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Archives for September 2023

Seattle Kraken Sign Mitch Reinke

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Saturday: The Kraken have officially announced Reinke’s signing.

Friday: In a confirmed transaction according to CapFriendly, the Seattle Kraken have signed forward Mitch Reinke to a one-year, $775K two-way contract for the 2023-24 NHL season. Reinke had previously spent the last two seasons playing for the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins of the AHL.

Carrying only one NHL game under his belt during the last five seasons, Reinke once looked to be one of the top players in the NHL’s highest minor league system. In his first full pro campaign during the 2018-19 AHL season, Reinke would impress with 12 goals and 33 assists in 76 games for the San Antonio Rampage, good for second on the team in scoring that year. Unfortunately, primarily due to injuries, Reinke has not reached close to that point total since.

Spending his first three years in the St. Louis Blues organization, Reinke would join the Pittsburgh Penguins organization in 2021 after being non-tendered that summer. Still dealing with mild injury concerns over his two-year stint for Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, Reinke would dramatically increase his assist total compared to his final two seasons spent for the Blues’ AHL affiliates. Last year, only playing in 52 games, Reinke would score only one goal but still notched 26 assists on the year.

It would be an unlikely circumstance to see Reinke join the Kraken next year, but if healthy, should become a solid contributor to their AHL team, the Coachella Valley Firebirds. In their inaugural season last year, the Firebirds would finish second in the Pacific Division, marching all the way to the Calder Cup Finals, losing to the Hershey Bears in six games.

Salary Cap Deep Dive: Chicago Blackhawks

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Navigating the salary cap is one of the more important tasks for any GM.  Teams that can avoid total cap chaos by walking the tightrope of inking players to deals that match their value (or compensate for future value without breaking the bank) remain successful.  Those that don’t see struggles and front office changes.

PHR will look at every NHL team and give a thorough look at their cap situation heading into the 2023-24 season.  This will focus more on players who are regulars on the roster versus those who may find themselves shuttling between the AHL and NHL.  All cap figures are courtesy of CapFriendly.

Chicago Blackhawks

Current Cap Hit: $70,635,124 (under the $83.5MM Upper Limit)

Entry-Level Contracts

F Connor Bedard (three years, $950K)
D Wyatt Kaiser (two years, $917K)
F Lukas Reichel (one year, $925K)
D Filip Roos (one year, $925K)

Potential Bonuses
Bedard: $3.5MM
Kaiser: $425K
Reichel: $505K
Total: $4.43MM

Bedard was the player that many non-contending teams were trying to tank for last season.  Assuming he pans out as anticipated, he should become Chicago’s top center quite quickly.  There’s a good chance he hits his $1MM in ‘A’ bonuses while the ‘B’ ones are tough for anyone to get.  It’s far too early to realistically try to project his second contract but if he lives up to the hype, it could be the richest in franchise history.  Chicago has slow-played Reichel’s development so far, giving him tastes of NHL action but primarily keeping him in the minors.  While not a bad idea from a development perspective, it puts him in the category of being quite likely to land a short-term second contract that will keep his earnings upside down.

On the back end, it’s difficult to pick only a couple to highlight here as at this point, there are quite a few youngsters who could battle for a few spots on the roster.  Kaiser didn’t look out of place after leaving college last season, logging just shy of 19 minutes a night so he could have a leg up.  So could Roos who didn’t look out of place out of training camp a year ago.  But realistically, Alex Vlasic, Isaak Phillips, and Kevin Korchinski should be in the mix as well.  But for any of them to be in a position to command any sort of significant second contract, they’ll need to establish themselves as NHL regulars first.

Signed Through 2023-24, Non-Entry-Level

F Colin Blackwell ($1.2MM, UFA)
F Jason Dickinson ($2.65MM, UFA)
F Mackenzie Entwistle ($800K, RFA)
F Nick Foligno ($4MM, UFA)
F Tyler Johnson ($5MM, UFA)
F Boris Katchouk ($758K, RFA)
G Petr Mrazek ($3.8MM, UFA)
F Corey Perry ($4MM, UFA)
F Taylor Raddysh ($758K, RFA)
D Jarred Tinordi ($1.25MM, UFA)
D Nikita Zaitsev ($4.5MM, UFA)

The Blackhawks were compensated for taking on Johnson’s contract back in 2021 with Tampa Bay needing to free up cap room.  He isn’t the top-six forward he was in his prime but is still capable of playing in the middle six.  While Johnson has been on the wing lately, he’s a natural center which also helps his value.  At half this price a year from now on the open market, he should have some interest.

