Headlines

Go To MLB Trade Rumors
Go To Hoops Rumors

Archives for July 2022

Afternoon Notes: Kubalik, Bailey, Burakovsky, Murray

at CDT | by 5 Comments

Earlier this week, TSN’s Bob McKenzie reported that the Chicago Blackhawks were not expected to extend a qualifying offer to forward Dylan Strome, and now it appears forward Dominik Kubalik will not be receiving one either, says The Athletic’s Mark Lazerus. Failing to qualify Kubalik is not much of a surprise given the choice not to keep Strome around either, and Chicago’s plan to conduct a full-scale rebuild. Had Chicago wanted to qualify Kubalik, the offer would have had to be for $4MM, relatively high as compared to the 32 points of production Kubalik offered in 78 games this season.

Choosing not to qualify Kubalik doesn’t necessarily foreclose the possibility of a return to the Blackhawks, as the move might be to avoid Kubalik accepting the offer or filing for arbitration, but it would make a reunion highly unlikely nonetheless. Although far from a bright side, this doesn’t signify a major blow to Kubalik’s future success, the Czech winger still capable of producing offense, even tallying as much as 30 goals as a rookie in 2019-20, in just 68 games. With a somewhat significant decline from his previous production in 2021-22, Kubalik may not find another deal at the qualifying offer he was expecting, but should find himself with interest from teams that are on a budget but looking to add a spark on offense.

  • From a player who seems on his way to a new team to a player who appears to be staying with his one and only team, The Athletic’s Kevin Kurz reports that the New York Islanders are not only not shopping forward Josh Bailey, but he may not be available altogether. The veteran winger has been a staple in the Islanders’ lineup for 14 years and has two more years at $5MM left on his contract. With the team needing to clear some cap space if they want to add offense and re-sign RFA defensemen Noah Dobson and Alexander Romanov, Bailey had been rumored to be an expendable piece with a relatively significant cap hit the team could cut out.
  • Peter Baugh, who covers the Colorado Avalanche for The Athletic, says that talks between the Avalanche and winger Andre Burakovsky have been quiet, however Burakovsky does still hope to remain in Colorado. With the veteran a pending UFA, and the market opening up on Wednesday afternoon, if Colorado wants to keep him around, the talks will likely have to intensify shortly to get something done. The forward has seen his production take a massive step forward since being traded to Colorado from the Washington Capitals in the summer of 2019, hitting a career-high 61 points in 80 games this season. In addition to Colorado’s need to balance the salary cap along with other pending UFAs in Nazem Kadri and Valeri Nichushkin, Burakovsky also brings with him a streaky nature, leaving his breakout and free agency with question marks surrounding it.
  • According to Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman, talks between the Ottawa Senators and Toronto Maple Leafs on goaltender Matt Murray have intensified, though nothing is done just yet. Murray has been one of the most frequently discussed names of the young offseason, with a deal to the Buffalo Sabres seeming to materialize before Murray killed it via his no-trade clause. The goaltender has two more years carrying a $6.25MM cap hit left on his contract, and any trade would likely require Ottawa to retain some salary while also potentially including an asset as well.

Los Angeles Kings Extend Adrian Kempe

at CDT | by 13 Comments

July 10th: The deal is now official. The Kings have announced Kempe’s four-year, $5.5MM AAV contract extension.

July 8th 4:25 PM: TSN’s Darren Dreger reports that the deal has a $5.5MM average annual value. The contract carries the following year-by-year structure:

  • 2022-23 $5.25M
  • 2023-24 $5.75M
  • 2024-25 $5.5M
  • 2025-26 $5.5M

The deal also carries a modified ten-team no-trade clause for the final two years of the contract. PuckPedia was on the details of the contract first.

July 8th 3:44 PM: The NHL Draft wasn’t the only business the Los Angeles Kings’ front office took care of in Montreal. According to Pierre LeBrun of The Athletic, the Kings have reached a deal with restricted free agent forward Adrian Kempe on a four-year extension. The official announcement of the deal is expected to come on Saturday. Word has not yet come in on the financial parameters of the deal outside of the term that LeBrun reported.

Kempe, 25, was set to become an arbitration-eligible restricted free agent next Wednesday. He’s coming off a breakout season, a year where the flew past his prior career highs in both goal scoring and overall point production. Kempe led the Kings with 35 goals, more than double his previous career-high of 16, a high he set all the way back in the 2017-18 season.

Kempe became one of the most frequently relied-upon wingers on Los Angeles’ roster, averaging nearly three minutes of ice time per game on the powerplay and nearly a minute and a half of ice time short-handed. His short-handed ice time ranked fourth on the Kings, and with Alex Iafallo also on the roster, the Kings have two wingers who bring speed, (varying degrees of) goal-scoring, and reliable two-way play to their lineup.

