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Archives for September 2020

NHL Issues Update On COVID-19 Testing

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In the penultimate update, the NHL has released a statement on the COVID-19 testing being done in the bubble.  For the ninth straight week, there have been zero positive tests.  Their statement reads as follows:

The NHL completed the ninth week of its Phase 4 Return to Play with no positive test results for COVID-19 among the 773 tests administered. Testing was administered on a daily basis to all members of the Clubs’ 52-member travelling parties, including Players, during the period from September 20-26. The NHL has administrated 33,174 tests to Club personnel, including players, since the start of Phase 4 with zero positive tests. The NHL will issue its final update on COVID-19 testing results following the conclusion of the Stanley Cup Final. The League will not be providing information on the identity of any individuals or Clubs.

With just a few days left until the championship is awarded, the league seems destined to get through their return to play without experiencing another outbreak, though things can obviously change in an instant.

Chicago Blackhawks Trade Dylan Sikura

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The Chicago Blackhawks have traded Dylan Sikura to the Vegas Golden Knights in exchange for a familiar face. Brandon Pirri, who started his career with the Blackhawks, will be coming back to Chicago in the one-for-one deal.

Despite strong numbers in the minor leagues, Sikura never seemed to fit into the Blackhawks plan and has played just 47 NHL games since turning pro in 2018. He’s scored just a single goal in those games and recorded 14 points, not nearly enough for a player of his offensive nature.

In Vegas, perhaps Sikura will be given a bigger opportunity to show what he can do, but that chance wasn’t going to come in Chicago. He’s heading into the final year of his current deal and can become a Group VI unrestricted free agent if he fails to play in 33 NHL games next season.

Pirri meanwhile is a much more proven NHL commodity, though he comes with warts of his own. Now 29, the Blackhawks second-round pick from 2009 has shown an aptitude for scoring goals at the highest level but not a lot else. Pirri has 72 tallies in his 275-game NHL career, but just 49 assists to go with it. In his best offensive year, he scored 22 times with the Florida Panthers and amazingly recorded just two assists.

Technically Pirri will be staying put, given he has spent the last three seasons playing most of his games with the Chicago Wolves of the AHL. The Golden Knights have changed their affiliate to Henderson, Nevada, but Pirri could very well stay in Chicago if he can make the Blackhawks roster. He comes on the final year of his contract and carries a $775K cap hit.

Nashville Predators Sign Yakov Trenin

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Sep 28: Now that he is under contract, the Predators can officially loan Trenin overseas to get him back on the ice. They did just that today, sending him to SKA St. Petersburg of the KHL until the start of 2020-21 NHL training camp.

Sep 24: The Nashville Predators have completed some offseason business, signing Yakov Trenin to a new two-year contract. The deal is worth just $700K in 2020-21 and $750K in 2021-22, making the young forward a league-minimum option for the Predators moving forward. Trenin was scheduled to become a restricted free agent next month.

Now 23, Trenin was a second-round pick of the organization back in 2015 but has only just made his NHL debut. Playing in 21 games for the team this season he recorded six points, but proved he could be relied upon at the defensive end of the rink. That alone would likely be enough to put him in the running for next season’s bottom-six, but add in the fact that he scored 20 goals and 35 points in just 32 AHL contests and you can bet Trenin has an inside track.

The 6’2″ forward has proven he can handle himself physically at the next level and should find himself in the NHL lineup more often than not unless Nashville makes some additions this offseason. The fact that he’ll only cost the league minimum and is no longer waiver-exempt only adds to his case.

Chris Stewart Announces His Retirement

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Sep 28: Stewart wasn’t out of work long. The Flyers have hired Stewart as a player development coach. GM Chuck Fletcher released a statement:

The Flyers are excited to have Chris Stewart join our team in a hockey operations role after an excellent career in the NHL. I’ve known Chris for a long time and have admired the way he plays the game, but also how he conducts himself off the ice as a true professional and leader in the locker room. He will be a valuable asset to help mentor our young players and shape their future as Flyers.

