Headlines

Go To MLB Trade Rumors
Go To Hoops Rumors

Archives for June 2022

Latest on Kris Letang, Evgeni Malkin

at CDT | by 16 Comments

The Pittsburgh Penguins have earmarked the 2022 offseason for years as a potential turning point for the franchise. Two-thirds of the core that has led the team to its lengthiest run of playoff success in franchise history, Evgeni Malkin and Kris Letang, were scheduled to hit unrestricted free agency. In recent years, Bryan Rust has thrown his name onto the list of important Penguins with expiring contracts this season as well.

The team dealt with Rust, signing him to a long extension last month. Malkin and Letang remain unsigned with now less than a month remaining until free agency begins on July 13. However, The Athletic’s Rob Rossi reports that the organization’s top priority is signing Letang to a multi-year extension, according to multiple sources.

While the wording of that headline could raise some eyebrows, it’s unlikely that the inference the team truly prioritizes Letang over Malkin is accurate. It’s impossible to go into such a pivotal offseason without a plan of attack, and management needs an order of operations in order to manage their salary cap situation. The goal here is likely to figure out an average annual value for Letang as soon as possible so that they can make the appropriate salary cap moves to accommodate Malkin.

The last reported offer the Penguins made to Letang was “a little less” than his current cap hit of $7.25MM for four years, but that was almost a month ago now. If Letang signs for his current cap hit, Pittsburgh would be left with about $15.6MM in cap space this offseason, per CapFriendly. With that number, the Penguins would need to not only re-sign Malkin but also find a goalie to pair with Tristan Jarry and fill multiple spots at forward. It’s extremely doubtful they’d be able to make that work.

Really, all the Penguins are looking for at this point is some cost certainty. General manager Ron Hextall will need some time to make some cap-clearing trades work if necessary, but the team remains fully committed to retaining their core.

Morning Notes: Nichushkin, Montgomery, Memorial Cup

at CDT | by 2 Comments

One of the most under-the-radar redemption stories over the past few seasons in the NHL has been Valeri Nichushkin. A top-10 choice of the Dallas Stars in 2013, Nichushkin struggled with consistency in his early years in Dallas, leading him to return to his native Russia for two seasons after the expiry of his entry-level contract. The Stars then signed him to a two-year, $5.9MM contract prior to the 2018-19 season to bring him back to the NHL. However, after scoring no goals and just 10 assists in 57 games in 2018-19, the Stars bought out the second year of his contract, making him an unrestricted free agent. The Avalanche took a chance on him in free agency, inking him to a one-year deal worth $850,000. His offensive production rebounded but, perhaps most importantly, he started growing his reputation as one of the best defensive wingers in the NHL among the analytics community. It earned him a contract extension which paid off in a big way for Colorado this year, with Nichushkin providing 25 goals and 52 points in 62 games with just a $2.5MM cap hit.

That type of production along with his defensive reputation is sure to earn Nichushkin a solid chunk of change this summer. However, Bally Sports Midwest’s Andy Strickland reports that Nichushkin and the Avalanche discussed a contract extension earlier in the season, but the two sides weren’t close to an agreement. Now 27 and an unrestricted free agent off a strong contract year, this is the best chance Nichushkin will have to capitalize financially. It would surprise few if the Avalanche can’t afford to retain him, especially as the team needs to prioritize their goaltending uncertainty and a contract extension for Nathan MacKinnon.

Free Agent Focus: San Jose Sharks

at CDT | by 10 Comments

Free agency is now less than six weeks away and many teams are already looking ahead to when it opens up.  There will be several prominent players set to hit the open market in mid-July while many teams have key restricted free agents to re-sign as well.  Next up is a look at the Sharks.