The Kings have already been active in improving their team this offseason, adding a dynamic, point-per-game winger to their top-six in Kevin Fiala. After an encouraging run to the playoffs in coach Todd McLellan’s third season in Los Angeles, it’s clear that the Kings’ front office wants to move their organization out of their rebuild and into the next phase of their competitive cycle. Getting Kempe back on a deal that buys two of his unrestricted free agent years, as they’ve reportedly done, is one important step in that process.

Free Agent Focus: Carolina Hurricanes

at CDT | by 7 Comments

Free agency is now less than a week away and teams are 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 Carolina Hurricanes. 

Key Restricted Free Agents

F Martin Necas –Just one year ago, Necas looked like he would soon become one of the Hurricanes’ most important forwards. While that still might get there, his 2021-22 season was a step back. After scoring at a 63-point pace last season, many were expecting Necas to fulfill the promise that got him drafted twelfth-overall at the 2017 draft and become a true top-six forward. But for a variety of reasons, that didn’t happen in 2021-22, and Necas had a fine season, with 40 points in 72 games, but certainly not the clear-cut step forward many were expecting. The emergence of Seth Jarvis cut into Necas’ offensive opportunities, and Necas’ inconsistent nightly effort left many fans frustrated. TSN’s Pierre LeBrun reported that the Hurricanes may be tempted to trade Necas if they can get an offer for a young defenseman in return, although he also reported that the team is not actively looking to trade him, As a restricted free agent, Necas is likely in bridge deal territory and could get a deal around $3MM-$4MM, if not a bit more. While the Hurricanes did pull the trigger on a long-term extension for Jesperi Kotkaniemi before he had even finished his first season with the team, it doesn’t seem like they’ll go the same route with Necas.

D Ethan Bear – Bear is in a similar situation to Necas. We previously covered how Bear has been given permission from the Hurricanes to speak to other teams about other opportunities, and he too could be on the move this offseason, even though the Hurricanes want to re-sign him. Bear, 25, has seen his usage decline since he averaged nearly 22 minutes of ice time per night as a rookie with the Edmonton Oilers, and he was a healthy scratch for the entirety of the Hurricanes’ run to the second round of the playoffs this year. Bear wants to play, as any player does, and now has the opportunity to look for a team more willing to give him a consistent nightly role. A short-term bridge around his current $2MM cap hit, with maybe a small raise, makes the most sense here.

Other RFA’s: F Steven Lorentz, F David Cotton, F Stelio Mattheos, D Joey Keane, D Maxime Lajoie, D Tarmo Reunanen, D Jesper Sellgren, G Jack LaFontaine, G Beck Warm

Key Unrestricted Free Agents

F Vincent Trocheck – In April, we focused on Trocheck’s upcoming free agency situation in more depth. Not much has changed since then, though his productive playoff run (10 points in 14 games) should help his previously thin playoff resume. Trocheck is an established two-way pivot who is generally regarded as a solid second-line center. He can typically be relied on to produce around 50 points of offense, with the potential to hit even higher numbers in the right circumstances, as he did in 2020-21 with 43 points in 47 games and in 2017-18 when he had a career-high 75 points. Trocheck ranked third among Hurricanes forwards in shorthanded average time-on-ice per game with 1:46 and helped the Hurricanes to a top-ranked penalty kill finish in 2021-22 with an 88% success rate and a third-place finish in 2020-21 with an 85.2% success rate. Trocheck is also elite at the dot, and he won 54.6% of his faceoffs this past season. Trocheck’s defensive game earned him a third-place Selke Trophy vote, and he’s the sort of productive center who plays a 200-foot game that NHL GM’s are tripping over each other to acquire. Trocheck could earn a major contract this summer, with the potential to earn a similar deal to the seven-year, $7.14MM AAV deal Kevin Hayes got from the Philadelphia Flyers if there is a particularly interested suitor.

F Nino Niederreiter – In June, we took a look at Nino Niederreiter’s upcoming free agency in more depth. Niederreiter, 29, is a productive winger who can score around 20 goals and 50 points in most years, although he has had some less productive seasons. Niederreiter is a winger who belongs on an offensive line and can help support other skilled players in making and finishing plays. He’s not going to drive his own line or overwhelm anyone with his speed, skills, or physicality, but he’s the sort of productive offensive winger that can reliably staff any second line in the NHL. it’s unlikely that Niederreiter gets a raise from the $5.25MM he earned this season, and it’s actually far more likely that his next contract comes in below that number when you consider the flat-cap world NHL clubs are operating in.

