It wasn’t a particularly strong free agent market down the middle this summer and most of the notable ones signed within the first couple of days of the market opening up. One of the exceptions is Tyler Bozak and as a result, he finds himself in good shape in terms of trying to find his next home.
The 35-year-old has seen his production dip over the past few years as he has gone from someone logging more than 20 minutes per night with Toronto to playing more of a third line role which is where he best fits at this stage of his career. He’s also now coming off a season that saw him miss 21 games due to a concussion which certainly doesn’t help his value.
But what does help his value is his two-way ability. He can log a regular shift on the penalty kill and consistently is well above average at the faceoff dot which is always appealing to coaches. On the offensive front, he has averaged at least 0.4 points per game in each season throughout his career and actually is coming off his best year in that stat since 2016-17 although with him playing the fewest games in a single season of his career, it’s a bit of a small sample size.
Nevertheless, Bozak can still be counted on to contribute a bit offensively, kill penalties, and take some key situational faceoffs. That’s not a $5MM profile anymore like his last contract was but there is definitely a role for him to still fill.
Stats
2020-21: 31 GP, 5-12-17, -3 rating, 10 PIMS, 35 shots, 42.8 CF%, 14:55 ATOI, 56.8% faceoffs
Career: 764 GP, 167-282-449, -84 rating, 222 PIMS, 1,268 shots, 48.9 CF%, 17:47 ATOI, 53.8% faceoffs
Potential Suitors
Teams looking for an upgrade on the third line or a veteran to insulate some younger options should have some interest in Bozak. That’s a relatively specific role to fill but one that makes sense for prospective contenders as well as rebuilding teams that could use him for a few months and then flip him to a contender closer to the trade deadline.
In the East, Montreal lost Phillip Danault to Los Angeles in free agency, their two top centers are currently 21 years old, and their likely third line pivot in Jake Evans has less than a full year of NHL games under his belt including playoffs. Bozak would fit as some veteran insurance for the youngsters while replacing Danault’s situational faceoff role. Boston hasn’t replaced David Krejci down the middle and while Bozak wouldn’t be a direct replacement, he’d give them some depth but making it work on the salary cap would be a challenge. The Rangers could opt to put Filip Chytil back on the wing which would open up a spot on the third line for Bozak and a one-year term fits with the pricey contracts that are on the horizon a year from now. Florida makes some sense as well with Bozak filling the role vacated by Alexander Wennberg but they need to get Sam Reinhart re-signed first to see what money they have left.
Out West, St. Louis still makes plenty of sense for Bozak aside from their cap situation. If they can find a taker for Vladimir Tarasenko, the move would likely free up enough space to bring back Bozak to fill the same role on the depth chart he had last season. If Colorado is opening to spending right to the Upper Limit in the offseason, Bozak would certainly fit on their third line although there’s definitely risk to being capped out that early. Just ask Vegas about that; they could use Bozak and have LTIR room to add him into although getting back into compliance when Alex Tuch is ready to return would put them right back where they were last season in terms of dancing around the cap. Nashville certainly has the cap space and an opening to add Bozak but if they’re heading towards something resembling a rebuild, it may not be the best fit.
Projected Contract
Bozak ranked 35th on our Top 50 UFA list with a projected one-year deal with a base salary of $2.5MM and $1MM in performance bonuses. (As Bozak is 35, he’s eligible for a contract with incentives as long as it’s a one-year agreement.) There are enough spots for him to command that price tag but if he wants to go to a contender, he may have to take a lesser deal or at least push more of the guaranteed money into incentives to give the signing team the flexibility to get a deal done. At this point in free agency, Bozak is the best option left among middlemen and unless he plans to wait out the Tarasenko situation, he should sign his next contract fairly soon.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
According to the Kings, that exact same profile is worth more than $5m!
Honestly, I get all the reasons for signing Danault, but when someone like Bozak is available for about a third of the price, and you’re a team dying for goals, is that a smart use of money? They could have had Bozak and Tatar on shorter term deals and still had enough space left over to take a run at someone like Tarasenko. We’ll see how it works out…
One is 28, the other 35
Can you really expect Bozak to fill the role hed be signed to fill ?
