As the calendar flipped to September, activity around the NHL started to pick up with several signings of note plus some big news on the international front which are included in the key stories of the week.
Making It Official: The Islanders took their time announcing some of their offseason signings and decided to do most of it in one press release. They confirmed the re-signings of UFA winger Kyle Palmieri (four years, $20MM), UFA center Casey Cizikas (six years, $15MM), RFA winger Anthony Beauvillier (three years, $12.45MM), and RFA goaltender Ilya Sorokin (three years, $12MM). Palmieri’s retention will help replace the lost production of Jordan Eberle who went to Seattle in expansion while Cizikas has been a very effective energy forward for several years now. Beauvillier has been a consistent secondary scorer for the last four years and the 24-year-old got a term that walks him to unrestricted free agency while Sorokin will continue to partner with Semyon Varlamov between the pipes. Though not announced yet, veteran winger Zach Parise also confirmed he has an agreement with the Isles.
Early Extensions: A pair of veteran defensemen opted to forego a shot at testing the open market next season to stay where they are. First, the Blackhawks inked Connor Murphy to a four-year, $17.6MM contract. The 28-year-old has been a reliable stay-at-home defender over his four seasons with Chicago which helped him earn a $550K raise on his current deal. Then, the Blues locked up Colton Parayko on an eight-year, $52MM extension. Parayko has been a key piece on the back end in St. Louis for the past five seasons but is coming off a quiet year where he battled recurring back issues. Even so, he’s arguably their best defender when healthy and locking up a top pairing player for that price tag has the potential to be a bargain down the road.
Offer Sheet Success: Offer sheets are infrequently used and even more infrequently do they actually result in the player actually changing teams. That wasn’t the case this time as the Canadiens declined to match Carolina’s one-year, $6.1MM offer sheet to Jesperi Kotkaniemi, receiving 2022 first and third-round picks in return. Montreal wasted little time finding his replacement, acquiring center Christian Dvorak from Arizona for a 2022 first-rounder plus a 2024 second-round selection. Kotkaniemi, the third-overall pick in 2018, is expected to play on the wing in Carolina for now with the hope that the change of scenery will help him to reach his offensive potential. Meanwhile, Dvorak represents a capable replacement for Kotkaniemi and he will likely step onto Montreal’s second line behind Nick Suzuki while giving them some cap certainty with four years remaining on his deal at $4.45MM. As for the Coyotes, they’re up to eight picks in the first two rounds in next year’s draft as their rebuild continues.
Olympic Confirmation: It had been expected for a while now but the NHL and NHLPA made it official with the announcement that NHL players will be permitted to play in the upcoming Olympics in Beijing next year. As they skipped the 2018 Games, it will be the first time since 2014 that NHL players participate in the event. There is a clause in the agreement that could stop them from participating if the NHL is forced to postpone several games due to COVID outbreaks which would require them to reschedule them during that time period.
Winger Deals: A pair of young wingers bypassed their bridge contracts and instead worked out long-term agreements with their teams. First, the Flyers signed winger Joel Farabee to a six-year, $30MM extension that will begin in 2022-23. Farabee’s sophomore season was a good one with 20 goals and 18 assists in 55 games and if he can carry that type of production over a full 82-game campaign, the deal has the potential to be a very good one for Philadelphia. The next day, the Senators re-signed winger Drake Batherson to a very similar contract, six years at a total of $29.85MM. The 23-year-old played his first full NHL season in 2020-21, collecting 17 goals and 17 assists in 56 games. Similar to the Farabee deal, if Batherson can take another step forward and establish himself as a consistent scorer, this has a chance to be a bargain down the road for Ottawa.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.