F Max Domi – Domi has been a bit of an enigma so far in his NHL career, as he’s had years where he’s a highly productive fan-favorite top-six staple, and he’s also had seasons where he’s underperformed, butted heads with coaches, and struggled to make a positive impact on the ice. The true reality of Domi’s game and the value he brings to an NHL team likely lies somewhere in the middle, and his time in Carolina provides a blueprint of what teams can reasonably expect from Domi moving forward. The 27-year-old scored seven points in 19 regular-season games and six points in 14 playoff games, and became the Hurricanes’ Game Seven hero with two important goals in the team’s victory over the Boston Bruins. Domi brings real energy and offensive skill to a lineup, but he struggles to read the ice and effectively utilize his teammates. So while his offensive talent is undeniable (his 72 points on an otherwise offensively mediocre Montreal Canadiens team is proof of that) his vision is the largest factor that keeps him from being a consistent top-six force. If a team is reasonable with its expectations, they could get a solid middle-six scoring winger at a price that’s not likely going to be exorbitant.

Other UFA’s: F Derek Stepan, D Ian Cole, D Brendan Smith, F Josh Leivo, F Sam Miletic, F Stefan Noesen, F Andrew Poturalski, F Spencer Smallman, F C.J. Smith, D Josh Jacobs, G Alex Lyon

Projected Cap Space

As one would expect for a team with multiple established NHL-ers whose contracts have expired, the Hurricanes are not without room to maneuver under the salary cap this summer. CapFriendly projects them to have over $19MM in space to work with, although that projection is with defenseman Jake Gardiner still placed on long-term injured reserve. Gardiner is now healthy, ineligible for LTIR, and ready to play. If Carolina was the absolute most possible cap space to work with for Wednesday, they’ll have to move Gardiner and his $4.05MM cap hit.

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

West Notes: Puljujarvi, Gaudreau, Nichushkin

at CDT | by 12 Comments

The Edmonton Oilers have cap space in hand and, after a strong run to the Western Conference Final, a clear desire to add difference-making players to their roster. One player they’re likely to subtract from their lineup is forward Jesse Puljujarvi. Puljujarvi, 24, will become an arbitration-eligible restricted free agent on Wednesday and is expected by many to be moved before next season. After a promising season in Edmonton, the Oilers faithful could not be faulted for expecting to return at least something of reasonable quality as part of the compensation package in any summer Puljujarvi trade. It seems, though, that that’s unlikely to happen. According to TSN’s Darren Dreger, the Oilers are “frustrated” by “how little interest there is” in Puljujarvi.

Dreger clarifies that there are about three or four teams that are “nibbling” at the prospect of acquiring Puljujarvi and that the Oilers front office is bracing for a reality where they are forced to “sell low” on Puljujarvi and accept a return they deem to be sub-par. Puljujarvi, the fourth overall pick at the 2016 draft, scored 14 goals and 36 points in 65 games in 2021-22, which is a career-high in points production, although his playoff scoring (just three points in 16 games) left much to be desired. There is a general belief that Puljujarvi could “pop” on another team and score with a level of consistency and frequency he never could in Edmonton, and the Oilers may be left with a sort of trade return that is not commensurate with the value they believe Puljujarvi holds.

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

  • With Filip Forsberg now off the market, Calgary Flames forward Johnny Gaudreau has solidified his spot as the undisputed top free agent scorer set to be available on next week’s open market. The Calgary Flames, though, are hoping his contract situation ends in a similar way to Forsberg’s. Flames GM Brad Treliving, as relayed by TSN’s Salim Valji, remains “optimistic” about the prospect of re-signing Gaudreau, and part of the reason for that optimism has been because he and Gaudreau’s agent, Lewis Gross, have been “genuinely working towards a deal.” There has long been speculation on a Gaudreau return to his native East Coast, perhaps to the Philadelphia Flyers or New Jersey Devils, but it seems as though the Flames are fully intent on keeping that from happening and have every confidence that they’ll be successful.
  • With a spectacular performance in the playoffs, capped off by an impactful Stanley Cup Final series against the Tampa Bay Lightning, winger Valeri Nichushkin could enter the market next week on extremely strong ground. The Colorado Avalanche and GM Joe Sakic are going to try to keep that from happening. The team bid farewell to goalie Darcy Kuemper, helping them save cap space, and will likely use a solid chunk of that space in their attempt to retain Nichushkin. ESPN’s Kevin Weekes pegs a Nichushkin extension in Colorado at the $5MM-$6MM average annual value, which seems more than reasonable for a strong defensive player who scored 52 points in 62 games. It’s still an open question as to whether the Avalanche will commit to the full eight-year term they are permitted to offer Nichushkin, but their ability to offer one more year than any teams on the open market could be a factor in deciding if Nichushkin stays in Colorado. If he doesn’t, he can expect a multitude of suitors once the market opens.

