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Archives for September 2019

NHL Tryout Tracker: 09/11/19

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With several NHL teams announcing their full training camp rosters today, there have been a number of previously unreported training camp invites, amateur tryouts and professional tryouts alike, revealed. Below is a list of players not under contract with an NHL team or their AHL affiliate, but will be attending NHL camp:

Buffalo Sabres (link)

F Kyle Olson, Tri-City Americans (WHL)

Calgary Flames (link)

D Eric Gryba, New Jersey Devils (AHL)

Columbus Blue Jackets (link)

F Egor Sokolov, Cape Breton Screaming Eagles (QMJHL)

Los Angeles Kings (link)

D Billy Constantinou, Kingston Frontenacs (OHL)
F Jonathan Yantsis, Kitchener Rangers (OHL)

Montreal Canadiens (link)

F Liam Hawel, Guelph Storm (OHL)

New York Rangers (link)

F Connor Brickley, New York Rangers (NHL)

Ottawa Senators (link)

F Tristan Scherwey, SC Bern (NLA)
F Scott Sabourin, Stockton Heat (AHL)

Toronto Maple Leafs (link)

D Marc-Antoine Pepin, Shawinigan Cataractes (QMJHL)

Vegas Golden Knights (link)

D Brayden Pachal, Prince Albert Raiders (WHL)

Washington Capitals (link)

F Casey Bailey, HC Slovan Bratislava (KHL)
G Beck Warm, Tri-City Americans (WHL)

 

 

Minor Transactions: 09/11/19

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Training camp is upon us, as rookie tournaments are underway and veterans are arriving back in town for informal workouts. In no time, teams will be back on the ice. Yet, many NHL clubs still have work to do, with prominent restricted and unrestricted free agents still without contracts. Minor league affiliates, European teams, and college programs are also still making moves to finalize their plans for the coming season. Keep track of those minor transactions right here:

  • The Minnesota Wild have announced their training camp roster, and among it are several players on professional tryouts. Olivier Archambault, Gabriel Gagne, Shawn O’Donnell, Brett Pollock, Josh Atkinson, Matt Register and Keaton Thompson have all been invited, several of which were among the players not issued qualifying offers earlier this summer. For a full list of today’s training camp invite announcements, see our Tryout Tracker.
  • The Montreal Canadiens have already begun to trim their camp roster, sending a handful of their rookie camp participants back to their respective junior teams. TVA’s L.A. Lariviere reports that forwards Cole Fonstad, Rafael Harvey-Pinard, Cam Hillis, and Allan McShane and defenseman Jacob LeGuerrier have been cut from camp and return to junior. The Habs must be confident in their other prospects attending training camp, as this group of cuts is not without a fair amount of name recognition.
  • The AHL’s Chicago Wolves have re-signed forward Tye McGinn to a one-year contract, the team announced. McGinn has also been invited to attend camp woth the Vegas Golden Knights. McGinn was dominant for the Wolves down the stretch and in a deep postseason run last year and is another strong minor league campaign away from getting another shot at the NHL.
  • Two former NHL prospects have signed in the ECHL as their entry-level contracts having expired with little to show for their efforts toward becoming NHL players. Chicago Blackhawks 2014 third-round pick Matt Iacopelli has signed with the Kalamazoo Wings after a trade to the Los Angeles Kings last season did nothing to jump start his development. The Western Michigan product played much of last season in the ECHL and will now do so closer to home. After two different trades left him bouncing around the ECHL over the last three years, defenseman Jacob Graves hopes to at least find some security on a contract with the Florida Everblades. Graves has yet to show the big-league upside that he flashed in junior during his pro career.

Calgary Flames Sign Michael Stone

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In a downright shocking move, the Calgary Flames have announced one-year contract for Michael Stone. Stone of course saw the final year of his previous contract with the Flames bought out in August, meaning he’ll not only earn the $700K on this new deal but an additional $1.17MM for each of the next two seasons from the buyout. Stone had been set to earn $3.5MM on his previous deal, meaning the Flames are actually saving more than $1.6MM in cap space this season—room they desperately need to re-sign Matthew Tkachuk.