Sep 27: Pending unrestricted free agent Chris Stewart has decided to not test the market when it opens up next month.  Instead, the veteran winger announced his retirement via his Twitter account and is hanging up his skates at the age of 32.

This past season, Stewart signed a two-way deal with Philadelphia early in the season and got into 16 games with the Flyers, collecting one assist while averaging just 7:47 per game.  He cleared waivers in mid-January and was sent to AHL Lehigh Valley where he remained until the pandemic ended that season prematurely.  He was not a part of Philadelphia’s playoff roster.

While Stewart’s career ended somewhat quietly, he was a reasonably productive player over his 11 NHL seasons.  A first-round pick of Colorado back in 2006, he was a part of two significant trades in his career, joining St. Louis in 2011 in a deal that also saw Erik Johnson and Kevin Shattenkirk trade places.  Three years later, he was part of the trade that saw the Blues try to make a big splash at the deadline by landing Ryan Miller from Buffalo.  All told, he played in 668 career games with seven teams, picking up 160 goals and 162 assists.

Latest On Torey Krug’s Pending Free Agency

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It was always going to be difficult for the Boston Bruins to re-sign Torey Krug because of their salary cap situation, but that hasn’t stopped them from trying. Frank Seravalli of TSN reports that the team’s last offer to Krug was a six-year, $39MM contract ($6.5MM AAV). Since that may not be enough to ink the offensive defenseman, Seravalli also notes that there has been “significant interest” from teams hoping to trade for Krug’s rights before the free agent period opens next month.

The 29-year-old defenseman is one of the top free agents set to hit the open market on October 9th, perhaps even second behind Alex Pietrangelo among defenders. There are very few players who can match his offensive output, which totaled 49 points in 61 games this season with the Bruins. In fact, over the last four seasons, Krug trails only Brent Burns, Erik Karlsson, Victor Hedman, John Carlson, and Roman Josi in scoring among defensemen, five players who are consistently in the Norris Trophy race. He’s well ahead of Pietrangelo in that category, though the rest of his game is not nearly as polished.

For a team looking to improve their powerplay though, there may be no better option available. Krug trails only Brent Burns in powerplay scoring among defenseman over the last four years, a total developed through consistent performance instead of breakout seasons. The Bruins quarterback has at least 39 points in each of his seven NHL seasons and has performed even more exceptional in the postseason. Through his first 75 playoff contests, Krug has 52 points

The Bruins, with Jake Debrusk and Matt Grzelcyk still to sign as restricted free agents, aren’t swimming in cap space. The team currently sits with just over $14.4MM for the 2020-21 season, but need to consider the future when discussing a long-term deal with Krug. Charlie McAvoy will be looking at a huge raise when his current deal expires in 2022, while Brandon Carlo is up after this upcoming season. There are plenty of other question marks around the roster given the expiring deals of Tuukka Rask, Jaroslav Halak and David Krejci, though that could potentially provide an opportunity to invest in younger talent instead.

Should a team trade for Krug’s rights, they would have less than two weeks to work out a deal before he reaches free agency. It’s tough to give up a valuable asset for that small window, though perhaps it would be worth it if you believe he is the difference-maker your team needs.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images

Robert Hagg Signs With Philadelphia Flyers

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After a report surfaced this morning that Shayne Gostisbehere is available for trade, the Philadelphia Flyers have moved to lock up one of their other defensemen. Robert Hagg has signed a new two-year contract that will carry an average annual value of $1.6MM. Hagg was scheduled for restricted free agency next month and was arbitration-eligible. He will now be under contract through the 2021-22 season, after which he will be an unrestricted free agent.

Hagg, 25, was a second-round pick of the Flyers back in 2013 but spent several years in the minor leagues polishing his game. By the time he reached the NHL in 2017, he was a strong, punishing defender that offered a new look for the organization. In fact, over the last three seasons, Hagg has recorded 632 hits, fourth among all NHL defenders and tenth among all skaters. Over the same period, he has blocked 337 shots, a number that puts him only behind Ivan Provorov on the Flyers and still among the league’s best.