Free Agent Focus: Chicago Blackhawks

at CDT | by 12 Comments

Free agency is now less than a week away and teams are 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 Chicago Blackhawks

Key Restricted Free Agents

F Dylan Strome – On the day of the draft, TSN’s Bob McKenzie reported that the Blackhawks were not expected to extend Strome a qualifying offer. Strome is eligible for a qualifying offer worth $3.6MM, and it looks like the rebuilding Blackhawks aren’t interested in retaining Strome at that number. But that doesn’t mean other teams won’t be interested in Strome on the open market. While Strome hasn’t lived up to the hype he once held as the third overall pick at the 2015 draft, it would be misleading to say he’s been anything other than a reasonably productive NHL player since arriving in Chicago. He had 22 goals and 48 points this season, and in only one of his four seasons as Blackhawk Strome has scored under a 50-point pace. Sure, Strome has had the benefit of sometimes sharing the ice with Patrick Kane and Alex DeBrincat, and his skating, while improved, is still holding back his game. But even with those caveats, Strome’s production combined with his age (he will be 25 for most of next season) makes him an extremely intriguing project signing for a team that wants a scoring center at a lower price than the more established options. Perhaps Strome could look to sign with a team that has a play-driving, superstar winger in order to have a mid-twenties career renaissance similar to the one his brother Ryan Strome had with the New York Rangers.

F Dominik Kubalik –  Another non-tender candidate, Kubalik has regressed since his extremely impressive rookie season and endured a difficult 2021-22 campaign. He had 15 goals and 32 points this past season, a decline from the 25-goal, 56-point pace he played at last season, and the 30-goal, 46-point showing he produced as a rookie. Kubalik is due a $4MM qualifying offer, and it seems as though GM Kyle Davidson does not believe extending him that offer to retain his rights is in the best interest of the rebuilding Blackhawks. Like Strome, Kubalik is an interesting UFA option for many teams. He’s just two seasons removed from when he made the NHL’s All-Rookie team and was a Calder Trophy Finalist, and only one season removed from a healthy 25-goal, 50+ point offensive pace. Teams are always looking for big wingers who can score, and that’s exactly what Kubalik is. If teams can look past Kubalik’s difficult 2021-22, they could get the kind of valuable, relatively young player that is rarely made available on the open market.

D Caleb Jones – Unlike the other two RFA’s listed here, Jones, the brother of Seth Jones, is expected to re-sign with the Blackhawks this offseason, according to Scott Powers of The Athletic. Jones played a third-pairing role in Chicago to moderate success, ranking fifth among regular Blackhawks defensemen in time on ice per game. Jones was not a factor on either of the Blackhawks’ special teams units, but he does have a history as a regular penalty kill contributor from his time in the AHL with the Bakersfield Condors. Jones isn’t the caliber of defenseman his brother is but expecting him to fit in as a long-term third-pairing defenseman wouldn’t be unreasonable. A short-term deal around $1MM-$2MM makes the most sense here, although the Blackhawks could opt to try to lock him up long-term if they are believers in his NHL future.

Other RFA’s: F Philipp Kurashev, F Andrei Altybarmakyan, F Cameron Morrison, D Wyatt Kalynuk, G Cale Morris

Key Unrestricted Free Agents

D Calvin de Haan – The biggest-name veteran player the Blackhawks have to offer to the UFA market is defenseman Calvin de Haan. He was often mentioned in trade rumors but did not ultimately get moved at the 2022 deadline. De Haan, 31, is a veteran of 520 NHL games and has battled injuries throughout his NHL career. De Haan has only played in a full season once, and missed 13 games due to injuries this year. De Haan, the 12th overall pick at the 2009 NHL Draft, has had a successful NHL career thanks to his steady defensive play. De Haan’s offense is not what it used to be. While his career-high in points is a healthy 25, his eight points in 69 games this year are a sobering reminder of the declined state of his offensive tools. Nonetheless, De Haan still enters the market on stable ground: he’s an experienced, reliable defenseman who can help a second-unit penalty kill and fit in as a team’s fourth or fifth defenseman. While his next contract may come in lower than the $4.55MM he earned on his last deal, and the shoulder injuries he sustained may give some teams pause, he should still have a strong group of suitors once he hits the market next week.