Dickinson is another player they were basically paid to take on.  After a disastrous year in Vancouver, he rebounded relatively well.  However, it’s hard to see him garnering more than this on his next deal since he has yet to hit the double-digit goal mark in the NHL.  A contract around the $1.5MM mark is where his value might fall.  Blackwell took a step backward last season offensively but still played an important role on the penalty kill.  He was still relatively inexperienced when he received this contract and now with what will be another couple of years under his belt when he returns to free agency, where he’s at now might be close to his earnings ceiling.

Then there are Perry and Foligno.  Chicago clearly targeted these two veterans as mentors for their younger core, trading for their negotiating rights and then handing them contracts that were extremely above market value.  Both players are best suited to play on the fourth line at this stage of their careers and had they hit the open market, they likely would have received offers for around a quarter of this amount.  Barring a high-priced one-year extension if things go well, that price range is where they should expect their next deals to be if they get one.

Among the RFA forwards, Raddysh is the most notable.  Coming off a 20-goal campaign, a repeat performance plus arbitration eligibility should push his AAV past the $2MM mark, perhaps even to the $3MM range.  Katchouk and Entwistle don’t have quite the offensive upside and are more depth players up to this point.  They will also have arbitration eligibility next summer which could work against them if we have a repeat of a run of non-tenders like we did this offseason.

Zaitsev was another player Chicago was paid to take on with him coming over midseason from Ottawa, paving the way for them to complete the Jakob Chychrun trade.  Zaitsev never has been able to live up to this contract but can log some minutes on a largely inexperienced back end so he’ll provide some value to the Blackhawks.  His next deal should check in closer to the $1MM mark though.  Tinordi came over as a waiver claim in training camp and wound up earning a regular role when he was healthy, landing this extension in the process.  It’s a bit above what his market value might have been in free agency though.

Mrazek is yet another contract Chicago was compensated to take on.  He actually posted a better save percentage than he had in his lone year in Toronto but still had a rough season.  On a better team, Mrazek could still attract some NHL interest next summer but at a price tag that’s closer to the $1.5MM mark.

Signed Through 2024-25

F Andreas Athanasiou ($4.25MM, UFA)
F Ryan Donato ($2MM, UFA)
F Taylor Hall ($6MM, UFA)
F Philipp Kurashev ($2.25MM, RFA)
G Arvid Soderblom ($963K, RFA)

This summer was a good time for teams with cap space to acquire impact players for cheap simply by taking on the full freight of the contract.  Chicago did that with Hall as Boston needed to move him to create cap room to fill out their roster.  His days of being a productive top liner are pretty much finished now based on how the last few years have gone for him but he’s someone who can play big minutes while giving Bedard a legitimate top-six linemate.  In a perfect world, Hall’s numbers go up playing alongside Bedard, giving the Blackhawks a chance to flip him in his final year while giving Hall a shot at getting close to this type of money on the open market.

Chicago handed Athanasiou this deal to get him to avoid testing free agency.  As is the case with Perry and Foligno, it’s an above-market pact but with ample cap space, it’s an overpayment they can afford.  After putting up 20 goals and 20 assists last season, he’ll need to maintain or improve on those numbers if he wants to get a similar-sized contract in 2025.  Kurashev was awarded this contract in arbitration coming off a career year that saw him get 25 points.  Playing time will be a bit harder to come by now with their extra depth so he’ll need to find a way to improve on those numbers in a lesser role to avoid the risk of being a non-tender candidate in 2025.  Donato’s per-60 numbers are pretty impressive but he has yet to lock down a full-time middle-six role.  He should get another chance to do so here and if he thrives, he could have a much stronger market as a more proven secondary scorer.

Soderblom had some ups and downs in his limited action with the Blackhawks last season, earning him a one-way deal in the process.  He’s perceived as a goalie of the future though not necessarily the goalie of the future for Chicago.  This bridge contract gives both sides a chance to see if he’s a future starter, platoon option, or if he’s better off as a pure backup and obviously, which category he falls in will determine his next contract, one that will come with arbitration rights.