Key Restricted Free Agents

  • G Kaapo Kahkonen – Kahkonen was acquired from the Minnesota Wild at the trade deadline as part of the Jacob Middleton trade, and Kahkonen performed reasonably well as he began to take on a more prominent role late in the Sharks’ season. Kahkonen finished with ten starts in San Jose and posted a .916 save percentage. When combined with his 23 starts as a member of the Minnesota Wild, Kahkonen’s overall 2021-22 save percentage is .912, an encouraging mark for a goalie not set to turn 26 until the middle of August. The Sharks will have to make a decision this offseason, as once Kahkonen is re-signed they will have three NHL-caliber goalies under contract (Kahkonen, Adin Hill, and James Reimer), and are unlikely to spend a full season with a three-goalie group.
    As for Kahkonen’s next contract, he does have arbitration rights as an RFA meaning he has at least some negotiation power in deciding his future. A bridge deal at around $2MM-3MM could make sense, although there is an interesting contract comparable that could prove troublesome if the Sharks want to retain Kahkonen on the cheap. Los Angeles Kings goalie Calvin Petersen, in a similar RFA situation to Kahkonen, at a similar age, inked a three-year deal with the Kings at a $5MM AAV. Petersen’s numbers compared to Kahkonen’s are similar: when he signed his contract, Petersen was coming off of a season where he had a .911 save percentage and 2.89 goals-against average in 32 starts, while Kahkonen enters his time as an RFA with a .912/2.87 in 33 starts. They’re basically identical numbers, the only major difference being that Petersen started 32 games in the shortened 2020-21 season, so his marks represented a larger share of the available games for a goalie to play. Given the similarity in his numbers, Kahkonen could reasonably demand a similar contract to Petersen and therefore likely make negotiations more difficult for the Sharks.
  • F Noah Gregor – Gregor has been a solid find for the Sharks as a 2016 fourth-round pick, developing from his time as a star in the WHL into the reliable two-way forward he was this past season. Gregor played sound two-way hockey and became a more and more trusted weapon of coach Bob Boughner, finishing the season with just under 15 minutes of average time on ice. Gregor didn’t overwhelm with his production, but his eight goals and 23 points in 63 games is decent enough, and his strong scoring at the AHL level indicates he may have some more offense to come as he gets more comfortable against NHL competition. While long-term deals for players with limited NHL experience are becoming more commonplace (Vegas Golden Knights defenseman Zach Whitecloud, as an example, got a long-term $2.75MM AAV deal and had less than a full season of NHL experience) a short-term bridge deal is the likeliest outcome for Gregor. Gregor worked on a $750k cap hit this year, so expect a raise but nothing major as Gregor doesn’t yet have arbitration rights, and the Sharks will be hard-pressed for cap space.
  • D Mario Ferraro – Ferraro has become an increasingly important defenseman in San Jose and just finished a season where he averaged 23 minutes of time on ice per game. His offense isn’t anything to write home about – just 14 points in 63 games – but it’s his leadership, physicality, and overall defensive game that makes him such a valued part of the Sharks lineup. There is some debate over Ferraro’s true overall skill level, and if his time-on-ice is truly reflective of his value, but it’s clear the Sharks rate him highly and that’s ultimately all that matters in contract negotiations. The Sharks could opt for a long-term deal with Ferraro, but since they figure to have some cap troubles and are intent on competing in the near future, a bridge deal seems more likely.

Other RFA’s: Jonathan Dahlen, Alexander Chmelevski, Jonah Gadjovich, John Leonard, Nicolas Meloche, Joachim Blichfeld, Zachary Gallant, Jacob McGrew, Antoine Morand, Brinson Pasichnuk, Zach Sawchenko

Key Unrestricted Free Agents

The Sharks’ only unrestricted free agents of any consequence are Anthony Bitetto, Ryan Dzingel, and Alex Stalock, three players who combined to play seven total games for the Sharks this past season. While Bitetto, Dzingel, and Stalock are all NHL veterans, they do not figure to play a major role in San Jose moving forward even if re-signed.

Projected Cap Space

This is where things get dicey for San Jose. The Sharks are currently projected to have just $5.67MM in cap room to start this offseason, and since they have NHL-caliber RFA’s to re-sign in Ferraro, Dahlen, Kahkonen, and Gregor, as well as an intention of improving their roster significantly, that’s just not enough space to make the moves their next GM will likely want to make. Big contracts for players such as Erik Karlsson, Brent Burns, Logan Couture, and Marc-Edouard Vlasic mean that finding the necessary wiggle room will take immense creativity, and their precarious cap position is further complicated by the uncertainty of the Evander Kane situation, as the deliberations over the grievance he filed have not yet been concluded. A buyout for Vlasic, a trade of one of the highly-paid players, or even dealing one of the players on a moderate deal such as Reimer would go a long way to creating room for San Jose to operate. Whatever path they choose, it’s clear they will have to do something in order to create the necessary breathing room under the salary cap they need to return to contention.