G Kevin Lankinen – In some ways, Lankinen is in a similar situation to Kubalik. Like Kubalik, Lankinen was an out-of-nowhere import signing who, after a successful pro career in Europe, got into the rebuilding Blackhawks’ lineup and saw immediate success. Lankinen’s first 10 NHL starts were extremely promising: he posted a .920 save percentage or higher in seven of ten starts and frequently had to bail out a Chicago team that wasn’t putting forth a structured defensive effort to protect him. He effectively had to fend for himself early in his NHL career, and endeared himself to many Blackhawks fans in the process. The end of Lankinen’s rookie season was a struggle, and his numbers dipped overall, but his season-ending 17-14-5 record and .909 save percentage was indicative of the promise he flashed as a rookie. Lankinen even received seven Calder votes for his season and looked like he could possibly be the Blackhawks’ goalie of the future. 2021-22 didn’t go as planned, though, and Lankinen struggled as the Blackhawks plunged to the bottom of the NHL’s standings. The defensive performances in front of him didn’t help matters, but the reality was the nights that Lankinen would save the Blackhawks, which were all so common in his rookie year, were becoming few and far between. The Blackhawks recently acquired Petr Mrazek, but that shouldn’t block a return for Lankinen if that’s the route Davidson wants to pursue. If he hits the open market, Lankinen will be, like Strome and Kubalik, one of the more interesting (and risky) options on the open market.

Other UFA’s: D Erik Gustafsson, G Collin Delia, F Kurtis Gabriel

Projected Cap Space

For all the issues on the Blackhawks’ roster, the one advantage they do hold over most NHL clubs is that they have a wealth of cap space to work with. CapFriendly projects them to have $15MM of space to work with this offseason, and with the team expected to not qualify its most notable RFA’s, Davidson will have a blank canvas to work on in this summer’s market. Even with the $5.5MM cap recapture penalty incurred by Edmonton Oilers defenseman Duncan Keith’s retirement, they’ll be able to continue taking on other teams’ unwanted contracts in exchange for future assets, as they did with Mrazek.

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

New York Islanders Re-Sign Seven Players

at CDT | by Leave a Comment

On an otherwise quiet Saturday night, the New York Islanders have decided to get a bulk of their lower-priority offseason business done. The team has, per CapFriendly and PuckPedia, finalized contract extensions for a whopping seven players: defensemen Robin Salo, Sebastian Aho, and Grant Hutton, forwards Andy Andreoff, Otto Koivula, and Jeff Kubiak, and goalie Ken Appleby.

Salo, 23, got a two-year extension carrying an $800k cap hit in each year, with a $750k salary in 2022-23 and a $850k salary in 2023-24. Salo was the 46th overall pick at the 2017 draft after a successful season as an 18-year-old playing full-time in the Finnish Liiga. Salo was a long-term project pick, and he spent three seasons in Liiga before spending 2020-21 manning the blue line for Orebro in the SHL.  That wealth of professional experience helped Salo make a smooth transition to North America. He began the year with the AHL’s Bridgeport Islanders, quickly becoming one of their most relied-upon defensemen. At the AHL level, Salo finished second on the team with 21:05 time-on-ice per game, including 3:27 average time on ice on the power play. Salo was reasonably productive, with 20 points in 41 games, and his instant success at the AHL level earned him time with the Islanders at the NHL level. There, he averaged nearly 17 minutes of ice time per game and even got some time on the power play. Salo will get the chance to make the Islanders’ opening-night roster at training camp and, should he make it, will be a great help to the Islanders’ cap situation with his highly manageable $800k cap hit.

Aho, 26, was a frequent healthy scratch for the Islanders this season, although his role as the team’s spare defender kept him on the NHL and away from Bridgeport for the entirety of 2021-22. In total, Aho got into 36 games and posted 12 points. He averaged 16:27 time on ice per game and averaged 44 seconds of time on the power play, only getting time there in very specific circumstances. Aho is an undersized defenseman, but his ability in transition and production in the AHL has kept him as a reliable depth piece in New York. Aho’s extension is two years, $825k AAV.

The Islanders also re-signed Hutton, a 26-year-old undrafted player who found a home in the Islanders’ organization after a successful four-year stint at Miami University of Ohio, a team he captained his senior year. Hutton got into 16 NHL games this year and scored his first NHL goal, but he averaged only 14 minutes of time on ice per game and did not earn the trust of coach Barry Trotz. Hutton had 20 points in 46 AHL games, skating as a top-four defenseman at that level, and with the extension should remain a depth piece for the Islanders moving forward. Hutton’s deal is a three-year, $775k AAV extension that interestingly is a one-way contract for the final two years it runs. (PuckPedia link)

The next player the Islanders have reportedly re-signed is forward Andy Andreoff. Andreoff, 31, is a veteran of 185 NHL games and has proven himself as a reliable AHL scorer. Andreoff had 18 goals and 42 points for the Bridgeport Islanders, good for fourth on the team. Andreoff ranked fifth in Bridgeport in short-handed time on ice per game, and earned a two-year, two-way extension. His extension carries a $762k cap hit and holds total guarantees of $375k per year.

