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Archives for June 2019

Maple Leafs Re-Sign Martin Marincin, Hire Dave Hakstol As Assistant Coach

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The Maple Leafs have kept one of their depth defenders around, announcing that they’ve re-signed Martin Marincin to a one-year, $700K contract.  The team also confirmed the previously-reported one-year, $700K deal for goaltender Michael Hutchinson.

Marincin was once regarded as a quality prospect in Edmonton but has since settled in as a depth player over his four seasons with Toronto.  In 2018-19, he spent most of the year as a reserve defender but still got into 24 games with the Maple Leafs, averaging over 15 minutes a night in those contests.  He also saw action in eight contests with the AHL Marlies which made it the second straight year he had cleared waivers and saw time at both levels.

Toronto’s salary cap crunch is well-known so the fact that Marincin took a small pay cut to drop to the league minimum salary is somewhat noteworthy.  That will certainly help his chances of remaining with the big club for next season, likely in the same role he had in 2018-19.  With 201 career NHL games under his belt, the Maple Leafs know what they have in Marincin and while his upside is more limited now than it once was believed to be, he can still be a small factor for them for another season.

In addition to those announcements, the team also revealed that they have hired former Philadelphia head coach Dave Hakstol as their new assistant coach to round out Mike Babcock’s coaching staff.  Hakstol spent part of four seasons behind the Flyers bench before being let go in December.  Toronto’s staff has undergone some changes this summer with the departures of D.J. Smith (to the Senators as head coach) and Jim Hiller (to the Islanders as an assistant) while also bringing in former Florida assistant Paul McFarland.

Offseason Keys: Boston Bruins

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With the postseason and draft now finished, the activity is really about to pick up with free agency now just days away.  What storylines lie ahead around the league in what is shaping up to be a busy NHL offseason?  Next up in our Offseason Keys series is a look at the Boston Bruins.

After being ousted in the second round in 2018, Bruins GM Don Sweeney opted to make only a handful of tweaks to his roster with the belief that it was good enough to contend.  His confidence in his squad proved to be well-founded as Boston (bolstered by a pair of late-season additions up front) wound up as Eastern Conference champions before coming up just short in the Stanley Cup Final.  Accordingly, most of their to-do list this summer revolves around taking care of his own team rather than making changes.

Re-Sign Core RFA Defensemen

Although Charlie McAvoy just wrapped up his second full season in the NHL, he has already hit restricted free agency since Boston opted to burn the first year of his entry-level deal in the 2017 postseason.  He has emerged as their top defenseman already but because of his more limited track record (injuries in both seasons have limited him to just 117 regular season games or less than a year and a half of actual action), his contract talks will be a little trickier.  There’s no doubt that the Bruins would love to get him locked up long-term but he may be one of the candidates among this class of prominent RFAs to wind up with a bridge deal to allow time to better assess what his overall offensive upside may be.

As for Brandon Carlo, he has quickly established himself as a capable shutdown defender and is a fixture in their top-four moving forward.  His contract shouldn’t be as challenging as McAvoy’s as he isn’t much of an offensive threat which will limit his overall earning potential.  Players like this don’t tend to get long-term deals but this is one case that could be an exception.

As contracts for these two players will ultimately eat up a big chunk of their remaining salary cap space, Sweeney would certainly love to get these deals done over the next couple of days to know exactly what they have to work with on Monday when free agency opens up.

Krug Extension Talks

Torey Krug has gone from being an undrafted college free agent signing to one of the more consistent offensive threats from the back end in the league.  He’s about to enter the final year of his deal which means he will be eligible for a contract extension on July 1st.

With three straight seasons of over 50 points under his belt, the 28-year-old has certainly positioned himself for a significant raise on the $5.25MM he has on his current deal.  To get an idea of what it will likely cost to get him to sign early, watch for whatever Jake Gardiner gets on the open market and add from there.  Sweeney will have to decide whether or not that is too much for someone that gets a significant portion of his production from the power play.

If it’s deemed to be too expensive of an asking price, it wouldn’t be surprising to see Krug’s name pop up in trade speculation once again as this is the point of the offseason where teams still have some room in the budget to work with where they could come up with a viable trade.  Having said that, the much more likely scenario is that the two sides eventually agree on a new contract; between that and new deals for their two RFAs, the core of their back end will be locked up for a while to come.