Photos courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.  Contract information courtesy of CapFriendly.

West Notes: Kempe, Kuzmenko, Wild Prospects

at CDT | by 5 Comments

There are some players who make solid, reasonable improvements in platform years before they need new contracts. Then there are players like Adrian Kempe. In the final year of his $2MM AAV bridge contract, Kempe smashed his career highs in offensive production. Kempe led the Kings with 35 goals and added on 19 assists, finishing with 54 points which was good for second on the team behind linemate Anze Kopitar. Kempe showed that the improved offensive form he flashed in 2020-21, when he had 14 goals and 29 points in 56 games (20-goal, 42-point pace) was not a fluke. Before that point, Kempe had been typically seen as someone capable of scoring around 15 goals and 30 points a season, so his 35-goal outburst was extremely impressive.

It also has likely made him quite a bit of money. Kempe is an arbitration-eligible restricted free agent and is close to unrestricted free agency. Kempe has communicated a desire to stay in Los Angeles, saying definitively in his post-season press conference that he would like to sign a long-term deal with the Kings. The conflict, then, comes in terms of finding exactly what that long-term deal will look like. The Athletic’s Lisa Dillman reports (subscription link) that the Kings and Kempe’s representation have had “early discussions” but “nothing substantial” in the way of negotiations on a new Kempe contract. As a newly-minted 35-goal-scorer, Kempe’s deal could now cost over $5MM per year, and Dillman pointed to St. Louis Blues forward Pavel Buchnevich and his five-year, $5.8MM contract as a comparable for Kempe. There is always the risk that paying based off of Kempe’s one breakout year burns the Kings if Kempe reverts back to his prior production, but on the flip side there’s also the risk that another year of strong production drives Kempe’s price up even more. With the Kings eager to improve upon a season where they made the playoffs for the first time under coach Todd McLellan, getting Kempe locked into a long-term deal should be a priority for this summer.

Now, for some other notes regarding the league’s Western-Conference teams:

  • KHL forward Andrei Kuzmenko’s decision on where to sign for next season has been a bit of a drawn-out process, with interviews and multiple weeks of engaging NHL suitors in negotiations. With that said, though, Kuzmenko’s decision is one that will have major consequences for his career, so he has every right to take as long as he needs to make the decision that’s best for him. Even so, we could be nearing the end of the process. TSN’s Darren Dreger reports that Kuzmenko is interviewing with both the Edmonton Oilers and Vancouver Canucks this week, along with two “U.S.-based” teams. Dreger adds that Kuzmenko is “hoping” to make his decision in the next ten days. Kuzmenko was brilliant for SKA St. Petersburg this season, scoring 53 points in 45 games. Some believe that Kuzmenko will step into the NHL and become an instant top-six scoring forward, meaning Kuzmenko’s decision process has some real stakes attached.
  • The Minnesota Wild announced today that they will play two games against the Chicago Blackhawks in this year’s Tom Kurvers Prospect Showcase. The games will be on September 17th and 18th in Chicago, and the team says that rosters and additional information will be made available at a later date. The Wild have the third-ranked prospect pool in the NHL, per The Athletic’s Scott Wheeler (subscription link), so those two dates are definitely ones to circle on the calendar for fans of the Wild, Blackhawks, and prospects in general.

Buffalo Sabres Sign Filip Cederqvist

at CDT | by 1 Comment

Today’s newest move isn’t an extension, like the three that have already been announced, but a prospect signing. The Buffalo Sabres have announced that they have signed prospect forward Filip Cederqvist to a two-year entry-level contract.

Cederqvist, who turns 22 in August, was the Sabres’ fifth-round pick in 2019. He was a bright spot in an otherwise dark season for Djurgardens in the SHL, scoring 14 goals and 32 points in 49 games, which was good for second on the team behind former NHL-er Marcus Sorensen. Cederqvist’s impressive 2021-2022 season comes off the back of a strong 2020-2021 campaign, where he scored nine goals and 36 points in 51 games for Tingsryds AIF in the second-tier HockeyAllsvenskan.