Signed Through 2025-26

D Connor Murphy ($4.4MM, UFA)

At a time when stay-at-home defenders are starting to lose some of their open-market value, Murphy has been one of the exceptions.  He has logged heavy minutes throughout his time with Chicago but in a ten-year career, he has yet to reach the 20-point mark.  Coupled with plenty of bumps and bruises from his style of play, it seems unlikely that Murphy will be able to command this type of deal in three years when he might be better suited for a more limited role on a depth chart.

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Canadiens Looking To Move Casey DeSmith

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The Canadiens are facing a roster crunch between the pipes after they picked up goaltender Casey DeSmith from Pittsburgh as part of their facilitation of the Erik Karlsson trade last month.  Back when he spoke following Montreal’s move of Jeff Petry to Detroit, GM Kent Hughes indicated that he wasn’t sure if he’d be moving DeSmith or one of their other netminders.

It appears that the decision has now been made.  Jonathan Bernier of the Journal de Montreal reports that there was an expectation within the front office that DeSmith would have been flipped by now, likely within a few days of the Petry swap.  Clearly, that hasn’t happened yet.

The 32-year-old is coming off a bit of a down season with the Penguins, one that saw him post a 3.17 GAA (the highest of his career) along with a .905 SV% (the lowest of his career) in 38 games.  However, over his five NHL seasons, DeSmith has shown himself to be an effective backup for the most part.

It isn’t as if DeSmith’s contract is overly problematic in itself either.  A $1.8MM cap hit for a capable second-string netminder certainly isn’t an overpayment by any means.  However, most teams have their tandems in place already and those that could benefit from an upgrade don’t have the cap space to afford him.  The Canadiens have already used two of their three retention slots (on Petry and Joel Edmundson) so paying down DeSmith’s cost to make a trade happen doesn’t seem like a viable option for them at the moment.

Accordingly, Bernier wonders if Montreal might consider carrying DeSmith alongside holdovers Samuel Montembeault and Jake Allen to start the season.  The Canadiens only have two road trips of more than a game over the first two months of the year, meaning they can get away with stashing an extra skater in the minors if need be.  In theory, that would allow a market to potentially develop if an injury or two arises or someone struggles out of the gate.

Even so, it’s not as if Hughes is going to be in a strong spot to deal from.  When Pittsburgh signed both Alex Nedeljkovic and Magnus Hellberg this summer after re-signing Tristan Jarry, it was evident that DeSmith would be available. Fast-forward to two months later and while he’s in another organization, he’s now clearly still available.  Teams won’t be making significant offers for someone in that situation so even if the Canadiens can find a taker for DeSmith (now or in-season), the return isn’t likely to be particularly strong.  At least at this point, they now know which netminder they intend to move.

Kraken Prospect Eduard Sale Officially Commits To OHL

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Dating back to last season, it was expected that winger Eduard Sale would play with OHL Barrie for the 2023-24 campaign.  That is now confirmed to be the case as the Colts announced that the Kraken first-rounder has officially committed to the team.

The 18-year-old was the 20th overall selection back in June after a season that didn’t help his draft stock.  Sale entered the year as a potential top-ten pick with some early rankings having him closer to the top five.  He spent last season playing in the Czech Extraliga playing against pros and not surprisingly, his offensive numbers didn’t exactly stand out as he notched just seven goals and seven assists in 43 games.

However, against his own age level, Sale fared much better.  He had six points in seven games at the World Juniors and then followed that up with six more in five contests at the World Under-18s in May, the final tournament before the draft.

Seattle has already signed Sale to his entry-level deal but assuming he doesn’t play in ten or more NHL games this coming season, his contract will slide a year.  As a result, it will still have three years remaining heading into the 2024-25 campaign.

Madison Bowey Signs In KHL

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Sept. 2: Dinamo Minsk has indeed announced a one-year contract for Bowey.  He’s likely to make his debut with the team later today in their season opener.

Aug. 26: Unrestricted free agent defenseman Madison Bowey hasn’t been able to land a contract in North America this summer so it appears he has turned his focus overseas.  Sammi Silber of The Hockey News relays (Twitter link) that the blueliner is nearing a one-year deal with Dinamo Minsk of the KHL.