The second of three forwards the Islanders have re-signed is Koivula, a 23-year-old 2016 fourth-round pick. Koivula, who represented his native Finland at two IIHF World Junior Championships, is coming off a year where he ranked second on the Bridgeport Islanders in scoring with 47 points in 56 games. Koivula’s skating has thus far kept him from breaking into the NHL full-time, although he did get into eight games with the big club in 2021-22. Standing at six-five, 225 pounds, Koivula has intriguing size and has blossomed into a top-of-the-lineup offensive player at the AHL level. Koivula’s extension is a two-year deal with an $800k AAV. It will be a two-way deal in 2022-23 with a $750k cap hit before becoming a one-way deal in 2023-24 with an $850k cap hit.

The final forward the Islanders re-signed is Jeff Kubiak. The 28-year-old has been in the Islanders’ system since he graduated from Cornell University in 2017 and has worked his way up from the team’s ECHL affiliate, the Worcester Railers. Kubiak’s offensive game is not what earned him this one-year, $750k deal. (PuckPedia link) It’s his defense, as he’s become a true defensive specialist with AHL Bridgeport. There, Kubiak ranked first among team forwards with nearly three minutes of short-handed ice time per game, anchoring a penalty kill that ranked in the top half of the AHL with an 81.5% success rate. Kubiak may not have true NHL upside to his game but he’s become an important specialist player for the Islanders’ AHL squad.

Finally, the last player the Islanders have re-signed is goaltender Ken Appleby. Appleby, 27, bounced between the AHL and ECHL levels in 2021-22, posting solid numbers with each affiliate. At the AHL level, Appleby had a .928 save percentage in nine games, and he had a .918 in 27 games in the ECHL. Appleby earned a two-year, $762k AAV deal that carries a $125k guarantee in year one and a $130k guarantee in year two, according to PuckPedia.

As noted, information on the extensions is courtesy of CapFriendly and PuckPedia. Photos courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Goalie Notes: Kuemper, Murray, Campbell

at CDT | by 11 Comments

When the Colorado Avalanche acquired Alexandar Georgiev from the New York Rangers earlier this week, it became abundantly clear that the Avalanche would be moving forward without their Stanley Cup-winning starting goalie, Darcy Kuemper. Kuemper is set to hit the market on Wednesday, and with other pending free agents such as Valeri Nichushkin, Nazem Kadri, Andre Burakovsky, and Josh Manson, as well as Nathan MacKinnon’s mega-extension coming up a year from now, the Avalanche just aren’t in a position to spend significant cap dollars on a goalie. That leaves Kuemper with an intriguing opportunity, as he’s proven himself to be a championship-caliber starting goalie and is coming off of a regular season where he posted a .921 save percentage in 56 starts. There should be significant market interest from teams looking to acquire his services.

One of those teams is presumed to be the Washington Capitals. They traded one-half of last season’s goalie tandem, Vitek Vanecek, to the New Jersey Devils, and have enough cap space to make a splash on a goalie. According to Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet on the 32 Thoughts Podcast, the Capitals have been “very interested” in Kuemper for “quite some time” and should be “very motivated” to sign him once the market opens next week. The Capitals are looking to remain a Stanley Cup contender for the rest of Alex Ovechkin’s career, and acquiring a cup-winning number-one goalie is certainly one way for GM Brian MacLellan to keep his team in the mix.

Now, for some other notes regarding netminders across the league:

  • Earlier this week, we covered the trade that would have sent Ottawa Senators goalie Matt Murray to the Buffalo Sabres, before being nixed by Murray himself. Murray scuttling that trade possibility hasn’t stopped the Senators in their attempts to move him, and according to Postmedia’s Bruce Garrioch, Senators GM Pierre Dorion is “trying to get creative” in order to solve his current goalie logjam that currently has the team rostering three goalies on one-way contracts. Per Garrioch, the Toronto Maple Leafs are “involved in talks” with the Senators about Murray, and the Edmonton Oilers and Arizona Coyotes are two teams “studying the option” of taking on Murray. Murray, 28, carries a $6.25MM cap hit for the next two seasons and has not performed like a quality NHL goalie since 2018-19. Murray does, however, have two Stanley Cup rings on his resume and a career .911 save percentage, making him a potentially intriguing reclamation project for a team willing to take on his contract along with some sweetener assets as well.
  • For some time now, it’s looked as though the Toronto Maple Leafs and their number-one goalie for the last two years, Jack Campbell, were headed for a divorce. Campbell struggled as the season went on in 2021-22, and many assumed that the cap-strapped Maple Leafs would prefer to go in a different direction than extend Campbell on a market-value contract. Now, with Petr Mrazek’s $3.8MM cap hit off the books, it seems a Campbell reunion may be possible after all. TSN’s Chris Johnston reports that Campbell is “the priority” for Toronto and that before GM Kyle Dubas approaches any other goalie options he’ll want to make one last push at an extension for Campbell.

