets after another outstanding season in which he recorded 82 points in 81 games and found some nice chemistry with Pierre-Luc Dubois.

To be clear, there is no guarantee that Panarin won’t eventually sign with the Blue Jackets. Milstein has made it clear in the past that his client loves the Columbus organization and has been treated extremely well during his time there, but just isn’t currently willing to commit to living there for the next huge chunk of his career. That’s his right as a pending unrestricted free agent, and should he hit the market he’ll have no shortage of suitors willing to spend big on him. Panarin is a legitimate offensive superstar, able to create scoring almost at will and proved this season that he can drive a line himself. Just as Tavares was a huge boost for the Toronto Maple Leafs this summer, Panarin could vault almost any playoff team into serious contender status. The fact is that he does that too for the Blue Jackets, making it an incredibly tough decision for Kekalainen as his team attempts to contend for the Stanley Cup this season.

Five Key Stories: 7/9/18 – 7/15/18

at CDT | by Leave a Comment

Mid-July typically isn’t the busiest on the NHL calendar but there was quite a bit of notable news over the past seven days.  Unfortunately, not all of it was good with former NHL netminder Ray Emery passing away at the age of 35 on Sunday.  Here are five other big stories from the past week.

Kucherov Signs Long-Term: For the second time this month, the Lightning wasted little time signing a key player to a long-term extension.  This time it was their top scorer in Nikita Kucherov getting locked up as he inked an eight-year, $76MM contract, making him the eighth highest-paid forward in the league for 2019-20 when the deal kicks in.  The contract also contains a no-move clause beginning in 2020-21, the first season that he is eligible for one.  Tampa Bay now has nearly $66MM tied up in just a dozen players for 2019-20 so they will likely have to do some salary cap manoeuvering between now and then.

Hossa Traded: While his playing days are finished, winger Marian Hossa has seen his NHL rights get traded from Chicago to Arizona in a seven-player deal.  As compensation for taking on the contract, the Coyotes most notably picked up young forward Vincent Hinostroza while veteran center Marcus Kruger was the highlight of the return going to the Blackhawks.  Chicago now has freed up some salary cap flexibility as Hossa carries a $5.25MM cap charge for three more years on his heavily frontloaded deal so many believe they have another move on the way.  Meanwhile, the Coyotes add an intriguing player in Hinostroza and will only be responsible for paying $200K of Hossa’s $1MM in salary in each season with insurance picking up the remaining 80%.

Hellebuyck Signs Six-Year Deal: Winnipeg is going to be a busy team in the next few weeks as they still have several players to re-sign.  That list is now one player shorter after they put pen to paper on a six-year, $37MM contract with goaltender Connor Hellebuyck.  The 25-year-old is coming off the best season of his brief NHL career; he led the league in both games played (67) and wins (44) last season while helping lead the Jets to the Western Conference Final.  Hellebuyck will have a new backup playing behind him next year with the departures of Steve Mason (trade to Montreal and subsequent buyout) and Michael Hutchinson (signed with Florida).  Laurent Brossoit, who cleared waivers midseason, will now back him up and given his limited NHL track record, there’s a decent chance that Hellebuyck will be among the league leaders in playing time once again.

Canadiens Won’t Pursue A Pacioretty Extension: Montreal winger Max Pacioretty has been part of trade speculation for a while now and that picked up even more following a report that said that the captain has been told that the team will not be signing him to a new deal and that they intend to trade him as soon as possible.  The 29-year-old has one year left on his contract with a $4.5MM cap hit and is believed to be looking for a significant raise on his next deal after being one of the more consistent goal scorers in the league heading into last season.  However, he’s coming off of a fairly quiet 2017-18 campaign that saw him score just 17 times in 64 games which certainly doesn’t help his leverage for a new deal and Montreal’s leverage in trade discussions.

Vegas Locks Up Fleury: Last month, Golden Knights goalie Marc-Andre Fleury made it known that his preference was to stay with Vegas for the rest of his career.  That goal has come one step closer to becoming a reality as he signed a three-year, $21MM extension that is set to commence in 2019-20.  Fleury had a very strong first season in the desert as he posted new career marks in goals-against-average (2.24) and save percentage (.927), numbers that he duplicated in the Golden Knights’ improbable run to the Stanley Cup Final.  If Vegas gets even close to that type of play from Fleury over the life of this new deal, they’ll be in good shape between the pipes for a while.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Pro Hockey Rumors is not affiliated with National Hockey League, NHL or NHL.com

scroll to top