The 28-year-old signed a one-year contract with Montreal last summer but failed to see any NHL action for the first time since the 2016-17 campaign.  Bowey cleared waivers in training camp and was assigned to AHL Laval.  However, he dealt with multiple injuries throughout the year which limited him to just 35 games where he managed only 13 points.

Bowey does have 158 career games of NHL experience under his belt with four different organizations, the bulk of which came with Washington who drafted him in the second round (53rd overall) back in 2013.  Between those and his 204 AHL appearances, he qualifies for veteran status in the minors which likely hurt his value; AHL teams are limited to how many veteran skaters they’re allowed to dress and a down year like the one he had could have made teams look elsewhere to fill those slots.

With that in mind, it’s not surprising that Bowey is looking overseas.  An offensive blueliner back in junior, he could find himself with an opportunity to play a bigger role on that front which would make him a valuable piece at that level or perhaps get him back on the radar down the road in North America.

Summer Synopsis: Dallas Stars

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Over the last four seasons, the Dallas Stars have had a tumultuous run in the Western Conference. Now four years ago, the team made a run to the 2020 Stanley Cup Finals, only to miss the playoffs entirely in the shortened 2020-21 season. The year after, the Stars would barely reach the playoffs, clinching the second wild-card spot. Rebounding nicely, Dallas would return to the Western Conference Finals in the 2023 Stanley Cup playoffs, earning big series wins against the Minnesota Wild and Seattle Kraken, losing to the eventual Stanley Cup Champion, the Vegas Golden Knights.

With limited cap space this summer, the team had little finances to work with to notably improve the club, but many would argue they did the absolute best with what they had available to them. Carrying young stars such as Miro Heiskanen, Jason Robertson, and Roope Hintz on their roster, mixed with veterans such as Tyler Seguin, Jamie Benn, and Joe Pavelski, the Stars are poised to once again reach solid playoff positioning, and may even be an under-the-radar team to fully contend for the Stanley Cup.

Draft

2-61: D Tristan Bertucci, Flint (OHL)
3-79: F Brad Gardiner, Ottawa (OHL)
4-125: D Aram Minnetian, USNTDP (USHL)
5-157: G Arno Tiefensee, Adler Mannheim (DEL)
6-189: F Angus MacDonell, Mississauga (OHL)
7-221: F Sebastian Bradshaw, Elite Hockey Academy (AYHL)

Thanks to the trade that landed Nils Lundkvist in Texas, the Stars were without their first-round pick for the 2023 NHL Draft. Their first selection in Bertucci falls under the umbrella of ’the rich getting richer’. Last season, although having standout goaltender Jake Oettinger between the pipes, Dallas employed one of the best defensive cores in the league. By almost every metric, the team excelled in keeping the puck out of the net, and with Bertucci being the strong shutdown defender he is, he should see his game translate very well to the Stars’ style of play.

The most under-the-radar selection by the team would be their sixth-round pick in MacDonell. At the OHL trade deadline, MacDonell was acquired by the Mississauga Steelheads from the Sarnia Sting, where he would score 17 goals and 7 assists in 31 games after the move. More importantly; however, is that MacDonell proved to be an exceptional player in clutch situations. In six OHL playoff games for the Steelheads, MacDonell would score three goals and two assists, as well as scoring one goal and four assists in seven games for the Canadian U18 National Team during the 2023 World Junior Championships.

Key UFA Signings

D Gavin Bayreuther (one year, $775K)
F Matt Duchene (one year, $3MM)
D Derrick Pouliot (one year, $775K)*
F Craig Smith (one year, $1MM)
F Sam Steel (one year, $850K)

*-denotes two-way contract

Far and away the biggest addition to the Stars roster comes in adding Duchene to a one-year deal this summer. Given that Dallas’ first line is largely set, Duchene should factor in nicely to the team’s second line. Only scoring 56 points as a top forward for the Nashville Predators during the 2022-23 season, Duchene is only one year removed from a 44-goal, 86-point performance. Given the team’s performance in Nashville last season, most of Duchene’s performance stats did drop, but only subtly. Given this, Duchene should rebound nicely, especially with more talent surrounding him in Dallas.