This move screams of cap circumvention, but actually may have an innocent enough explanation. When Stone was bought out, he was an expensive luxury as a depth option given the team was expecting both Rasmus Andersson and Juuso Valimaki to step into increased roles this season. Less than two weeks later, Valimaki tore his ACL during offseason training and was ruled out for a huge chunk of the season (if not the entire thing). Stone’s buyout then may have looked like a mistake given the team’s immediate need for another defenseman with NHL experience.

As it turns out, the Flames will still receive part of the benefit from the buyout and Stone will have another chance to prove he can stay healthy enough to contribute in the NHL. The 29-year old played just 14 games with the Flames last season thanks to various ailments (including a blood clot) and struggled even before that. After contributing at a high level for the Arizona Coyotes in 2015-16, Stone has just 21 points in 115 games for the Flames.

While the optics of this move may seem less than above board, it’s important to note that the Flames are giving up $700K of the cap room (and actual salary savings) they created by moving Stone off the books in the first place. It is also important to understand that Stone had to agree to the salary on the new contract and could have taken his services anywhere else.

To clear up any confusion, there is nothing in the CBA to prevent a move like this directly. Only compliance buyouts included a provision that made a player unable to re-sign with his team for one year. This could however be investigated by the league for cap circumvention if they believe it was intentional, as they did in the case of Brooks Orpik last summer. 

Zachary Lauzon Announces Retirement

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Today a promising young career was cut short, as 20-year old defenseman Zachary Lauzon has announced his retirement through a piece by Mikael Lalancette of TVA Sports. The former Pittsburgh Penguins prospect was not offered a contract from the team this summer after dealing with post-concussion symptoms for two years, but did receive an invitation to their rookie camp. Unfortunately, Lauzon’s headaches and dizziness returned, leading to his decision to end his hockey career.

Selected 51st overall in 2017, Lauzon was a promising puck-moving defenseman from the QMJHL that had just put up 21 points in 63 games. Even when he was drafted though there were concerns, as he had just suffered another concussion in the playoffs with Rouyn-Noranda and would miss most of the Penguins development camp that summer. He played just 25 games for the Huskies the following year, and missed all of 2018-19 as he tried to get himself right.

At this point, it would have been a long road to even get to the level he was playing at in 2017. Instead Lauzon will hang up his skates and focus on his health, another example of how easily the dream of professional hockey can be taken away.

Joe Morrow To Attend New York Rangers Camp

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The New York Rangers have brought along another veteran for training camp, announcing today that Joe Morrow will attend on a professional tryout. Morrow spent last season with the Winnipeg Jets, but was not issued a qualifying offer and became an unrestricted free agent.

Morrow, 26, was a first-round pick of the Pittsburgh Penguins back in 2011 but has bounced around the NHL since then. Making his debut with the Boston Bruins in 2014-15, he’s played 162 games since then including 41 last season with the Jets. Once a feared offensive threat in the WHL, Morrow hasn’t brought much of that to the NHL level where he has just 32 points over the years. Still, he will provide some extra depth in Rangers camp and get to show teams around the league that he’s still worthy of an NHL deal.

The Jets payed Morrow $1MM last season, but you have to think he won’t get much more than league minimum at this point if he was unable to find a deal through the summer. That could be a savvy pickup for a team like New York that could potentially flip him at the deadline to a defense-needy team for an asset, however small.

Vancouver Canucks Restructure Front Office

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The Vancouver Canucks have made several changes in the front office in preparation for the upcoming season. Chris Higgins re-joins the team as assistant director, player development, Todd Harvey and Derek Richard will take on additional responsibilities as amateur scouts and Troy Ward, Phil Golding and Martin Bakula have all been hired as amateur scouts. Other changes in the scouting department include Pat Conacher moving to the amateur side after several seasons as director of hockey operations with the Utica Comets, and Ryan Biech joining the team as a video analyst. Dan Cloutier, who has served as a goaltending coach and director of goaltending for eight seasons, has resigned.

This is a big season for the Canucks, given their investment in players like Tyler Myers, J.T. Miller and Micheal Ferland this offseason. Getting Brock Boeser is obviously the biggest thing left on the to-do list, but adding more resources to the scouting department is always an important step. The Canucks have hit home runs in Quinn Hughes, Elias Pettersson and Boeser over the last few years, and appear to have another top talent in Vasili Podkolzin from June’s draft.