Add Secondary Scoring

When discussing the Bruins, adding scoring depth is pretty much becoming an annual thing.  It’s something that Sweeney has tried to address throughout his tenure with varying degrees of success.  David Backes hasn’t worked out while concussions stopped Rick Nash from making much of an impact.  Drew Stafford and Lee Stempniak were small upgrades when they were acquired but weren’t kept around.

Last season, the additions of Charlie Coyle and Marcus Johansson were certainly fruitful.  However, while Coyle is under contract for one more year, Johansson is set to become an unrestricted free agent which means there is a vacancy that they will want to fill if they can’t get him signed to a new deal.

If the Bruins can get deals done for McAvoy and/or Carlo shortly, it would give them more certainty as to how much they can spend to try to fill this role now instead of giving up draft picks or prospects to try to fill that void closer to the trade deadline.  That would certainly be a more desirable outcome than having history repeat itself once again with a midseason swap or two required to bolster Boston’s offensive depth.  The strength of this free agent class is secondary wingers which should play into their favor if they have enough cap space left to go this route.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Canucks Place Ryan Spooner On Unconditional Waivers

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The Canucks are parting ways with Ryan Spooner.  Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reports (Twitter link) that Vancouver has placed the forward on unconditional waivers for the purposes of buying out the final year of his contract.

2018-19 represented a remarkable fall from grace for the 27-year-old.  One season earlier, he had an impressive 41 points in 59 games between the Bruins and the Rangers and he looked as if he could be a useful secondary scorer in New York.  The team certainly felt the same way, handing him a two-year, $8MM contract last summer.

However, things did not go anywhere near as well for Spooner this past season.  He struggled in the early going with the Rangers and was flipped with $900K of salary retention to Edmonton for Ryan Strome.  The move worked out a lot better for the Rangers than it did for the Oilers.

Spooner picked up just two goals and an assist in 25 games with Edmonton before he was ultimately waived and sent to the minors.  Shortly after that, he was flipped in a swap of bad contracts to the Canucks with Sam Gagner going back to the Oilers.  Unfortunately for Vancouver, the struggles continued as he had just four assists in 11 games.  Overall, he wound up with only three goals and six helpers over 52 NHL games between the three teams, hardly the type of production befitting that type of contract.

As a result of the Rangers holding onto part of Spooner’s contract, they’re also affected by this move.  The buyout cost per team is as follows:

Vancouver

2019-20: $1.033MM
2020-21: $1.033MM

New York

2019-20: $300K
2020-21: $300K

With the buyout, Vancouver will save a little under $2MM for next season which will help offset the salary recapture penalty that hit their books following the retirement of Roberto Luongo but will take on the extra charge for 2020-21.  Meanwhile, the Rangers will save $600K for the upcoming season with the extra $300K on the books for the following season.

Meanwhile, Spooner will enter a UFA market where he will now find himself battling for a depth spot in a lineup.  While his 2018-19 performance wasn’t strong, there should still be a few teams thinking that there could still be a bit of upside and that in the right spot, he could be a decent producer from the bottom six.  At any rate, his next contract will be a fraction of the one he is being bought out of.

Panthers Acquire Dominic Toninato From Avalanche

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The Panthers and Avalanche have made a swap of minor league prospects.  Florida has acquired center Dominic Toninato from Colorado in exchange for defenseman Jacob MacDonald.  Both teams have announced the trade.

Toninato spent most of 2018-19 with Colorado’s AHL affiliate where he posted 29 points (14-15-29) in 57 games.  Although he only got into a pair of games with the Avs, the 25-year-old played in 37 NHL contests back in 2017-18, his rookie season.  Originally a fifth-round pick of Toronto in 2012, Toninato signed with Colorado back in 2017 as a free agent after not getting signed by the Maple Leafs.  He will be a restricted free agent on July 1st with salary arbitration rights.