No, hits and blocked shots aren’t everything, but with so many other talented puck-moving defensemen in the Flyers system, Hagg’s physical profile fits in well. He offers a different look for opposing teams, while actually taking relatively few minor penalties. At $1.6MM per season, he will still represent an inexpensive option that can be deployed on the third pairing nightly.

For the Flyers, that leaves Philippe Myers and Nolan Patrick as the two biggest restricted free agents left to sign. Justin Braun is also a free agent—though the unrestricted variety—but there are other young options for Philadelphia if they choose to let him walk.

Shayne Gostisbehere Available In Trade

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Though it may not come as much of a surprise, Pierre LeBrun of The Athletic confirms that Shayne Gostisbehere of the Philadelphia Flyers is available in trade talks as the offseason approaches. The team has “shown a serious willingness” to move Gostisbehere for the first time, even though his name has been in trade speculation for years.

It’s easy to see why that might be the case. Gostisbehere has fallen out of favor with the new coaching staff, seen his offensive production fall off a cliff, and still carries a $4.5MM cap hit for the next three seasons. The 27-year-old scored just 12 points in 42 games this season, playing the fewest minutes of his career and barely even getting into the Flyers postseason.

That said, this is a player that recorded a 65-point season as recently as 2017-18 and has shown an ability to contribute huge numbers in the offensive end. A powerplay quarterback, he has twice received votes for the Norris Trophy as one of the league’s best defensemen. No one would call Gostisbehere a shutdown defender in his own end, but he still does produce strong possession stats and may be seen by another team as a serious buy-low candidate.

Importantly, as LeBrun points out, Gostisbehere’s contract was also heavily front-loaded. That means the enigmatic defenseman will only actually earn $3.25MM in salary over each of the final three seasons, a lot less money than his $4.5MM cap hit suggests. For teams looking to cut costs while still remaining cap compliant, he may be a rather attractive target.

Five Key Stories: 9/21/20 – 9/27/20

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With free agency and the draft fast approaching, activity around the league is starting to pick up with some notable trades being among the top stories of the past seven days.

Interim Tag Removed: It had been anticipated for a while that Bob Boughner would have the interim tag removed with GM Doug Wilson stating back in early April that Boughner had the upper hand at landing the full-time role after he replaced Peter DeBoer during the season.  However, it took until this week for the removing of the tag to be made official with Rocky Thompson and John Madden being named as Boughner’s assistants.  This is his second tenure as an NHL head coach having also held the role with Florida in 2017-18 and 2018-19.

Ryan Bought Out: While he won’t be the only player that gets bought out during the window that just opened up on Friday, Bobby Ryan has hit the free agent market after the Senators bought out the final two years of his deal.  The 33-year-old has seen his production dip considerably in recent years to the point where he wasn’t close to being worth his $7.25MM AAV.  While there will be a lingering salary cap charge for the next four years, that shouldn’t be much of a concern for Ottawa as they’re typically well below the Upper Limit.  Meanwhile, the Masterton Trophy winner should have some interest on the open market in a third line role but it’s safe to say that he’ll be taking a significant pay cut.

Panthers-Penguins Swap: While word leaked a little early, Pittsburgh and Florida were eventually able to get a trade completed as the Panthers acquired winger Patric Hornqvist in exchange for defenseman Mike Matheson and winger Colton Sceviour.  Hornqvist hasn’t reached the 20-goal mark over the last two years but should still give Florida a boost to their secondary scoring, albeit at a pricey $5.3MM price tag.  However, they offloaded that much and then some to Pittsburgh in Matheson (six years remaining at $4.875MM) and Sceviour (one year left at $1.2MM).  It was only a few years ago that Matheson was viewed as a key cog on Florida’s back end but he has struggled considerably the last couple of seasons to the point where he was even used as a winger at times this year.  Sceviour, meanwhile, gives the Penguins a bit of versatility in their bottom six, an area that was of some concern in their Qualifying Round loss to Montreal.