Minnesota Wild Sign Kevin Fiala

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Apparently Bill Guerin’s offer to Kevin Fiala was good enough after all. The Minnesota Wild have re-signed the restricted free agent forward to a two-year, $6MM contract. The deal carries a $2.5MM salary in 2019-20 and a $3.5MM salary in 2020-21. Fiala will still be an RFA when the deal expires.

Fiala, 23, had been in negotiations with former Minnesota GM Paul Fenton when he was fired earlier this offseason, meaning things were put on hold for a time as the team conducted its search for a new leader. Guerin, hired in late August, can now wash his hands of the RFA market after signing Fiala, his last remaining player without a contract. The young forward will now be able to participate in training camp, though as Michael Russo of The Athletic pointed out yesterday, may miss a day or two as he waits for a work visa.

Originally selected 11th overall in 2014, Fiala started his career with the Nashville Predators organization (under Fenton, who was serving as the GM of the Milwaukee Admirals at the time) and quickly made an impact. After dominating the minor leagues he graduated to the NHL and showed that he could be a regular in the top-six and contribute offensively, scoring 23 goals and 48 points in his sophomore season. Last year after getting off to a slower start he was targeted by Fenton at the deadline and acquired by the Wild in exchange for Mikael Granlund. Though he registered just seven points in 19 games for Minnesota down the stretch, he will be expected to be a huge part of the offense going forward.

Even under new management, Fiala’s importance to the team is obvious. If the Wild are to find any success transitioning from their old core to the new group, the 23-year old needs to be front and center as a goal scoring threat. A $3MM salary is proof that they believe he can do that, especially coming off a 13-goal, 39-point year.

For the Wild this deal may seem a tad expensive given how Fiala performed last season, but it at least gets him into camp and will keep him under team control. Unlike some of the other restricted free agents signed this summer, he’ll still be two years from unrestricted free agency at the end of the contract. While his back-heavy deal does guarantee a qualifying offer of $3.5MM in 2021, that is not nearly as prohibitive for the team as some of the other deals. Even after inking Fiala the Wild have some excess cap room to work with this season and could potentially be involved in another transaction at some point before the season begins.

Early Notes: Marner, CBA, Chiarelli

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The Mitch Marner summer saga has now continued partway through September and doesn’t seem to have an end in sight. Darren Dreger and Bob McKenzie of TSN both took to Twitter to explain the situation this morning, with the latter confirming that the team made seven and eight year offers in the “$11MM AAV universe” but Marner’s camp refused them because of a comparison to Auston Matthews. Matthews of course signed for five years at an $11.634MM cap hit during the season.

The player’s camp is focused on a three-year deal with a high salary in the third season, a contract blueprint made popular by Timo Meier earlier this summer. The high salary in the third year guarantees a big qualifying offer that can take the player right into unrestricted free agency if they so choose. With the Maple Leafs opening camp this week, it certainly seems like Marner will not be there to take part in the early sessions.

  • Pierre LeBrun of The Athletic notes that the NHL and NHLPA are meeting for the third consecutive day as they continue to try and work out what will happen with the Collective Bargaining Agreement. The players have until Sunday to decide whether they want to exercise their clause to reopen the CBA for negotiation, which would effectively opt-out of the agreement after the 2019-20 season. If not, the deal would run until September 2022, giving the two sides plenty of time to work out an extension or new agreement.
  • Peter Chiarelli hasn’t landed a new GM job, but will be working in a front office this season. Renaud Lavoie of TVA Sports reports that the former Edmonton Oilers executive will serve as a consultant for the St. Louis Blues. Chiarelli has worked as a GM for both Edmonton and the Boston Bruins, where he won a Stanley Cup in 2011.

Boston Bruins Extend Bruce Cassidy

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The Boston Bruins have announced a multi-year extension for head coach Bruce Cassidy, giving him some job security as he tries to take the team back to the Stanley Cup Final. The exact length of the deal was not disclosed.

Cassidy has been an absolute success since taking over from Claude Julien during the 2016-17 season, going 117-52-22 with the Bruins and reaching the final last season. The team has obviously responded well to his system and it should be one of the better teams in the Eastern Conference once again. Pierre LeBrun of The Athletic tweets that the deal will pay Cassidy “in and around $3MM” per season, which actually doesn’t put him at the top of the field. The Buffalo Sabres for instance just hired Ralph Krueger for close to $4MM per season, while Todd McLellan received $5MM annually from the Los Angeles Kings.