MacDonald, meanwhile, is a late bloomer.  He spent three full seasons playing on minor league contracts before a 55-point breakout year with New Jersey’s AHL team in 2017-18 got him on the NHL radar.  That earned him a two-year contract with Florida last July and he was once again productive in the minors, recording 43 points (14-29-43) in 72 contests while picking up a goal in a pair of games with Florida.  He’s under contract with a $750K cap hit for next season and will be an unrestricted free agent in 2020.

Capitals Re-Sign Michael Sgarbossa

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The Capitals will be keeping their top AHL scorer in the fold for a couple more years.  The team announced that they’ve re-signed center Michael Sgarbossa to a two-year, two-way contract.  The deal will pay him the league minimum $700K in the NHL and just over $400K per season in the minors.

Sgarbossa was slated to enter Group Six unrestricted free agency for the third straight year but instead, he’ll stick around with an organization that he had some success with last season.  He posted a career-best 65 points with Hershey last season, cracking the top ten in AHL scoring for the first time in the process.  That was enough to earn him a multi-year pact, something he hasn’t had since his entry-level deal.

The 26-year-old last saw NHL action back in 2016-17 with the Panthers and has a total of ten points in 48 career contests between Colorado, Anaheim, and Florida.  He will get a look in training camp with the Capitals as they’re expected to shuffle around their depth forwards for next season but it’s more likely that he reprises his role with the Bears and hopes to earn a recall to the big club when injuries arise.

Islanders Re-Sign Tom Kuhnhackl

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The Islanders have kept part of their bottom six group of forwards intact just before free agency officially gets underway.  TVA Sports’ Renaud Lavoie reports (Twitter link) that New York has re-signed winger Tom Kuhnhackl to a one-year, $850K contract.

The 27-year-old spent most of last season with the Islanders despite passing through waivers unclaimed at the start of the year.  He wound up playing in 36 regular season contests, recording five goals and four assists to beat his output from 2017-18 in nearly half the games.  He also saw action in all eight postseason games and finished tied for fifth on the team in assists with three.

The deal represents a small raise for Kuhnhackl, who made $700K in 2018-19.  He will likely be in a battle to reprise his role on the fourth line depending on what else GM Lou Lamoriello has in store over the coming days.  They already have a dozen forwards under contract that saw regular NHL action last season and still have UFA winger Anders Lee as well as RFA winger Anthony Beauvillier in need of new contracts so it’s far from a guarantee that Kuhnhackl will be able to lock down a spot in training camp.

Carolina Hurricanes, Mike Vellucci Part Ways

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The Carolina Hurricanes are losing an important part of their development system, announcing today that they have mutually agreed to part ways with Mike Vellucci. Vellucci served as an assistant general manager, director of hockey operations and head coach of the Charlotte Checkers of the AHL, leading the team to a Calder Cup in 2019. In a statement, the coach notes that he has “been presented with an exciting opportunity” that he will be pursuing. A few hours later, it was announced that Vellucci will be the next head coach of the Wilkes-Barre Scranton Penguins, replacing the outgoing Clark Donatelli.

Vellucci has been with the Hurricanes organization for five years, coincidentally joining the franchise as his new boss in Pittsburgh, Jim Rutherford, was stepping down in Carolina. The two have worked together far longer than that however, going back to his days with the Plymouth Whalers. He took the head coaching position with the Checkers two years ago. In that time he posted a 97-43-12 record in the AHL and established the Checkers as one of the stingiest defensive teams in the league. A former NHL defenseman himself, Vellucci’s teams have long been known for their commitment in the defensive zone. That commitment has brought plenty of success, including past championships in the OHL and NAHL.

Prior to joining the Hurricanes Vellucci had coached the Whalers for more than a decade, helping develop dozens of NHL players including names like Tyler Seguin, James Neal, Rickard Rakell, Tom Wilson and J.T. Miller. It’s hard to imagine another AHL coach that would have been in more demand around the league.

Buffalo Sabres Acquire Colin Miller

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The Buffalo Sabres have acquired defenseman Colin Miller from the Vegas Golden Knights in exchange for a 2021 second-round pick (originally from St. Louis) and a 2022 fifth-round pick. Miller has three years remaining on his contract with a $3.875MM cap hit.