Cederqvist will join the Sabres this fall with the hope of winning a spot on their opening-night lineup. The newly-changed NHL-SHL agreement stipulates that prospects drafted outside of the first round have to be older than 24 to be sent to the AHL, so Djurgardens being relegated from the SHL might actually end up being a positive for Cederqvist. The Buffalo News’ Lance Lysowski reports that Cederqvist will be eligible to play for Rochester next season. So Cederqvist will in all likelihood join Rochester later this year with the hopes of continuing the development he’s shown for the past two seasons, with his eye on ultimately making the NHL roster in Buffalo.

Edmonton Oilers Extend Brad Malone

at CDT | by Leave a Comment

Add another signing to the list of moves for today. The Edmonton Oilers have announced that they have re-signed forward Brad Malone to a two-year, two-way contract. Per David Pagnotta of The Fourth Period, the deal carries a $762k cap hit.

Malone, 33, has been in the Oilers’ organization for the past five seasons and has been a reliable depth contributor there. He’s at his best at the AHL level, where he has hovered near the top of the Bakersfield Condors’ scoring leaders. Oilers coach Jay Woodcroft has seen Malone closely from his time coaching in Bakersfield, and Malone has been one of the coach’s most trusted players. When Kailer Yamamoto’s injury opened a hole in the Oilers’ lineup, the pressure of being in the Western Conference Final did not deter Woodcroft from putting Malone in the lineup. Malone played mostly on the penalty kill, and it’s the combination of reliability and leadership that he brings to the Oilers organization that’s earned him this extension.

Malone has served as the captain of the Bakersfield Condors for the past two seasons, helping prized prospects such as Dylan Holloway and Raphael Lavoie make smooth transitions to the professional game. The Oilers want Malone to be among Condors’ most important forwards as well as provide safe, competent bottom-six play as an injury fill-in at the NHL level, and they’re signing this extension with the belief that Malone can continue to be exactly that.

 

Dallas Stars Extend Nicholas Caamano

at CDT | by Leave a Comment

Now that all but two NHL clubs have begun their offseasons, more and more teams are getting their summer work done early. Earlier today the Predators extended their mid-season trade acquisition, Jeremy Lauzon, and now their central division rival, the Dallas Stars, have also announced an extension, theirs for depth winger Nicholas Caamano. The extension is a one-year, two-way contract.

The exact financial terms of the contract have not yet been revealed but Caamano, who was set to be a restricted free agent, was due for a qualifying offer of $787,500, so it’s likely that the number for this contract is around there.

Caamano, 23, was drafted in the fifth round in 2016 and has developed nicely since that point. He’s a big winger standing at six-foot-three, 200 pounds, and plays a bit faster than his size would indicate. While there’s not a ton of offense to his game, and he had only one point in 24 NHL games last season to go along with 14 points in 47 AHL games this year, his style is definitely one that plays better in a bottom-six role regardless of if he’s playing in Dallas or Cedar Park. That is why, despite the lack of production in his time as a professional, the Stars deemed him worth keeping around for next season.

Caamano did flash some offensive upside in his final two seasons of junior hockey, where he had 121 points in 131 games. Also, his 23 points in 36 games at the AHL level in 2019-20 indicates that he might have just a little bit more scoring ability than he’s shown so far. NHL teams are always looking for players who are Caamano’s size and can score, so signing this one-year extension offers Caamano an (admittedly long-shot) opportunity to prove he can become what so many teams desire and give more to his team than just his grit and physicality.

Nashville Predators Extend Jeremy Lauzon

at CDT | by 10 Comments

A busy day of signings continues today. The Nashville Predators announced they’ve extended defenseman Jeremy Lauzon to a four-year contract worth $8MM in total, carrying an average annual value of $2MM.

Nashville acquired Lauzon at the Trade Deadline this season from the Seattle Kraken in exchange for a second-round pick (49th overall in the 2022 draft). He was Seattle’s expansion draft selection from the Boston Bruins.