Snapshots: Sharks, Cirelli, Islanders

at CDT | by 3 Comments

While there was some trade activity in recent days with goaltenders, the Sharks weren’t among the teams involved.  That might come as some surprise as the team has three NHL netminders in Adin Hill, James Reimer, and pending RFA Kaapo Kahkonen.  However, GM Mike Grier told reporters after the draft including Curtis Pashelka of The Mercury News that there’s no guarantee he’ll move one of them in the coming weeks:

Everything is on the table with regards to that. But if you looked around the league during the playoffs and the regular season, you need goaltending. Having three is not the worst thing in the world.  If something comes up where we can use (the depth) to make ourselves better, we will. We’ll see how it goes, but we have three goaltenders that we like and I think that’s a good thing.

Hill and Reimer each have one year left on their contracts at $2.175MM and $2.25MM respectively and will be unrestricted free agents in 2023.  The Sharks could move one of them and in the process, give themselves a bit more flexibility this summer.  If not, this could be a repeat of 2003 when they carried three goalies to start the season when they had Evgeni Nabokov, Vesa Toskala, and Miikka Kiprusoff with the latter eventually being moved to Calgary.

Elsewhere around the hockey world:

  • Lightning center Anthony Cirelli underwent shoulder surgery on Tuesday, relays Joe Smith of The Athletic (subscription link). He suffered an AC joint sprain on one side and a collarbone injury on the other which led to surgery being needed.  However, at this time, the team does not have a definitive timeline as to when the 24-year-old will return with GM Julien BriseBois indicating that “There’s a wide range” in terms of how long Cirelli might be out.  Cirelli had 43 points in 76 games in 2021-22 for Tampa Bay during the regular season but was limited to just eight points in 23 playoff contests with the injury likely contributing to that drop in production.
  • With Ilya Sorokin establishing himself as the starter for the Islanders, some have wondered if Semyon Varlamov could be a trade candidate this summer, especially with there being strong demand for goaltending help. However, GM Lou Lamoriello told reporters including Ethan Sears of the New York Post that his intention remains to keep the tandem intact for next season.  Varlamov carries a $5MM cap hit through next season but New York has enough cap space to round out their defense – including new deals for RFAs Noah Dobson and Alexander Romanov – without needing to create any extra flexibility.

Offseason Checklist: New York Rangers

at CDT | by 8 Comments

With the offseason in full swing, it’s time to examine what each squad will need to accomplish over the coming weeks.  Next up is a look at the Rangers.

2021-22 saw the Rangers turn their fortunes around quickly.  A year after missing the playoffs, new GM Chris Drury made several key changes both on the ice and behind the bench and New York made it all the way to the Eastern Conference Final before being ousted by Tampa Bay, winners of two straight Stanley Cups at the time.  For them to have a chance at making it back to that point, Drury has some work to do this summer.

Free Up Cap Space

This is a common one for a lot of teams, especially as we reach this post of the series where we’re looking at the ones that went the deepest in the playoffs.  Generally speaking, those teams tend to have cap crunches.  Right now, New York has a little over $10MM in cap space.  Without context, that doesn’t look half bad.  However, they have about six roster spots to fill with that money, some of which will cost a fair bit to fill (more on those shortly).  They don’t have enough to fill all of those slots right now.

On top of that, winger Alexis Lafreniere, center Filip Chytil, and defenseman K’Andre Miller are all a year away from restricted free agency.  All three of them will be eyeing considerable raises while Chytil will have arbitration eligibility at his disposal as well.  Knowing that group will become more expensive has to be at the back of Drury’s mind as he navigates his offseason planning while it only increases the urgency for them to create some cap flexibility.  That said, roughly half the league is trying to do that so freeing up any sort of meaningful cap room is much easier said than done.

Add A Backup Goalie

One of those roster spots is for a backup goaltender.  Knowing they wouldn’t be able to keep him, the Rangers traded Alexandar Georgiev to Colorado just before the draft in exchange for a trio of draft picks, a decent return considering some felt he was a likely non-tender candidate because of his arbitration eligibility.  While they did well in that trade, now they need to replace him.

In recent years, the backup goaltender market has gotten considerably more expensive as more teams look to a platoon situation.  New York certainly won’t be doing that with Igor Shesterkin entrenched as their starter but his presence coupled with their cap situation will price them out of shopping near the top end of the market.  Instead, they’ll be looking at the more affordable end with veterans like Thomas Greiss, Martin Jones, and Jaroslav Halak being potential fits on one-year deals.  A trade with a team that has surplus depth (San Jose would be an option) would also be a short-term solution.

While they’re looking at goaltenders, Drury will likely want to add a second veteran as well, one to take Keith Kinkaid’s place with AHL Hartford if they opt not to bring the 33-year-old back.  If the Rangers decide to try to save some money on their backup slot, they could look at a pair of prototypical third-string options and see how things shake out in training camp to see who starts with the big club.  That would free up another million or so for other needs but such an approach would certainly be risky.