Petry Extension: One of the notable defensemen that was set to hit the open market in 2021 can be scratched off the list as the Canadiens signed Jeff Petry to a four-year, $25MM extension.  The 32-year-old has quietly been one of the more consistent offensive blueliners in recent years and has scored double-digit goals in three straight years while he logged a career best 23:37 in average ice time this season.  While he plays on the second pairing behind Shea Weber, Petry has become a player that is capable of stepping into the top role when needed.  While there is only a minor jump in AAV ($750K), the deal will take Petry into his age-37 season which could carry a bit of risk down the road for Montreal.

Staal To Detroit: Quite a few teams will be looking to clear out some cap room in the coming days and the Rangers were able to accomplish that as they sent a 2021 second-round pick to the Red Wings to get them to take on the final year of defenseman Marc Staal’s deal.  New York received future considerations as the return.  Staal carries a $5.7MM AAV but is owed just $3.2MM in salary.  If he remains with Detroit, he’ll serve as a mentor on their back end while being an in-season trade candidate but it’s also possible that they buy him out to open up the roster spot.  In the meantime, other teams that are looking to free up some cap room now have a better idea of what it’s going to cost to do so.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Offseason Keys: Vancouver Canucks

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The offseason has arrived for most squads.  Having covered the teams that weren’t a part of the NHL’s return and the ones ousted in the Qualifying Round and official first round, we shift our focus to the ones that were eliminated in the second round.  Next up is a look at Vancouver.

After a relatively quiet 2018-19 season, expectations weren’t that high for the Canucks heading into this year.  They were a team that was definitely in the mix for a Wild Card spot but not many were expecting them to do a lot of damage.  Then came the bubble where Vancouver was one of the bigger surprises.  Following their victory over Minnesota in the Qualifying Round, they ousted the defending Stanley Cup champions in the first round and took Vegas all the way to seven games before they were eliminated.  Now, GM Jim Benning’s key goals for this summer will be helping the team take that next step forward.  However, accomplishing that primarily means taking care of some of their own.

Clear Contracts

The list of notable free agents is fairly long and their cap situation, while not entirely dire, isn’t good enough for them to keep everyone that they want to.  Yes, they have about $14MM to spend but need to sign a starting goalie, two defensemen, and three forwards with a pair of notable skaters in defenseman Chris Tanev and winger Tyler Toffoli among those that are slated to hit the open market next month.  There’s enough room to keep some but certainly not enough to keep everyone.

That makes freeing up cap space extremely crucial for Benning.  While he has stated on multiple occasions that he doesn’t want to part with future assets to free up cap space, he may have to do so as if he doesn’t, an impact player is probably going to leave.

Who could they try to move to free up that space?  There are plenty of options.  Loui Eriksson has two years left at a $6MM AAV (tied for the highest on the team) but only $5MM left in money owing with his signing bonus already paid for next season.  Brandon Sutter is entering his final year with a $4.375MM price tag on the cap and $3.5MM in salary still owed.  Both players can still play in the NHL, albeit in limited roles.

A little farther down the list are winger Antoine Roussel and center Jay Beagle who both signed four-year, $12MM contracts just two summers ago.  They had the cap room to make those veteran additions now but shedding one of those deals would also give them a bit of flexibility.  Beagle is primarily a faceoff specialist at this point while Roussel, if healthy, can be an effective energy player in a bottom six.

At this point, it probably doesn’t matter which one of those veterans gets moved out to give them some extra wiggle room to keep their core players.  The priority simply has to be freeing up cap space.  It may not be something that Benning wants to do but he likely will have to bite the proverbial bullet here.

Goaltending Decision

Toffoli and Tanev aren’t the only UFAs of note that the Canucks have to contend with as starting goalie Jacob Markstrom is also less than two weeks away from hitting the open market.  While it has taken some time going back to his days with Florida, the 30-year-old has blossomed into a capable number one netminder and will be entering the market as one of the top options available.

While he wasn’t able to get to 60 games for the third straight season due to the pandemic and a knee injury, Markstrom still managed to put up a .918 SV% which was the highest of his career.  He did a bit better in the playoffs with a .919 mark in 14 games before a groin injury took him out and put Thatcher Demko into the starting role.