Strictly a bottom-of-the-lineup player, Lauzon tallied two goals and seven points in 66 games combined between Seattle and Nashville this season. While he was in the lineup more consistently in Nashville, he often found himself as a healthy scratch with the Kraken. He averaged 17:40 of ice time per game this season, only a few seconds above his career average.

The veteran of 142 NHL games has some serious career stability now. He is decent defensively at even strength but has struggled on the penalty kill when used there, making more an ideal complementary player to a more high-end, offensively-inclined defenseman. If all goes well, he could end up being a good, cheap solution to partner with Roman Josi, but that’s assuming he maintains his solid defensive play post-trade. He’s known to be inconsistent at times, which raises a few red flags around the four-year term for this deal.

However, Lauzon is still just 25, and will still likely be in his prime at age 29 when the deal expires in 2026. It’s somewhat of a risky deal since the $2MM isn’t fully buriable in the minors, but it could just as well work out just fine. Lauzon was slated to become a restricted free agent with arbitration rights this offseason, and he’ll be an unrestricted free agent at the contract’s end.

Metro Notes: Strome, Flyers, Hanus

at CDT | by 4 Comments

It was obvious to anyone watching the Eastern Conference Final that New York Rangers forward Ryan Strome wasn’t playing fully healthy. During his end-of-season availability today, Strome revealed that he had suffered a pelvic injury midway through the regular season and managed it all the way through the rest of the season and playoffs.

What’s unclear at this point is whether surgery will be required or not. It’s bad timing for Strome, who could hit unrestricted free agency on July 13 if he’s not re-signed by the Rangers. Strome did express his interest in re-signing today, but it’s anyone’s guess whether or not that will come to fruition. With the bevy of Rangers prospects finally starting to emerge through the cracks, the team will have to make space for those kids somewhere. It seems logical from an organizational perspective that Strome wouldn’t be retained, especially with the acquisition of Andrew Copp.

  • The Fourth Period’s Anthony Di Marco refutes the reports that the Philadelphia Flyers have narrowed down their coaching search. He does go so far as to say that the three rumored finalists of Barry Trotz, John Tortorella, and Peter DeBoer are still under consideration, but he makes the distinction that the Flyers have just two or three names remaining on their coaching search list. Whether or not an outsider to those three ends up with the job remains to be seen.
  • The ’Baby Penguins’ made some news today, as AHL Wilkes-Barre/Scranton announced the signing of defenseman Clay Hanus from the WHL’s Portland Winterhawks for 2022-23. The Pittsburgh Penguins affiliate will add some solid defensive depth, as Hanus exploded for 74 points in 68 games this year. He’ll look to continue his development as an undrafted free agent with WBS and hopefully receive an NHL deal from Pittsburgh at some point down the road.

Colorado Avalanche Sign Lukas Sedlak

at CDT | by 2 Comments

The Colorado Avalanche announced the signing of forward Lukas Sedlak to a one-year contract for 2022-23. The contract brings Sedlak back to the NHL after three years spent in the KHL. No financial terms have been disclosed as of yet.

Sedlak was actually signed through next season with Traktor Chelyabinsk, but the team terminated his contract early last month, opening the door for Sedlak to return. HC Dynamo Pardubice in the Czech Extraliga had snapped up Sedlak to bring him back to his home country just a few days after his contract was terminated, but Sedlak has apparently opted to take advantage of the assumed NHL out-clause in his Czech contract to return for a shot at an NHL role.

A solid 13th forward for three seasons with the Columbus Blue Jackets, Colorado will be just the second NHL organization Sedlak’s been affiliated with. Sedlak was Columbus’s property ever since the team drafted him in 2011 all the way until he left the team as a free agent in 2019. He’s been one of the top scorers in the KHL ever since, putting up 43 points in 49 games with Chelyabinsk in 2021-22.

Cheap, affordable veteran depth will be crucial for the Avalanche as the team’s Cup window looks to open for years to come. They’ll inevitably push closer and closer to the salary cap, requiring the usage of players like Sedlak to be able to step into the lineup occasionally and perform. While nothing more than a depth role should be expected, he’s shown the ability in the past to be a reliable NHL forward and he returns as a more experienced player.

Pro Hockey Rumors is not affiliated with National Hockey League, NHL or NHL.com

scroll to top