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Multiple Teams Showing Interest In Golden Knights Goaltenders

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The Golden Knights are in somewhat of an unusual spot heading into next season as both of their goaltenders are a year away from becoming unrestricted free agents.  To that end, ESPN’s Kevin Weekes reports (Twitter link) that teams are showing interest in both Adin Hill and Logan Thompson.

Both netminders are still relatively inexperienced at the NHL level, all things considered.  Hill has played parts of seven seasons but has just 123 career regular season starts under his belt between Arizona, San Jose, and Vegas.  Thompson, meanwhile, has even less, with just 95 starts over parts of four years.

Hill played an integral role in the Golden Knights’ Stanley Cup title last year, helping earn him a two-year, $9.8MM contract soon after to avoid him reaching the open market last summer.  The 28-year-old saw his numbers drop a bit this season although he still managed a 2.71 GAA with a .909 SV% in 35 games, both above the league average.

He was basically in a time-sharing situation with Thompson, who made 42 starts in 2023-24.  His numbers were nearly identical to Hill’s, checking in at 2.70 and .908 respectively.  The 27-year-old got the nod to start the playoffs but ceded the net to Hill for the final three games as they bowed out to Dallas in the opening round.

It’s worth noting that Thompson is one of the biggest bargains in the league between the pipes.  His AAV checks in at $766.7K, below the minimum salary.  With Vegas being quite tight to the salary cap once again this summer, they’d be hard-pressed to be persuaded to part Thompson knowing that whoever replaces him would cut into their already limited flexibility.

With their salary structure, it’s hard to see Vegas being able to afford to keep both goalies beyond the upcoming season.  They should be able to afford to keep one of them but combined, they’d likely cost more than what GM Kelly McCrimmon can realistically afford to allocate to that position.  With that in mind, it makes sense that teams are sniffing around to see which one might become available, if one is made available at all.

With Jacob Markstrom already having been moved, Linus Ullmark is the next-biggest name in play among NHL netminders and there are several teams who could be on the lookout for help between the pipes.  As a result, it could be an intriguing trade market for netminders in the coming days.

Metropolitan Notes: Pitlick, Petan, Flyers, Lalonde

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It appears a pair of pending unrestricted free agents from the Rangers have their eyes set on playing overseas.  Mollie Walker of the New York Post reports that wingers Tyler Pitlick and Nic Petan may be heading to play in Europe next season.  Pitlick has bounced around lately, playing for seven different teams in the past six years but cleared waivers midseason, resulting in his first AHL action since 2015-16.  Knowing that a two-way offer is likely his best bet this summer, the time might be right to try playing overseas.  Petan, meanwhile, has seen NHL action in nine straight years but has become more of a full-time AHLer in recent seasons.  If he stays in North America, it’s likely that will continue to be the case so if he wants to change that up, going across the pond would make a lot of sense for him.

More from the Metropolitan:

  • Flyers GM Daniel Briere told Philly Hockey Now’s Jonathan Bailey that he’s not planning to select a goalie early in next week’s draft. Philadelphia picked two goalies with their first three picks last year, adding Carson Bjarnason and Yegor Zavragin within the first three rounds and while there’s no deadline to sign Zavragin, it makes sense that they wouldn’t want to use another early pick on a netminder.  Briere wouldn’t rule out selecting another goalie later in the draft, however.
  • Blue Jackets goalie prospect Nolan Lalonde is on the move at the OHL level. Kingston announced that they’ve acquired the 20-year-old from Saginaw for a conditional draft pick.  Columbus signed Lalonde as an undrafted free agent back in 2022 and he posted a 3.16 GAA with an .874 SV% in 32 games with the Spirit.  Lalonde is eligible to play in the pros full-time next season but could also return for his overage year which will now be played with his hometown Frontenacs if he is indeed sent back.

Offseason Checklist: New York Rangers

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The offseason has arrived for all but the two teams who are still taking part in the playoffs.  For the rest, it’s time to examine what they will need to accomplish over the coming months.  Next up is a look at the Rangers.