As the Golden Knights continue to try and get under the salary cap the 27-year old defenseman was the next likely candidate to be moved out after they traded Erik Haula earlier this week. That’s not necessarily because of his play though, as Miller has played quite well since arriving in Vegas through the expansion draft. In 147 games with the team he recorded 70 points, often from a booming slap shot either going straight in or providing rebound opportunities for his teammates. Originally a fifth-round pick in 2012 by the Los Angeles Kings, Miller’s ascension to legitimate top-four ability has been slow and steady but may receive its best opportunity in Buffalo.

Miller may well get a chance to play with Rasmus Dahlin next season as the young phenom continues his transition to a star in the NHL. Rasmus Ristolainen, Brandon Montour, Zach Bogosian and Casey Nelson all represent other right-handed options, meaning another move may be soon to follow for Buffalo GM Jason Botterill. For now though, their group already looks much improved from the one that started last season.

Vegas meanwhile will take the picks and run, happy to have gotten something in return for another cap dump. The team has young defensemen in Zach Whitecloud and Nicolas Hague pushing for an NHL opportunity, and could already probably afford to give Nate Schmidt even more responsibility. The question will be whether they bring back (or can even afford to bring back) veteran Deryk Engelland for another season, or just fill the remaining blue line minutes internally.

If this is the precursor to another move by the Sabres, they could be holding court in the next few days. The free agent defenseman market is razor thin (especially on the right side) and has already led several teams to pursue trade acquisitions instead. Miller joins a group of defensemen including Jacob Trouba, Matt Niskanen, Justin Braun, Radko Gudas, Olli Maatta, Calvin de Haan, Kevin Connauton, Gustav Forsling and of course P.K. Subban to be traded over just the last couple of weeks.

Renaud Lavoie of TVA Sports was first to report a deal was close, while Bob McKenzie of TSN reported the details of the return.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images

Free Agent Focus: Toronto Maple Leafs

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Free agency is now just a few days away and there are quite a few prominent players set to hit the open market while many teams have key restricted free agents to re-sign. Toronto has already locked up a few important names, but still has plenty of work to do before knowing what next season’s roster will look like. Here’s a closer look at their free agent situation.

Key Restricted Free Agent: F Mitch Marner — If this article had been written yesterday this section would have included the likes of Kasperi Kapanen and Andreas Johnsson, but it always all came down to Marner. The entire Maple Leafs’ offseason is revolving around him at the moment, with the uncertainty of when Toronto will sign his next contract. That is of course if it’s signed at all by the Maple Leafs, as offer sheet speculation has never been as high as it seems to be regarding the 22-year old star. A huge part of that speculation is the market he plays in, but Marner is reportedly seeking a huge raise that would make him one of the (if not the) highest paid wingers in the league.

There’s good reason for Marner to believe in himself and his abilities. The undersized forward dominated the OHL before and after the Maple Leafs selected him fourth overall in 2015, and he began his NHL career without missing a step. 61 points his first season, 69 his second and a whopping 94 points in 2018-19 made him one of the most lethal offensive weapons in the game, even if that last jump was at least in part due to the addition of John Tavares. Not only is Marner an incredible playmaker, but he also took on a penalty killing role with the Maple Leafs this season and became one of head coach Mike Babcock’s most trusted defensive forwards.

None of the reports and rumors from either side mean much to GM Kyle Dubas and Marner’s agent Darren Ferris, who need to work out a deal at some point if the Maple Leafs are going to proceed with the rest of their offseason. The team currently has just $6.9MM in cap space but can exceed the limit during the offseason or move Nathan Horton to long-term injured reserve. That still doesn’t leave much room for free agent additions because, as Dubas told Chris Johnston of Sportsnet today, they “have got to save space for Mitch.”

Other RFAs: F Michael Carcone

Key Unrestricted Free Agents: D Jake Gardiner — If the Maple Leafs had more cap space there is no doubt that they would be trying to keep Gardiner in town, given the state of their defense corps without him. Even though he’s not the right-handed option they so desperately need, his depature—and the potential trade of Nikita Zaitsev—could leave them with just three proven NHL options in the whole organization in Morgan Rielly, Jake Muzzin and Travis Dermott. That’s a horrendous position to be in, even if it is with several months remaining before the start of the year. Gardiner though will likely be priced out of the Maple Leafs’ range given his history as a top puck-moving option. Though he is derided by many for the occasional what-was-he-thinking giveaway, Gardiner has amassed 245 points in his 551 game career including a career-high of 52 in 2017-18. An excellent offensive catalyst at even-strength, he’ll likely earn himself quite the payday on July 1.

