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Archives for July 2018

Tim Schaller Signs With Vancouver Canucks

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The Vancouver Canucks have added some bottom-six players in Antoine Roussel and Jay Beagle already, and now will continue that trend with a deal for Tim Schaller. The former Boston Bruins forward has inked a two-year, $3.8MM contract with the Canucks. GM Jim Benning released a statement regarding his newest forward:

Tim adds size to our forward group and can play throughout our line-up. He’s responsible defensively and last year showed he can make regular offensive contributions as well. We’re excited to welcome him to the Vancouver Canucks.

Schaller provides the Canucks with both size (he’s 6-foot-2, 210 pounds) and penalty killing skills as he led all Bruins in short-handed time on the ice. While he’s versatile, he primarily played left wing for the Bruins on their fourth line, but has the versatility to move to center if needed. Schaller signed a two-year deal with the Boston Bruins last season and thrived there, most especially this season when he played in all 82 games this season, totaling a career-high 12 goals and 22 points.

Columbus Signs Defenseman Adam Clendening

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The Blue Jackets continue to add to their defensive depth, now adding journeyman blue liner Adam Clendening to their ranks. The Athletic’s Aaron Portzline reports that it is a one-year, two-way deal for Clendening and adds that he will be paid $700K at the NHL level and $300K at the AHL level, with a $400K final salary guaranteed. Clendening is expected to compete for a job in Columbus with fellow new addition Tommy Cross and returning prospects Dean Kukan and Gabriel Carlsson.

Clendening, 25, is on his seventh NHL organization already and has never been able to secure a full-time role. Selected 36th overall in 2011, the former Boston University standout has just 86 NHL games under his belt and was allowed to walk into free agency when he went unqualified by the Chicago Blackhawks. Even if he doesn’t make an impact at the highest level for the Blue Jackets, Clendening is an excellent minor league defender that can put up big point totals and log huge minutes.

The Cleveland Monsters, Columbus’ AHL affiliate, have fallen on tough times recently and need help turning things around. After winning the Calder Cup in 2016, the team finished second-last in the entire league with just 25 wins. That included ranking in the bottom three in both goals for and goals against, something that Clendening will try to change next year.

Washington Capitals Sign Michael Sgarbossa, Jayson Megna

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The Washington Capitals have added some depth to the Hershey Bears, signing minor league veterans Michael Sgarbossa and Jayson Megna to one-year, two-way contracts.

Sgarbossa gives Washington a center to likely replace Travis Boyd who was one of Hershey’s top centers there a season ago. Sgarbossa spent last year with the Winnipeg’s Jets AHL affiliate and put up solid numbers, including 16 goals and 40 points. The 25-year-old was not promoted. Regardless, however, Sgarbossa has 48 games of NHL experience and also provides the Capitals depth options in case of injuries. Sgarbossa did get 29 NHL games in the 2016-17 season with the Florida Panthers, posting two goals and seven points.

The 28-year-old Megna also provides much needed center depth and has even more experience than Sgarbossa. Megna has played in 113 NHL games, but spent much of the season with the Utica Comets, the Vancouver Canucks AHL affiliate. In 25 games there, he scored four goals and 13 points and played in one game for Vancouver.

Buffalo Signs Brandon Hickey To Entry-Level Contract

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After acquiring defenseman Brandon Hickey from the Arizona Coyotes last month, the Sabres had until August to sign the Boston University product before he became an unrestricted free agent. Per The Athletic’s John Vogl, Buffalo has gotten a deal done, signing Hickey to a two-year entry-level contract.

The 22-year-old blueliner could have been an unrestricted free agent if he waited until Aug. 1. With the belief that they couldn’t sign him, Arizona sent him along with Mike Sislo to Buffalo for winger Hudson Fasching. Buffalo felt they could ink the four-year college veteran and now they have.

Hickey put up solid numbers at BU as he tallied six goals and 14 points this past season. At 6-foot-2, he provides Buffalo with some size and while he’s a better defensive player, is considered to have the skills to develop into a solid two-way player. He has already played with several Sabres’ players while at Boston University, including Jack Eichel, Evan Rodrigues and Daniel O’Regan.

Hickey likely will start the season with the AHL Rochester Americans and along with some of their other defensive prospects like Lawrence Pilut, Taylor Fedun, Zach Redmond and Matt Tennyson, the team should have quite a few talented pieces in their system.

Golden Knights Sign Forward Curtis McKenzie

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The Vegas Golden Knights add another name to the mix up front, signing former Dallas Stars forward Curtis McKenzie. Sportsnet’s Rich Dhaliwal reports that it is a two-year, $1.5MM contract for the high-scoring AHLer. At just $750K AAV, McKenzie should compete for a regular job next season as an affordable depth option.

The 27-year-old already has some NHL experience as he has played in 99 games so far in his career, including 53-game season for the Stars during the 2016-17 season in which he tallied six goals and 16 points. However, he was not able to crack Ken Hitchcock’s rotation last year, spending the majority of his season with the Texas Stars where he posted 25 goals and 48 points, including being a major factor in the Texas Stars’ playoff run that got them to the Calder Cup Finals. He tallied 11 goals and 20 points in 22 playoff games.

The AHL veteran will have a tough time winning a spot on the Golden Knights bottom-six, but will be a great depth option as well as beef up their minor-league system as the one-year expansion team still has much work to add to their prospect pool.

Pittsburgh Penguins Sign Jack Johnson

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July 1: The Penguins have confirmed the signing, announcing a five-year contract worth $16.25MM.

June 27: Multiple reports including Jason Mackey of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette have surfaced indicating that the Pittsburgh Penguins intend to sign Jack Johnson to a five-year contract on July 1st. The deal will be in the area of $16MM total, and would make sense given the recent reports of discussions between the two sides. Though they’re technically not allowed to exchange contract figures until Sunday, team often have deals worked out ahead of time—as seen by the flurry of announcements just after the free agent period opens.