Steel represents one of the more interesting free-agent additions this offseason. He had the best season of his career last year in Minnesota, scoring 10 goals and 18 assists in 65 games played, but it is difficult to see where exactly he fits in Dallas’ lineup. He did carry solid possession numbers last year for the Wild, but aside from that, does not impress much in the way of defensive metrics, meaning he may not be a solid option for a bottom-six role in the Stars’ roster. He could factor into the mix given an injury to the team’s middle-six, but Steel appears destined for an extra forward spot this upcoming season.

Key RFA Signings

F Nicholas Caamano (one-year, $775K)*
F Riley Damiani (one-year, $775K)*
F Ty Dellandrea (one-year, $900K)
F Scott Reedy (one-year, $775K)*

*-denotes two-way contract

After a couple of seasons spent primarily with Dallas’ AHL affiliate, the Texas Stars, Dellandrea burst onto the scene during the 2022-23 NHL season. In 82 games played, the young forward would score nine goals and 19 assists, good for ninth on the team as a 23-year-old. As his time on ice inevitably increases from above 14 minutes a game, Dellandrea will also see his scoring output increase, even though his other talents are the key for the Stars.

His possession numbers have left a lot to be desired, but Dellandrea’s defensive metrics are inspiring in a middle-six role for an NHL player. Last season, his oiSV% reached a total of 90.6%, and he was also able to contribute heavily to the team’s physical outlook, throwing 125 hits over the year. Given their current roster, it is difficult to see Dellandrea earning a top-six role this season, but as he improves, the Stars become a deeper team overall.

Key Departures

F Max Domi (Toronto, one-year, $3MM)
F Rhett Gardner (Philadelphia, two-year, $1.55MM)
D Benjamin Gleason (Edmonton, one-year, $775K)
F Luke Glendening (Tampa Bay, two-year, $1.6MM)
F Joel Kiviranta (Colorado, PTO)
D Ryan Shea (Pittsburgh, one-year, $775K)
F Marian Studenic (Seattle, one-year, $775K)
F Riley Tufte (Colorado, one-year, $775K)
G Dylan Wells (Nashville, PTO)

Unfortunately, the Stars did lose one of their top playoff performers last year in Domi. Although not performing incredibly well after the team acquired him at the trade deadline from the Chicago Blackhawks, Domi did score three goals and 10 assists in 19 playoff games for Dallas, which would land him at fourth best on the team. Thankfully, and especially with the addition of Duchene to the top of their forward group, Domi should be easily replaceable moving forward.

Glendening will be a bit harder to replace, but not for the same reasons. Not known much for his offensive performance, Glendening excels tremendously in the faceoff circle. During his two-year stint in Dallas, Glendening would finish with an absurd 58.9% faceoff win percentage, one of the best in the league. Both Benn and Radek Faksa do well in the dot, but Dallas did not do much to replace Glendening in the dot this summer.

Salary Cap Outlook

Dallas is one of the highest-paying teams in the league, clocking in at 11th overall in spending heading into the 2023-24 NHL season. The team still has four years and $39.4MM left on Seguin’s contract but does not have much to worry about for next year. Most of the team’s young talent is signed into 2025-26 or beyond, meaning as much as they are spending, they won’t need to spend more in the near future.

There are some fringe players, such as Faksa and Ryan Suter who could be considered ’overpaid’, but they will conclude before the Stars need to dole out any long-term contracts to some of their younger stars. For the best interest of the team, it would likely benefit Dallas to shed a bit of space before the trade deadline, therefore easily fitting in whatever needs they deem needed for a 2024 playoff push.

Key Questions

What To Do With Seguin? : Still averaging around 50 points a season, Seguin no longer is worth the massive contract extension the Stars gave him shortly before the 2018-19 season. He has stayed relatively healthy and is more than capable of scoring 20 goals a season, but Dallas could certainly do better. It will be hard to move Seguin given his $9.85MM AAV, so the team will have to employ him in a way that is most advantageous to their success. Nevertheless, the Stars are moving in a direction, especially given their salary cap situation, where a harder stance on Seguin’s future may need to be taken.