The 54-year old Cassidy spent almost a decade honing his craft with the Providence Bruins before joining Boston, where he got to know many of the players that he now works with. His ability to blend experience and youth together in the same lineup has so far resulted in plenty of regular season success, but the Bruins are still looking for that seventh Stanley Cup.

Salary Cap Deep Dive: Winnipeg Jets

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Navigating the salary cap is one of the more important tasks for any GM. Teams that can avert total cap chaos by walking the tightrope of inking players to deals that match their value (or compensate for future value without breaking the bank) remain successful. Those that don’t see struggles and front office changes.

PHR will look at every NHL team and give a thorough look at their cap situation heading into the 2019-20 season. This will focus more on those players who are integral parts of the roster versus those who may find themselves shuttling between the AHL and NHL. All cap figures are courtesy of CapFriendly.

Winnipeg Jets

Current Cap Hit: $66,049,164 (under the $81.5MM Upper Limit)

Entry-Level Contracts

D Sami Niku (one year, $775K)
F Jack Roslovic (one year, $894K)
F Kristian Vesalainen (three years, $894K)

Potential Bonuses

Niku: $60K
Roslovic: $212.5K

Roslovic has been a highly sought after trade commodity but thus far, GM Kevin Cheveldayoff hasn’t shown any interest in moving him.  However, the Jets haven’t given him a lot of ice time at the NHL level as he logged less than ten minutes a night last season despite being a regular.  That’s going to really hurt his bargaining power next summer so a one-year deal is likely in the offing.  Vesalainen split last season between KHL Jokerit and the minors with only five games with the Jets.  There should be more of an opportunity to get into NHL action this season and it’s worth noting that he can no longer trigger an assignment overseas.

Niku actually got into more game action with Winnipeg than AHL Manitoba last season though his impact with the Jets was relatively limited as he was deployed in a limited role.  With several departures on the back end though, he’ll be counted on to play a much bigger role this season which should bode well for his next contract.  Like Roslovic though, he won’t have enough of a track record to command a long-term pact.

One Year Remaining, Non-Entry-Level

D Nathan Beaulieu ($1MM, UFA)
G Laurent Brossoit ($1.225MM, UFA)
D Dmitry Kulikov ($4.33MM, UFA)
D Josh Morrissey ($3.15MM, RFA)

Kulikov’s contract has been one that looked bad from the outset and has lived up to that initial interpretation.  They’ve been trying to move him for more than a year now to the point where it may have been a bit of a surprise that they didn’t buy him out this summer.  His next deal, if there is a next one, is going to be in the $1MM range.  Morrissey, on the other hand, will be looking at a big raise.  With Jacob Trouba, Tyler Myers, and Ben Chiarot all gone and no one really brought in to replace them, Morrissey is going to be in line for a much bigger role.  If his offensive play continues to improve, he can easily double his current AAV.  Beaulieu took a big pay cut to stay with Winnipeg after being non-tendered but the move made some sense.  He’ll have a shot to play a regular role on a good team which should give him an opportunity to rebuild some value.

Brossoit had quite the bounce-back season in 2018-19 as he went from being a minor leaguer to one of the better backups in the league.  However, given his limited track record (and desire to keep some funds freed up for his RFAs), Cheveldayoff only extended him for one year.  A repeat performance could bring Brossoit towards that higher tier of backups in the $2.5MM range which would probably price him out of Winnipeg.

Two Years Remaining

D Dustin Byfuglien ($7.6MM, UFA)
F Andrew Copp ($2.28MM, RFA)
F Adam Lowry ($2.916MM, UFA)
F Mathieu Perreault ($4.125MM, UFA)
D Neal Pionk ($3MM, RFA)

Perreault has been a nice depth option for the Jets, even if he is on the expensive side.  He can play all three forward positions and has produced when given opportunities in the top six.  However, he hasn’t spent a lot of time there and as a result, is coming off his lowest output since the lockout-shortened season.  It’s hard to imagine him getting a raise on his next deal although there should be considerable interest nonetheless.  Lowry has quietly become one of the more reliable centers at the faceoff dot while chipping in with plenty of hits and a reasonable amount of offense.  Players like this can still get paid a sizable sum and it wouldn’t be surprising to see him get closer to $3.5MM on his next deal.  Copp received this deal through arbitration and narrowly misses out on being a UFA at its expiration by a week.  He has shuffled between the third and fourth line in his career but will need to spend more time on the third trio moving forward if he wants to be in line for a raise in his final trip through arbitration.

