While the free agent frenzy has slowed down, there was still plenty of notable news around the NHL over the past seven days which is recapped in our key stories.
Sharks Zeroing In On Quinn: The Sharks appear to have found their next head coach with multiple reports suggesting that David Quinn will be their new bench boss with an official announcement expected sometime this week. This will be Quinn’s second stint running an NHL bench after he was in charge with the Rangers for three seasons from 2018-19 through 2020-21 with the team posting a 96-87-25 record during that stretch. Last season, Quinn coached Team USA internationally at the Olympics and World Championship with the team not medalling in either event. He’ll now be tasked with helping to turn around a San Jose franchise that has fallen off in recent years and traded away their top defenseman in Brent Burns to Carolina earlier this month. Toronto’s Spencer Carbury and Pittsburgh’s Mike Vellucci were believed to be the other finalists for the position.
Nino To Nashville: The free agent market for winger Nino Niederreiter didn’t exactly develop quickly but the 29-year-old has found a new home after signing a two-year, $8MM contract with Nashville. The deal actually represents a pay cut after playing on a $5.25MM AAV the past five seasons, a sign of how stingy the market has become very quickly. Niederreiter is coming off a solid showing that saw him put up 24 goals and 20 assists in 75 games despite averaging less than 15 minutes a night of ice time. He has reached the 20-goal mark in six of the last eight seasons, consistent production that Nashville will certainly enjoy as they look to augment an offense that finished 12th in the league last season.
Tkachuk To Florida: After informing Calgary that he wouldn’t sign a long-term contract with them, Matthew Tkachuk has a new home as the Flames traded the winger along with a conditional 2025 fourth-round pick to Florida for winger Jonathan Huberdeau, center Cole Schwindt, defenseman MacKenzie Weegar, and a top-ten protected 2025 first-round pick. Right before the swap, Calgary inked Tkachuk to an eight-year, $76MM agreement, making it the first-ever true sign-and-trade in NHL history. Tkachuk is one of the premier power forwards in the league and will be Aleksander Barkov’s new running mate for the foreseeable future but the Panthers gave up one of the top point-getters last season in Huberdeau and a quality defenseman in Barkov (plus the prospect and draft pick). Calgary did well to recover plenty of talent for Tkachuk but it’s worth noting that both Huberdeau and Weegar are a year away from unrestricted free agency. GM Brad Treliving will certainly be hoping to get both of his newcomers locked up on long-term deals by next summer.
Blue Jackets Make Moves: From the moment he was acquired, there have been questions about whether or not Patrik Laine would be willing to stay with Columbus past his RFA years. The answer to that question was yes as the winger signed a four-year, $34.8MM contract, a deal that bought out three years of UFA eligibility. That will ensure that the Blue Jackets have two high-end wingers for the foreseeable future after they added Johnny Gaudreau in free agency. However, those two contracts put them well over the salary cap which resulted in them moving winger Oliver Bjorkstrand to Seattle for a 2023 third-round pick and a 2023 fourth-rounder. Bjorkstrand finished second on the Blue Jackets in scoring last season with 28 goals and 29 assists and he’ll immediately step into a key role for the Kraken at a low acquisition cost. The 27-year-old has four more years on his contract with a $5.4MM AAV which means that Columbus dealt with their cap issues with this one move and is now set to be cap-compliant for next season.
Three Years For Vanecek: After acquiring Vitek Vanecek to give them another option between the pipes, the Devils worked quickly to give the netminder a three-year contract worth $10.2MM. The deal, which allowed the two sides to avoid salary arbitration, buys out two years of UFA eligibility. Vanecek has just 79 career NHL appearances under his belt but had two quality seasons with Washington (playing for the league minimum) before the Capitals decided they wanted a more proven option between the pipes which led to the addition of Darcy Kuemper this summer. New Jersey, meanwhile, will bring back Mackenzie Blackwood while Jonathan Bernier hopes he’ll be ready for training camp after missing the bulk of last season after undergoing hip surgery. It’s rarely ideal for an NHL team to carry three goaltenders but after the injury trouble the Devils had between the pipes in 2021-22, it’s certainly understandable that they’re taking no chances this time around.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.