One of the biggest reasons for signing Danault was to take defensive and face off pressure from players like Kopitar, Vilardi, Byfield, etc., all for different reasons. Since Bozak is also strong in those areas, why couldn’t he also fill that role for cheap?
Then, it was said that when players like Byfield were ready to step up, Danault adds to center depth and becomes a Stoll-like presence. But is that really worth $5m+ a year? Especially when he’s over 30 at that point? Doesn’t that kind of player become available every year? Seems unnecessary to overpay for that sort of skill set, one that smart teams generally don’t do. Teams like the Canucks do this stuff.
If the Kings had more offensive talent on the wings, maybe a move like this is defensible. But they have almost none, and it’s well documented this team struggles to score goals and has for years. Danault does not help with that. And if the young, cheap players don’t step up to add that, paying Danault that much for that long inhibits their ability to add that from the outside later. If you think Danault has untapped offensive potential, than great, and maybe he does and this contract will work out well. It’s not like he’s playing with better players in a more offensive system in LA, though.
Color me not impressed with GMRB so far. I get the great drafts and impressive prospect pool, but that’s Yannetti far more than it’s Rob Blake. And while he did acquire a lot of those picks, some of his other acquisitions like Grundstrom have failed to pan out. And that’s before mentioning his two biggest forays into free agency are Danault and Kovalchuk.
I hope I end up eating my words on all this and Danault becomes a 1b center, doing all the things he’s great at and more, and all the young players pan out and the Kings are contenders again within a year or two. But every year makes that goal more difficult, especially if the wrong buttons are pressed. It would be crippling for this franchise if this retooling doesn’t bear fruit within the next 12-24 months.
I could see the Preds making a play for Bozak. They lost out in trying to re-sign Haula and need a 3rd line center. And while the move they need to make is for a top line center which would move down another player to a lower line, this is more likely the kind of move Poile would make.
Aren’t the Preds already overpaying a couple of centers who are giving them 3rd line production? : )
Well, why not the Sabres?
A one year deal would be perfect and if he does good, he could be traded to a contender.
I wouldnt mind the Devs taking a run at him, he would slot in as our 3C very nicely. Worse comes to worse we flip him at the deadline for a pick
Hes more of a C4 at this point, but if Devils are that bad down the middle then maybe they should sign this guy
Bozak’s +/- numbers are not very good and significantly inferior to what Danault has put up over the past few years. The reason? Danault has exceptional vision when forechecking and covers the middle of the ice as well as the best. Comparing Bozak to Danault is like comparing EOL to Doughty … no contest. Danault’s contract is only marginally an overpay. It will even out as Kopitar can focus more on the offensive side of the game with Danault taking over most of the defensive side of his workload.
That’s all well and good, but is Danault really worth the two or three times more he’ll end up being paid per year than Bozak? Should a team that’s at least a year or two away from being a real contender be dumping that much money for that long into a player that essentially offers the exact same thing? Especially a team that’s biggest and most obvious weakness is not scoring goals?
My argument is not that Bozak is better than Danault. My argument is that, for where the Kings are at this stage of their rebuild, a shorter term, cheaper deal makes more sense for this type of player. I would be more okay with the Kings overpaying for someone who can actually score goals, because that’s what they need. Not someone who can win a face off. That player is available every year, usually for not very much money. It’s an overpay that could cause serious problems now and into the future at this stage of the rebuild.
You clearly have never watched Bozak play first of all, and second using plus/minus as your measuring stick is disingenuous. Why not bring up faceoff percentage? Takeaways and giveaways? Stats solely dependent on player and not team like plus minus. Bc bozak over last 6 seasons is better than Danault in faceoff percentage, and with Blues Bozak is over 55% in career on faceoffs. As well as destroying Danault with takeaways compared to giveaways, for their careers Bozak is plus 130 to Danaults plus 1… Just ONE more takeaway than giveaway for Danault, while Bozak has 130 more takeaways than giveaways, showing how much better and more responsible he is with the puck than Danault. Bozak also played on first pp unit at times last year and in top 6 when injuries hit the Blues, he’s capable of playing all over the lineup and on both penalty kill and powerplay. And is always out in last minute to hold a lead, and even would take faceoffs over Ryan O’Reilly depending on which side faceoff was on. Only thing Danault has on Bozak is age.