Headlines

Go To MLB Trade Rumors
Go To Hoops Rumors

Archives for July 2019

West Notes: Canucks, Avalanche, Mitchell

at CDT | by 2 Comments

While the Canucks appear to be in a position where they need to shed salary with roughly $5MM-$6MM in cap room (per CapFriendly) and wingers Brock Boeser and Nikolay Goldobin in need of new deals, GM Jim Benning told NHL.com’s Jessi Pierce that they are comfortable starting the season over the cap by using LTIR for Antoine Roussel and delaying getting back into compliance until Roussel returns.  While that would certainly buy them more time, doing so has its risks as it’s easier for teams to clear cap room now while rosters are still being put together than it is in-season when their hands could be forced.  Benning did state that they have multiple plans in place regarding their salary cap situation so they’ve likely explored by now what it would take in order to clear a contract or two off the books.

Elsewhere in the Western Conference:

  • With Ian Cole not expected to be available until December and Erik Johnson’s status up in the air for the start of next season, NHL.com’s Rick Sadowski suggests that the Avalanche could use another veteran blueliner. Adding one would also serve as some insurance in case youngsters Bowen Byram and Conor Timmins aren’t ready to step into the lineup.  However, it seems likely at this point that if GM Joe Sakic was to pursue another defensive option, it would probably be of the lower-end variety.  With that in mind, it wouldn’t be surprising to see them look to the PTO market later this summer to bring in some depth that way.
  • The Blackhawks plan to speak with defenseman Ian Mitchell at their upcoming development camp to see if he will reconsider his plans to remain in college for next season, reports Scott Powers of The Athletic (subscription required). He has had two strong seasons with Denver and with the logjam they had on their back end, going back made some sense.  However, the recent trade of Henri Jokiharju to Buffalo has provided a small opening for Mitchell to potentially push for a roster spot so GM Stan Bowman will try to dangle that to see if they can entice the 20-year-old to forego the rest of his college eligibility.

Blues Re-Sign Mitch Reinke

at CDT | by 2 Comments

After re-signing Robby Fabbri earlier in the day, the Blues have agreed to terms with another one of their restricted free agents.  CapFriendly reports that St. Louis has re-signed defenseman Mitch Reinke to a one-year, two-way contract.  The deal will pay $750K in the NHL and $100K in the NHL.

The 23-year-old signed with St. Louis as an undrafted free agent in 2018 and made his NHL debut before the end of that season.  In 2018-19, his first full professional campaign, he spent the year with AHL San Antonio where he was one of the better offensive blueliners in the league, putting up 12 goals and 33 assists in 76 games.  Considering he wasn’t a top-end point producer with Michigan at the college level, that output came as somewhat of a surprise.

With the Blues being set to return their entire back end from their Stanley Cup run (once RFA Joel Edmundson re-signs), it’s unlikely that Reinke will be able to push for a roster spot in training camp.  However, if he can maintain that level of production next season, he’ll be among the top options for a recall when injuries arise.

Ducks Avoid Arbitration With Chase De Leo

at CDT | by Leave a Comment

The Ducks have avoided salary arbitration with center Chase De Leo.  CapFriendly reports (Twitter link) that Anaheim has signed him a one-year, two-way contract.  The deal will pay him $750K in the NHL, $100K in the AHL, and contains a guaranteed salary of $130K.

Anaheim acquired the 23-year-old just before last year’s free agent period opened up in a trade with Winnipeg.  The change of scenery certainly helped De Leo as he posted career highs across the board with AHL San Diego, collecting 20 goals and 35 assists in 66 games.  His performance was good enough to earn him a brief recall to the Ducks, his first NHL action in three years.

With the recent re-signing of center Derek Grant and the addition of winger Nicolas Deslauriers last month, there doesn’t appear to be much of an opening for De Leo to make a case for a full-time spot with Anaheim in 2019-20.  However, another strong showing with the Gulls should have him in the mix for another recall at some point next season.

Snapshots: Blue Jackets, Marner, Boqvist

at CDT | by 6 Comments

The Columbus Blue Jackets have made several changes in their front office, adding Craig Hartsburg, Troy Dumville, Mikko Makela and Lukas Suter to their scouting department while hiring Niklas Backstrom as a European goaltending coach, Zac Urback as a hockey analyst and Jon Hamre as a video coach. Danny Flynn, Dave Peters and Jared Boll have all been promoted to full-time. Chris Morehouse, Marshall Davidson, Derek Ginnell and Austin Powell have all left the organization.

One name that might stick out is Backstrom, who had a long NHL career with the Minnesota Wild. The 41-year old goaltender actually played in Finland the last three seasons, even going 11-2-1 with a .920 save percentage for Tappara Tampere in 2018-19. Backstrom appeared in 413 NHL games over his career (just four of which were with a team other than the Wild) but will now transition into the next chapter of his hockey story.