This doesn’t guarantee that Johnson becomes a Penguin on July 1st, but it certainly gives him an offer that would be hard to top. The 31-year old defenseman has been open about his need for some financial stability given his public bankruptcy case, and a five-year deal would give him that. It would also provide the Penguins with another experienced skater that has been known to log huge minutes and contribute on the penalty kill.

Johnson has clearly started to decline on the ice, no longer the two-way powerplay quarterback he was in his youth. That offensive upside was squashed as he transitioned into a more shutdown role in Columbus, one that he relished for a time alongside David Savard. If he end up in Pittsburgh he could be given a very similar role, and allow some of the more offensively-minded defensemen to flourish a bit in some easier matchups. The question now is if he can handle that role, or if he would be at his best as a more rarely-used third pairing option and penalty killer. Johnson hasn’t put up good possession statistics in several years, and was eventually scratched by the Blue Jackets down the stretch and through their playoff series.

For $3MM, or something around it, the Penguins would need a strong contribution. Just today they disposed of Matt Hunwick’s $2.25MM cap hit because he didn’t fit into the system, and a five-year commitment to Johnson brings even more risk. Granted, Hunwick was not a third-overall pick that has logged 788 relatively successful games in the NHL, but it’s easy to see how the situation could devolve into something similar a few years down the road.

Luckily for Pittsburgh, GM Jim Rutherford has proven time and again how he can wiggle his way out of contract and cap problems. With today’s trade of Hunwick and Conor Sheary being the latest example, Rutherford has positioned his team as real Cup contenders every year since taking the job in 2014. A commitment to Johnson may be risky, but it also could pay off if he can find a higher gear like so many other defensemen have in Pittsburgh over the last few years.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images

Matt Cullen Returning To Pittsburgh Penguins On One-Year Deal

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The Pittsburgh Penguins tried hard to bring Matt Cullen back in 2017-18 after consecutive Stanley Cups, but lost out on him to the Minnesota Wild. That won’t be the case this season, as Cullen is heading back to the Penguins on a one-year contract worth a league minimum $650K.

Cullen, who spent two years with the Pittsburgh Penguins and coincidentally coincide with their two Stanley Cup Championships, left the Penguins after the 2016-17 season and opted to sign with the Minnesota Wild, his hometown team. While he fared reasonably well in a fourth-line role with the Wild, the 41-year-old center was still deciding if he was willing to go through the rigors of another season.

He ended up putting up 11 goals and 11 assists for Minnesota, which is less production than his two years in Pittsburgh. However, the main reason Pittsburgh is bringing Cullen back is for his leadership as well as providing extra center depth for the team.

Boston Bruins Sign John Moore To Five-Year Contract

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The Boston Bruins have found their defenseman, signing John Moore to a five-year, $13.75MM contract according to Frank Seravalli of TSN. Moore is coming off a three-year $5MM contract and was an unrestricted free agent for the first time.

Boston had been after a defenseman for some time, trying to give themselves some depth and balance on the blue line. While this does help the depth of their group, it’s not clear what role Moore will carve out for himself. As a left-handed defenseman, he slots in behind Zdeno Chara and Torey Krug and would be battling with the recently re-signed Matt Grzelcyk for playing time. That is of course unless someone moves over, but the early speculation immediately went to Krug’s future with the club. Moore can carry the puck has a good shot and could be a useful piece for the Bruins powerplay, a role that Krug currently occupies.

The 27-year old Moore has certainly not has as much success offensively as Krug, but recently topped 20 minutes a night with the New Jersey Devils and will offer the Bruins some long-term stability on the left side. His five-year deal is much longer than we at PHR expected when ranking him 21st on our Top 50 UFA List, but the $2.75MM AAV is close to our $2.83MM estimate. It’s a reasonable cap hit for a player of his quality, and doesn’t pose a lot of risk at such a relatively low cap hit. Even if Moore fails to live up to expectations, it can’t cripple the Bruins’ salary structure. Moore becomes the only Boston defenseman signed past the 2019-20 season, giving them plenty of options on how to build the blue line going forward.

Anaheim Ducks Sign Swedish Forward Anton Rodin

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The Ducks are importing some scoring help for the coming season. Sportsnet reports that Anaheim has signed Anton Rodin, a former Swedish Hockey League MVP and brief member of the Vancouver Canucks. Rodin finished the 2017-18 season with HC Davos of the Swiss NLA, but will now return to North America to join the Ducks. Contract terms are not yet available.

Rodin, a second-round pick back in 2009, has had trouble making his mark in the NHL. He came over to the U.S. for the 2011-12 season, but found himself playing in the AHL for next two seasons without a callup, prompting the Swede to return to the SHL, the next season, which is where he stayed for another three years. He returned to Vancouver and got into three NHL games, but spent most of his time with the Utica Comets before asking for his release in November of this season.

Buffalo Sabres Re-Sign Scott Wilson

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Scott Wilson played for three different teams last year, but was far and away the most successful in Buffalo. The Sabres hope that can continue, as they have signed the forward to a contract extension. Beat writer Bill Hoppe reports that it is a two-year deal worth $1.05MM annually.

Wilson fills a depth role in the bottom-six of Buffalo’s offense. Wilson was acquired from the Detroit Red Wings in a December trade, which allowed Wilson to garner more playing time. In 17 games with Detroit, Wilson failed to score a point, but with Buffalo, he showed more life, scoring six goals and 14 points in 49 games with the Sabres. However, his versatility to be able to play anywhere has made him a key asset to have.

There was some question if he would be re-signed as the Sabres did not make him a qualifying offer, but the two sides were able to come to an agreement.

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