Byfuglien dealt with injury issues for the second year in a row which makes this contract a bit tougher to stomach.  He’s still capable of logging heavy minutes and contributing offensively and with the departures they’ve had, it’s quite possible they’ll lean on him even more than they have been.  If he can stay healthy, they can still get a decent return on this deal in 2019-20 but he will have a hard time getting this much when he’s 36 and on the open market.  Pionk is coming off an up-and-down season with the Rangers who included him as part of the Trouba trade.  He’ll be asked to lock down a top-four spot with the Jets and if he can do that, he’ll be well-positioned for a raise two years from now.

Three Years Remaining

None

Four Or More Years Remaining

F Nikolaj Ehlers ($6MM through 2024-25)
G Connor Hellebuyck ($6.167MM through 2023-24)
F Bryan Little $5.292MM through 2023-24)
F Mark Scheifele ($6.125MM through 2023-24)
F Blake Wheeler ($8.25MM through 2023-24)

Wheeler has flown somewhat under the radar considering he’s fifth in the league in scoring over the past five seasons combined.  That earned him a jump in pay from his last deal and while there will be some concerns about his effectiveness at the end of the deal considering he’ll be 38 by then, he’ll still provide good value for a few more years.  Scheifele is now one of the better bargains in the league as a legitimate front line center that makes less than what some second liners are getting.  It will cost considerably more to sign him on his next deal.  Ehlers is coming off of a tough season that has had him in trade speculation at times.  After two straight seasons of 60 or more points, he should be given a chance to turn things around but if his offensive struggles continue, he could become a potential cap casualty.  Little has failed to reach 50 points for four straight seasons and Winnipeg has traded for rental upgrades at his spot on the second line for the last two years.  Between that and a no-move clause, he could become difficult to move if that trend continues.

Hellebuyck signed his deal following a career year back in 2017-18, one that saw him finish second in Vezina Trophy voting.  At the time, it looked like a potential bargain with the going rate for high-end starters only going up.  However, he wound up posting the highest GAA of his career (2.90) while his save percentage dipped by 11 points down to .913.  Instead of being one of the better starters in the league, he was on the lower end of that scale last season.  One down season isn’t going to change the outlook of his contract entirely but a repeat of that performance could have his deal trending towards being a negative for the Jets instead of a positive.

Buyouts

None

Retained Salary Transactions

None

Still To Sign

F Kyle Connor
F Patrik Laine

Laine had a fantastic month of November where he took the league by storm and scored 18 goals in just a dozen games.  He looked to be well on his way to another 40-plus goal season and a huge second contract.  However, he only had a dozen goals the rest of the season which has complicated things.  Not many players have the goal-scoring ability that he does but given the unpredictability based on last season, a bridge contract may be the more palatable option for both sides.

The same can’t be said for Connor, whose second full NHL season was an improvement on his rookie year while he established himself as a capable top-line winger.  We took a closer look at his situation last month and his next deal is likely to be around $7MM based on some of the comparable contracts around the league.

Best Value: Scheifele
Worst Value: Kulikov

Looking Ahead

There’s a glass half full and a glass half empty side to Winnipeg’s cap situation.  On the plus side, even if both Laine and Connor sign long-term deals, the Jets are fairly well-positioned to absorb both contracts without too much concern.  On the negative side, it took them losing half their back end from last season in order to be able to do so.  Either way, they should be in okay shape for the upcoming season.

Looking beyond 2020, they’re not in too bad of shape.  Morrissey’s next deal is going to be big but Kulikov’s money will be coming off the books and can shift to him instead.  Most of their core is locked up long-term (and even more could be depending on the deals Connor and Laine sign) so while they won’t be big spenders on the open market any time soon, their days of having to cut contracts should be finished as well.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

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