D Ron Hainsey — The other big departure from the Maple Leafs blue line is Hainsey, even if he did turn 38 in late March. His agent confirmed that he will continue playing as long as there is interest, and after a +30 season playing alongside Rielly on the top pairing there won’t be any shortage of teams calling. Hainsey is not the offensive player he once was—remember that years ago he was an excellent powerplay quarterback—but he can still contribute and log big minutes in almost every situation. A favorite of Babcock, he could sign a bonus-laden deal if teams aren’t willing to give him a second year.

F Tyler Ennis — Perhaps overlooked for the Maple Leafs this year because of their star-studded forward group, Ennis took a minimum salary contract in order to try and build his value back up and he did it wonderfully. Even fighting through an injury that limited him to 51 games, the undersized forward scored 12 goals from the fourth line and showed he can still play at the NHL level. A three-time 20-goal scorer, the 29-year old Ennis should secure another NHL deal to provide a little scoring depth at a relatively inexpensive price—but probably one the Maple Leafs can’t afford.

Other UFAs: D Igor Ozhiganov, D Martin Marincin, F Gabriel Gagne, F Chris Mueller, F Nicholas Baptiste, D Vincent LoVerde, D Jordan Subban, D Steven Oleksy, G Eamon McAdam

Projected Cap Space: The Maple Leafs currently sit a little more than $6.94MM under the cap ceiling according to CapFriendly, but can also put Horton’s $5.3MM deal on long-term injured reserve if necessary to give them some more flexibility. That number is only including the cap hits for 18 players however, meaning they actually have even less than that once they decide who will be making the roster.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images

Free Agent Notes: Boyle, Hainsey, Acciari

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Five to six teams have reached out to free agent forward Brian Boyle according to Pierre LeBrun of The Athletic, who lists the Edmonton Oilers and Buffalo Sabres as two interested parties. Boyle is coming off a two-year $5.1MM contract that he signed with the New Jersey Devils but finished with the Nashville Predators, and could still be an interesting bottom-six addition for many teams.

Now 34, the gigantic forward has always had a knack for scoring big goals and tallied 18 last season despite averaging just over 13 minutes a night. The 6’6″ Boyle has played center for much of his career but can also line up at left wing and provide a net-front presence on the powerplay. The 2018 Masterton Trophy winner after a battle with cancer, he obviously still believes he has some hockey left in him even as he heads into his mid-thirties.

  • Ron Hainsey believes the same, as agent Matt Keator told reporters including LeBrun today that the 38-year old won’t be retiring as long as his phone is ringing. The free agent defenseman played the last two seasons with the Toronto Maple Leafs and routinely lined up on the top pairing with Morgan Rielly, averaging more than 20 minutes a night. With 23 points in each of those years and a career-high +30 rating in 2018-19, it’s easy to understand why there might be interest. Even Maple Leafs GM Kyle Dubas admitted to Chris Johnston of Sportsnet that the team would love to bring Hainsey back, but admits they might get priced out given their cap concerns.
  • The Boston Bruins have extended a contract offer to Noel Acciari according to team reporter Joe Haggerty, but they know the hard working forward will draw interest from other teams. Acciari, 27, is coming off a season in which he recorded just 15 points in 72 games but was a physical force recording 221 hits and logging a good amount of time on the penalty kill.
  • Columbus Dispatch reporter Brian Hedger tweets that the Blue Jackets have spoken with the representatives of free agent forward Marcus Johansson, who is a free agent after his Stanley Cup run with the Boston Bruins. Johansson is coming off a three-year, $13.75MM deal originally signed with the Washington Capitals but has dealt with injury over the last two seasons. He recorded 30 points in 58 games in 2018-19, but was an excellent piece for the Bruins in the postseason adding some secondary scoring down the lineup. Johansson is a versatile player capable of lining up at any forward position, and should have plenty of interest around the league.

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