  • Speaking of the Blue Jackets, Aaron Portzline of The Athletic tweeted today that Columbus did indeed speak with Mitch Marner’s camp at some point this summer about a potential offer sheet, but he sees “no indication” that the young forward wants to leave the Toronto Maple Leafs. Marner’s name has been brought up in offer sheet speculation for months, but no team has yet convinced him to actually sign one. The Blue Jackets can only sign an offer sheet in the highest or lowest compensation tiers (either over $10.57MM or under $1.4MM AAV) because of their current draft pick situation.
  • New Jersey Devils assistant GM Tom Fitzgerald spoke with Corey Masisak of The Athletic today, and explained that prospect Jesper Boqvist will either be playing in New Jersey or Sweden next season. The 20-year old center just scored 35 points in 51 games for Brynas in the SHL, but won’t be spending any time in the AHL this year. A second-round pick from 2017, Boqvist is a talented offensive player who signed his entry-level contract last month with the Devils but also had his contract with Brynas extended in February.

Scott Laughton Agrees To Terms With Philadelphia Flyers

at CDT | by 3 Comments

The Philadelphia Flyers have taken care of one of their pending restricted free agents, agreeing to terms with Scott Laughton on a two-year contract. Laughton had filed for salary arbitration and had a hearing scheduled for the end of the month, but instead will sign a deal with an average annual value of $2.3MM.

A first round pick by the Flyers seven years ago, Laughton has slowly but surely grown into a valuable NHL player. The 25-year old set career-highs last season with 12 goals and 32 points while playing in all 82 games for the first time. Winning more than 54% of his draws and recording more hits than any other Philadelphia forward gave him a clear role on the team, especially when you consider his regular spot on the penalty kill.

Philadelphia has added some center depth this summer by signing Kevin Hayes to a long-term deal, which likely pushes everyone else down a peg for the upcoming season. That is an important thing to consider for Laughton’s future, given the Flyers’ group of prospects that will be pushing for a spot on the roster before long. Morgan Frost, arguably the team’s top prospect at this point is also a center, though the team could obviously start him on the wing at the NHL level whenever he gets there. They could also move Laughton over, but the term of this new contract is quite telling.

In two years Laughton will be an unrestricted free agent, giving the team and player a point at which they can choose to part ways if there is no longer any opportunity for him in Philadelphia. With Hayes under contract and both Nolan Patrick and Sean Couturier presumably in the team’s long-term plans, the Flyers are set down the middle for some time. These next two seasons will be a billboard for his eventual case as a center, or a chance for him to show he can be just as effective playing full-time on the wing.

St. Louis Blues Acquire, Sign Dakota Joshua

at CDT | by 5 Comments

The St. Louis Blues have acquired the rights to 23-year old forward Dakota Joshua from the Toronto Maple Leafs, and quickly agreed to a two-year entry-level contract with him. The deal is only for future considerations, likely meaning that Joshua was not going to sign a contract with the Maple Leafs for one reason or another and would have become an unrestricted free agent in August.

Selected in the fifth round of the 2014 draft, Joshua first played a year in the USHL before attending Ohio State University for four seasons. The 6’3″ forward amassed 100 points in 128 games at Ohio State and will make the leap to professional hockey with a well-rounded game. It’s hard to imagine him winning an NHL job at training camp, but a strong showing with the San Antonio Rampage could have him on track to make an impact in the near future. That impact would likely come as a bottom-six forward, but there is still time for him to grow even more into his power game on offense.

For the Maple Leafs, any number of reasons could have led to the team not being able to sign Joshua. One of the considerations would have likely been their number of contracts, which currently sits at 45 even with Mitch Marner still to sign. Though the Maple Leafs could have used one of those slots for Joshua, they are often involved in other college and international free agents throughout the year and would need room to sign them.

Obviously this move is low-risk for the Blues, since the team has given up basically nothing to add another depth piece. It’s not clear what considerations they will afford Toronto in the future.

Washington Capitals Re-Sign Colby Williams

at CDT | by 2 Comments

Not only have the Washington Capitals signed their top three draft picks, they can also now cross one of their minor league restricted free agents off the to-do list. Colby Williams has signed a one-year, two-way contract with the team that will carry a $700K salary at the NHL level. Williams was eligible for salary arbitration but chose not to file.

Williams, 24, has played for the Hershey Bears for the last three seasons, suiting up 171 times for the Capitals’ AHL affiliate and recording 44 points. The physical defenseman was originally a sixth-round pick in 2015, but has quickly established himself as an asset at the professional level. He will actually be eligible for Group VI unrestricted free agency next summer unless he plays in 80 games with the Capitals this season.