What Is This Team’s Ceiling?: Managing to make an appearance in two Western Conference Finals and one Stanley Cup Final in the last four years, the Stars have earned a spot as one of the top Stanley Cup contenders heading into the upcoming season. However, are they truly a solid bet to win the Stanley Cup given their current roster makeup? The Colorado Avalanche and Golden Knights are surefire favorites to win the Western Conference next year, and the Eastern Conference posits a world of trouble if the team does indeed make it to the Stanley Cup Final next season. Dallas still appears a player or two away from being a legitimate threat to Lord Stanley’s Cup.

Photos courtesy of USA Today Sports Images

Tyler Ennis Linked To NHL Return

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Veteran NHL winger Tyler Ennis is open to a return to North America after spending last season playing in Switzerland and could receive a professional tryout contract from a Western Conference team, Jim Matheson of the Edmonton Journal reports.

After 13 NHL seasons and exactly 700 regular-season games, Ennis headed overseas full-time for the first time last season, signing a one-year contract with National League club SC Bern. He had played in the Swiss top level once before – he skated in nine games for the SCL Tigers during the 2012 lockout.

There, he showed he still had what it takes to produce at an elite level, albeit in a weaker league. He finished the season with 13 goals and 20 assists for 33 points in 37 games. That was after somewhat of a bounceback season with the Ottawa Senators in 2021-22, recording 24 points in 57 games (a 35-point pace). His strong season in Switzerland suggests he could replicate that in a bottom-six role should he return to the NHL this season.

Drafted 26th overall in 2008, it’s been an up-and-down career for the diminutive winger, who struggled with injuries during his prime and never quite reached the potential he hinted at after posting multiple 20-goal campaigns with the Buffalo Sabres early on in his career. He’d been a capable depth contributor in the past few seasons, though, bouncing around between Canadian teams in Ottawa, Edmonton and Toronto after getting bought out by the Minnesota Wild in 2018.

Now 33 years old, Ennis likely has a few good years of hockey left in him and evidently hopes to spend them back in the NHL. However, if no PTO materializes, Matheson reports Ennis still has “irons in the fire” in Switzerland and could easily find a deal again in the NL in 2023-24.

CSKA Moscow Defies IIHF Ruling, Plays Ivan Fedotov

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KHL club CSKA Moscow has opted to start Philadelphia Flyers netminder Ivan Fedotov in their KHL regular-season opener today against Ak Bars Kazan, thereby violating the IIHF sanctions laid out against the club last month, as Szymon Szemberg of the Alliance of European Hockey Clubs reports.

The international governing body had ruled Fedotov’s tolled entry-level contract with the Flyers was valid for the 2023-24 season after CSKA Moscow attempted to sign Fedotov to a two-year deal earlier this summer. Fedotov had originally signed with the Flyers in the summer of 2022 but was barred from leaving Russia to complete required military service.

Shortly after the IIHF ruled, the Russian Ice Hockey Federation announced they’d submitted an appeal. That process has not been completed yet, however, and no follow-up ruling has been adjudicated. The KHL released a statement before today’s game, citing their legal grounds for CSKA to play Fedotov based on the Russian constitution’s grant of a citizen’s right to work. KHL president Aleksey Morozov also claimed the General Prosecutor’s Office of the Russian government warned the KHL and CSKA “about the inadmissibility of violating the right to work.”

As Szemberg notes, this decision will likely continue to further isolate Russian hockey on the international landscape and could further delay their return to international play, even if the country’s illegal invasion of Ukraine ends. With Russian players and teams already barred from participating in international events, Szemberg believes the KHL has nothing to lose by violating IIHF sanctions, as there’s not much more that could be levied against them.

Tyler Bertuzzi Had Interest In Long-Term Deal With Maple Leafs

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This offseason, the Toronto Maple Leafs’ biggest add was arguably a one-year, $5.5MM deal for top-six winger Tyler Bertuzzi. However, it now appears both sides wanted a longer-term deal than what actually came to fruition, per Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman on Sportsnet 590. “I’m of the belief that Toronto wanted to sign Bertuzzi longer and I think Bertuzzi wanted to sign longer. But, they just didn’t have the ability to do it now.”

