The calendar has now flipped to February so activity around the league should really pick up in the next little while. In the meantime, here’s a look back at the top stories from the past seven days.
Kassian Extension: This had been in the works for the better part of the last month but the Oilers and winger Zack Kassian put pen to paper on a four-year contract extension. The deal sees him land a notable raise as his AAV will go from $1.95MM this season to $3.2MM but for that, he doesn’t receive any form of trade protection. Kassian has been quite productive for Edmonton this season and is almost up to his career highs in goals and points already while being a decent complementary player alongside Connor McDavid. If he can maintain similar production over the life of the deal, the Oilers should get reasonable value out of it.
Backes Won’t Play In Providence: After clearing waivers nearly two weeks ago, the Bruins assigned winger David Backes to their AHL affiliate in Providence. However, the two sides have mutually agreed that he should not report there even though he is fully healthy. The veteran still has another year left on his contract with a $6MM cap hit so while Boston is working to find a suitable trade for him, that may be a bit challenging unless they’re absorbing some of the contract, sending another asset with Backes in the deal, or both. As he was sent to the minors, the Bruins continue to get the $1.075MM in cap relief and the team is still paying the 35-year-old during this time.
Hertl Out For The Year: To say that things have not gone well for San Jose this season would be a big understatement. Any slim hopes of them turning things around took another hit when it was announced that center Tomas Hertl had sustained a torn ACL and MCL and is out for the season. Surgery has not yet taken place. The 26-year-old was tied for second in team scoring with winger Logan Couture prior to the injury. As it turns out, Hertl happened to be Couture’s replacement at the All-Star Game. San Jose is now 11 points out of a playoff spot with just 29 games left to play and between that and being down their top two forwards, expect them to start selling over the next few weeks.
Pettersson Extension: Last offseason, the Penguins were hoping to get defenseman Marcus Pettersson signed to a long-term deal but salary cap constraints forced them to settle for a one-year deal for his qualifying offer. They then cleared out some money for next season when they dealt Erik Gudbranson to Anaheim and they’ve turned around and given it to Pettersson as they signed him to a five-year extension with a cap hit of just over $4.025MM. The deal also contains an eight-team no-trade clause in the final two seasons. Pettersson has been a stabilizing part of Pittsburgh’s back end since they acquired him early last season and he’s averaging a career-high 19:26 so far this season in 51 games.
Byfuglien Unlikely To Play This Season: While the suspension without pay grievance is still heading for arbitration, there appears to be some news on the Dustin Byfuglien front in Winnipeg. He has yet to resume skating following his ankle surgery and as it stands, he’s now not likely to play this season. This will give Jets GM Kevin Cheveldayoff some much-needed certainty heading into the trade deadline as he looks to bolster a defense corps that lost several key players over the summer and has dealt with several injuries this year. Now, even if the suspension without pay is overturned, Winnipeg will now be able to turn around and say that he was eligible for LTIR, effectively allowing them to go over by the cap by his $7.6MM cap hit to make any additions.
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