Washington still has work to do over the next few weeks if they want to avoid any arbitration hearings, as both Chandler Stephenson and Christian Djoos filed. Jakub Vrana, the team’s most important RFA was not eligible but is also in line for a substantial raise after an excellent season.

Robby Fabbri Re-Signs With St. Louis

at CDT | by Leave a Comment

The St. Louis Blues have brought back another one of their restricted free agent forwards, re-signing Robby Fabbri to a one-year, $900K contract. Fabbri was not eligible for salary arbitration and will still be a restricted free agent at the end of this deal.

It wasn’t so long ago that Fabbri was one of the brightest young forwards in the NHL, poised to have a great career with the Blues after a rookie season that saw him score 18 goals in the regular season and star in a long playoff run. At just 20 years old he had 15 points in 20 playoff games and started the 2016-17 season well with 29 points in 51 games before a knee injury turned his whole career upside down. Fabbri would suffer a setback and miss the entire 2017-18 season, only to finally return to the Blues’ lineup last November.

By then, things had changed for St. Louis and for the young forward. In 32 games in 2018-19 Fabbri was only able to register six points, often playing a depth role and receiving an average of just 12:39 of ice time. In the playoffs that dropped even further to the point where if he wasn’t in the press box watching as a scratch, he was seeing just over eight minutes a night. Fabbri registered just a single point in ten postseason games, though the Blues went all the way to a Stanley Cup victory.

Now, with other young players pushing for more and more playing time it is unclear where Fabbri sits on the St. Louis depth chart. The team still has basically the entire core that took them to the promised land this year (save for hometown hero Pat Maroon, who remains a free agent) and more forwards like Jordan Kyrou, Dominik Bokk and Klim Kostin all on their way. Fabbri, 23, is obviously still young enough to get back on that star track, but it will take a lot of work and some opportunity that might not be available in St. Louis.

Submit Your Questions For The #PHRMailbag

at CDT | by 18 Comments

Free agent frenzy has come and gone, though several interesting names remain available. The market is being held up by a huge crop of outstanding restricted free agents,  ready to demand expensive contracts that will eat up cap dollars and limit other opportunities to spend. The dog days of summer are almost here, and hockey fans are starting to put away their favorite sweater only to find out their local baseball team is already 90 games into the MLB season.

Still, there are minor signings happening daily and trade rumors still bubbling up now and again. The most hardcore fan may be dissecting the cap to find out just how much their team can offer Jake Gardiner and Micheal Ferland (update: apparently the answer is $14MM), while also figuring out a young player to target with their leftover draft capital. There are still teams that will improve over the coming weeks and set themselves up for a run at the Stanley Cup in 2020.

With that in mind, it’s time to run another edition of our mailbag. You can submit your query by using #PHRMailbag on Twitter or by leaving a comment down below. Make sure you get your questions in early and we’ll try to get through as many as possible when the mailbag runs this weekend.

If you missed our last edition, it was split into two parts that you can read here and here. The first tackled issues like Jacob Trouba’s next contract and predicted trades for both Phil Kessel and Cody Ceci, which each happened within just a few days. The second took a look at the free agent market and examined how the New York Rangers could be a good fit for Artemi Panarin.

Connor McMichael Signs Entry-Level Contract

at CDT | by 1 Comment

The Washington Capitals have signed another recent draft pick, inking Connor McMichael to a three-year entry-level contract. McMichael was selected 25th overall in last month’s draft, and will likely head back to the London Knights of the OHL for the 2019-20 season.  The deal will have an average annual value of $925K.

McMichael is a very interesting draft story, as his first year of junior hockey was a disaster. Despite being a high pick into the OHL and previously dominating in midget, McMichael struggled mightily with the Hamilton Bulldogs and was almost invisible after a trade to the legendary London Knights organization in 2017-18. Notably though, London had traded away St. Louis Blues forward Robert Thomas for the young McMichael, obviously seeing his potential being wasted. Though it didn’t work right away, McMichael came back in 2018-19 and blew the doors off the OHL for London, scoring 36 goals and 72 points to lead a loaded club that also had top picks like Liam Foudy, Adam Boqvist, Evan Bouchard and Alex Formenton among others.

That kind of performance shot McMichael into the first-round discussion once again, and the Capitals decided to take a chance on a player that might still need a bit of seasoning—unlike their next pick Brett Leason who was draft eligible for the third time. McMichael has an excellent feel for the game at both ends of the rink and regularly finds himself in the perfect position to create a chance or prevent one.

Interestingly, McMichael was not included in the initial roster for Team Canada at the Summer Showcase, though he has since been added after Dylan Cozens was forced out due to injury. He’ll try to work his way onto the World Junior team and show exactly why the Capitals used their first-round pick to select him.

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

scroll to top