Limited to 50 games last season thanks to hand and wrist injuries that cost him most of the first half of the campaign, Bertuzzi is widely expected to slide into a first-line role in Toronto alongside Auston Matthews, replacing the complementary role filled by Michael Bunting during the last two seasons. The latter departed for the Carolina Hurricanes in free agency two months ago.

Bertuzzi, 28, notched just eight goals last season but looked revitalized after a deadline deal from the Detroit Red Wings to the Boston Bruins, recording four goals and 16 points in 21 games down the stretch of the regular season and leading the team in playoff scoring with five goals and ten points in seven games. His blend of skill and physicality was one new GM Brad Treliving was clearly looking for this summer, also signing Max Domi to a one-year deal to play a bit lower in the lineup.

Even if the two sides could fit a long-term deal under the cap, a one-year pact was likely the wiser choice. Bertuzzi hasn’t been healthy for a full season since 2019-20, and the Leafs don’t exactly have money to throw around on players who could be coming in and out of the lineup with short-term injuries on a frequent basis. The team is still millions of dollars over the $83.5MM upper limit for 2023-24, even with Matt Murray and Jake Muzzin stashed on long-term injured reserve.

But if Bertuzzi has a strong season and stays healthy, it is worth examining what a potential extension could look like. He’s eligible to sign one as soon as January 1, 2024, but unless the Leafs anticipate getting a better deal by signing him early, they’ll likely wait until the end of the season to work out a deal. It’s fair to guess that with the cap expected to increase to $87.5MM in 2024-25, a mid-term (four to six years) Bertuzzi extension likely starts with a six. Is that something Toronto can reasonably make work with a new deal needed for William Nylander by next summer and another for Mitch Marner by July 2025?

Morning Notes: Islanders, Marmer, Global Series

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The New York Islanders’ AHL affiliate in Bridgeport has named Matt MacDonald and Pascal Rhéaume as assistant coaches.

Macdonald, 40, spent the last five seasons as an assistant coach with Detroit’s AHL affiliate, Grand Rapids, where the team posted a 144-137-38 record in 319 games. He also spent six seasons with the ECHL’s Cincinnati Cyclones, serving as head coach and director of hockey operations from 2014 to 2018, achieving a winning record in each of those four years with a total record of 142-116-16-14 and two Kelly Cup Playoff appearances.

Rhéaume, 50, is a former pro-league forward with 318 NHL games under his belt for several teams. He most recently served as assistant coach for the ECHL’s Trois-Rivières Lions for two seasons. Prior to that, he was the head coach of the Val d’Or Foreurs in the QMJHL from 2018 to 2020 and previously held coaching roles with the Sherbrooke Phoenix and Drummondville Voltigeurs. He was also an assistant coach with the AHL’s Iowa Wild in the 2015-16 season. Rhéaume played nearly two decades in the AHL, tallying 408 points in 589 AHL games. He won the 1995 Calder Cup with AHL Albany and the 2003 Stanley Cup with the New Jersey Devils. Together, they’ll replace the role served by Rick Kowalsky the last two seasons in Bridgeport, who was promoted to head coach this season after the team parted ways with longtime bench boss Brent Thompson.

Elsewhere from around hockey this morning:

  • Boston Bruins player development scout Danielle Marmer has been announced as the general manager of the new Boston franchise in the Professional Women’s Hockey League, set to begin play in January. The 2022-23 season was Marmer’s first in an NHL role, previously serving as the director of hockey operations for Quinnipiac University’s women’s program for three seasons.
  • Some eyebrows were raised when the NHL announced they’d be heading to Melbourne, Australia, for a pair of preseason games to kick off the 2023 Global Series. NHL deputy commissioner Bill Daly told NHL.com senior writer Dan Rosen today it’s just the beginning of the league venturing into more “unique” destinations after largely limiting their international contests to hockey-saturated European and Scandinavian markets. “I’m not going to throw any country names out there, but there are other places that we’ve yet to bring teams or our game which we think present unique opportunities, and we’re exploring it,” Daly said. “Over time, you will see us staging regular-season games in other European markets. I think we have to be nimble, we have to adjust strategies to demand and continue to grow the property.” He also hopes the NHL’s venture into Australia later this month proves it as a sustainable market that could host future international contests, and already anticipates two sellouts for the preseason contests between the Arizona Coyotes and Los Angeles Kings.

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