Bridge For Kakko

Three years ago, the hope was that winger Kaapo Kakko would be exiting his entry-level contract having established himself as a cornerstone piece of the franchise.  However, the second-overall pick in 2019 hasn’t been able to live up to his draft billing just yet.  He has shown some promising flashes but after an injury-plagued year that limited him to just 43 regular season games where he had 18 points and a postseason that saw him pick up just five points in 19 contests while ending with him as a healthy scratch makes it extremely unlikely that either side would be interested in a long-term commitment right now.  Even if they were, finding a dollar figure that would work for both sides would be next to impossible.

So, a bridge deal is what Kakko’s contract is going to be then.  Which route the two sides go from there becomes the question.  The more years on the deal, the more expensive it will be.  A one-year pact would give the Rangers the most short-term flexibility but would hand Kakko arbitration rights next summer when Lafreniere, Chytil, and Miller are up for new contracts.  A three-year deal would give both sides some security and a bit more longer-term flexibility but puts him a year from UFA eligibility so that’s not necessarily ideal as well.  The expectation is that a two-year contract, the most common bridge deal, is the one that will eventually get done with an AAV around the $2.5MM range.

Add Impact Center

Ryan Strome’s tenure with the Rangers hasn’t always been the smoothest (to the point where they pondered non-tendering him two years ago) but in the end, it has been a pretty good one.  He put up 195 points in 263 games over parts of four seasons with a cap hit no higher than $4.5MM at any time.  As far as second-line production goes, that’s pretty good.  It’s the type of consistency that eluded Strome earlier in his career and as he’s coming off a season that saw him reach a new career-high in goals with 21, the 28-year-old has positioned himself for another raise.  It’s one that New York might not be able to afford.

New York also added Andrew Copp at the trade deadline to lengthen their lineup and also to get an early jump on trying to sign him as Strome’s possible long-term replacement.  But with him seeking a contract comparable to Zach Hyman (seven years, $5.5MM AAV), it’s unlikely that Copp will be in their price range as well.

Chytil was the 21st pick back in 2017 with the hopes that he’d be able to emerge as a capable two-way middleman.  He has shown some upside at times but over the last four years, his point totals have ranged from a low of 22 to a high of 23.  That type of production isn’t enough to comfortably hand him Strome’s old job even though a full season with Artemi Panarin would undoubtedly boost Chytil’s numbers.

With the internal options basically off the table barring a change in contract demands, Drury will have to look elsewhere for his second pivot behind Mika Zibanejad.  Of course, the top free agent options in Nazem Kadri and Vincent Trocheck are going to land pricier long-term deals so they’re out of reach as well with New York’s current cap situation.  Finding someone capable of playing that role at a price tag that’s equal to lower than what Strome made the last two years is undoubtedly a tall task but Drury will need to find a way to fill that spot either through free agency or a trade over the next couple of weeks.

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

Free Agent Updates: Copp, Holtby, Palat

at CDT | by 7 Comments

Rangers center Andrew Copp is coming off a career year that saw him record 21 goals and 32 assists in 72 games while he was better than a point-per-game player after New York acquired him from Winnipeg back at the trade deadline.  That has him setting a high price in extension talks as Arthur Staple of The Athletic reports (subscription link) that the 28-year-old is seeking a contract similar to the one that Zach Hyman received from Edmonton – seven years at a cap hit of $5.5MM.  That will be difficult for the Rangers to afford without them clearing out some cap space so it’s quite possible that Copp will hit the open market on Wednesday.

Other free agent news from around the NHL:

  • Still from Staple’s column, he cites a league source who noted that pending UFA goalie Braden Holtby may not play this season due to injury concerns. The 32-year-old had a nice bounce-back year with Dallas, posting a .913 SV% in 24 games which would have had him fairly high on the list of veteran backups that teams will be pursuing on the open market.  Dallas, his soon-to-be former team, wasn’t expected to be among them after they re-signed Scott Wedgewood to serve as Jake Oettinger’s backup.
  • When Tampa Bay freed up some cap space with the trade of Ryan McDonagh to Nashville, it was expected those savings would go towards re-signing pending UFA winger Ondrej Palat. However, Pierre LeBrun of TSN and The Athletic relays (Twitter link) that the expectation is that the 31-year-old will instead test the open market next week.  Palat is coming off a season that saw him put up 49 points in 77 games but he was much better in the playoffs for the Lightning, notching 11 goals and 10 assists in 23 contests to finish second on the team in postseason scoring which should help boost his market.  He had a $5.3MM AAV on his set-to-expire deal and should be able to land a bit more than that in free agency.

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

scroll to top