Demko was nothing short of spectacular and nearly single-handedly dragged Vancouver past Vegas before the Golden Knights edged them in that seventh game.  That presents a bit of a question for Benning.  Demko has long been viewed as their goalie of the future and might be ready for a bigger workload which is something that can’t happen as long as Markstrom is in the fold.  And while it may be a bit early for teams to really be worrying too much about the expansion draft for the Kraken next year, Vancouver can only protect one goalie.  If Markstrom re-signs, it puts them in a likely situation of losing one of them for nothing a year from now.

While Markstrom won’t be commanding the money that Sergei Bobrovsky did a year ago (seven years, $70MM), he should still be in line for a sizable raise on the $3.67MM AAV he had on this most recent deal.  It’s possible that he could command somewhere between $5.5MM and $7MM which would take up a big chunk of that remaining cap room.  Benning will have to decide in the very near future if Demko is ready to be the starter and if not, he’ll have to re-sign or replace Markstrom.

Extension Talks

The window to sign players to contract extensions has opened up and Vancouver has a pair of young stars that are a year away from needing new deals.  With how well both have performed already, there’s certainly a case to be made that Benning should be looking to get deals done with defenseman Quinn Hughes and center Elias Pettersson before the price tag gets even potentially higher next offseason.  Doing so would also give them a better idea of their long-term financial picture which could come in handy when it comes to forecasting what they can spend on their current pending UFAs.

Hughes had a phenomenal rookie campaign and finished tied for fourth overall in league scoring by defensemen and was just two points behind Norris finalist Victor Hedman for the third spot.  That performance helped him finished second in Calder Trophy voting and he was even better in the playoffs when he finished third in scoring with 16 points (2-14-16) in 17 games.  Hughes isn’t eligible for an offer sheet but that shouldn’t affect things much.  On his next deal, he’ll be setting the new benchmark for Vancouver’s defensemen as he’ll come in well ahead of Tyler Myers and Alexander Edler ($6MM each).

As for Pettersson, he has back-to-back 66-point seasons to start his career and has established himself as a capable front liner.  He has split time between center and the wing and that versatility will only make him more valuable down the road.  He may still have another level to get to offensively and it’s safe to say he will be a forward that they will build around.  Like Hughes, he’ll undoubtedly be setting the new high point for Vancouver’s forwards as he’ll surpass Eriksson’s $6MM price tag.

Both players are franchise cornerstones so locking them up is going to be high on Benning’s to-do list even though they don’t necessarily have to sign new deals until 2021.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Dustin Byfuglien Unlikely To Play Again

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After his contract was terminated by the Jets back in April, Dustin Byfuglien became an unrestricted free agent.  While playing again this season was out of the question, he immediately became one of the more intriguing defensemen available on the open market for 2020-21.  However, Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reported in the latest Saturday Headlines segment (video link) that the 35-year-old is unlikely to play again.

Byfuglien’s case was certainly an odd one.  After reporting in advance of training camp, he abruptly left before it got underway, citing a lack of desire to play which resulted in him being suspended without pay for not reporting.  However, it was later determined that he needed ankle surgery which was performed in October.  The Jets argued that it was not hockey related while his camp felt it was related to his time in Winnipeg and thus he shouldn’t have been suspended and instead placed on LTIR where he could still collect his salary.

In the end, Winnipeg’s argument won out.  As part of the contract termination, it was agreed that Byfuglien wouldn’t receive any of the $14MM in salary that he would have been owed for this past season and next.

Ben Hankinson, Byfuglien’s agent, told Friedman that teams have inquired about a contract for next season including Minnesota, his hometown team.  But the answer has been the same throughout all of those conversations in that the veteran doesn’t appear to have any interest in resuming his career, even with his ankle having recovered from the surgery.

If it is indeed the end of the line for Byfuglien, his playing days wrap up with 869 career games played over 14 seasons with the Blackhawks, Thrashers, and Jets.  In his prime, he was a significant offensive threat with a booming shot, scoring at least a dozen goals in nine years while even spending some time briefly on the right wing.  While his career is certainly ending somewhat quietly off the ice, the uniqueness in how things got to this point will be remembered for quite some time.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

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