After getting eliminated in the first round in 2022-23, the Rangers shook things up last offseason, bringing in Peter Laviolette behind the bench.  He helped lead New York to their highest point total in franchise history while they made it to the Eastern Conference Final before falling to Florida.  GM Chris Drury has already made one move of significance with Barclay Goodrow moving on to San Jose via waiver claim but he still has some work to do in the coming weeks.

Add Scoring RW

This has been an area of need for several years now after Pavel Buchnevich was moved out with the Rangers ultimately trying to get creative to try to fill it.  They’ve brought in rentals like Patrick Kane and Vladimir Tarasenko.  They’ve moved Alexis Lafreniere to his off-wing after Kaapo Kakko wasn’t able to play his way into that spot.  They’ve tried moving Filip Chytil there as well.  While Lafreniere showed some signs of a breakout this season, the other options haven’t worked quite as well so it remains a spot to be addressed.

While it’s possible that they could leave Lafreniere there longer (allowing him to see time on the top line more frequently), it stands to reason that they’d prefer to have him on his natural side regularly.  That means that Drury will once again be trying to fill this spot in the weeks ahead.

However, one of the challenges here will be their cap situation.  While they have a little under $13MM in cap space per CapFriendly, a good chunk of that will be going to their restricted free agents.  There won’t be enough money left to go after the likes of Sam Reinhart or even Steven Stamkos should he actually test free agency.  Instead, turning to someone like Tyler Toffoli could be a suitable Plan B although fitting him into their cap structure could be difficult as well.  In a perfect world, they’ll find a way to get what they hope will be a more consistently viable top-six option, be it through free agency or a trade.

Shesterkin Extension Talks

Goaltender Igor Shesterkin has more than proven to be a quality successor to long-time franchise icon Henrik Lundqvist between the pipes, giving New York the type of long-term high-end goaltending that many franchises could only dream about.  They’ve also benefitted from having Shesterkin on a contract that quickly became a team-friendly one as it was signed just 47 games into his NHL career.

That deal, which carries a $5.667MM AAV, will be entering its final year next season, making Shesterkin eligible for a contract extension as early as July 1st.  It’s fair to say the top end of the goaltending market has slowed down in recent years after big contracts were given to Carey Price ($10.5MM per season) and Sergei Bobrovsky ($10MM per year) but this feels like the next goalie deal that could push past the double-digit AAV mark.

Bobrovsky’s contract counted as 12.27% of the salary cap at the time it was signed while Price’s deal checked in at 14%.  There is a strong case to be made that Shesterkin should be in that range as well.  Based on next year’s $88MM Upper Limit, that would put his range between $10.798MM and $12.32MM.  Of course, this contract doesn’t kick in until 2025-26 when the salary cap will be even higher.

Let’s re-run those numbers with a hypothetical $92MM cap ceiling.  Using Bobrovsky and Price’s percentages, the new range is between $11.288MM and $12.88MM.  It’s safe to say these are the comparables that his camp will be bringing up in discussions while Drury’s camp will obviously be trying to get the number a little lower.

Still, the possibility exists that Shesterkin will double his current AAV on his next contract.  Getting some certainty regarding just how much that’s going to cost would be helpful for their summer planning considering his likely raise will potentially more than cover the increase in the cap for 2025-26.

Re-Sign RFA Defensemen

With Kakko already re-signed to what would have been his qualifying offer, the list of pending restricted free agents that Drury has to contend with is pretty limited.  At this point, their two main ones are both defensemen in Ryan Lindgren and Braden Schneider.

Lindgren is coming off his bridge deal, a back-loaded pact that carried a $3MM AAV but has a $3.6MM qualifying offer with salary arbitration rights.  He’s also a year away from UFA eligibility.  He’s someone whose long-term value is a little harder to peg as he lacks the offensive numbers to command top dollar; he has yet to record 20 points in a season.  Instead, he’s more of a capable defensive second-pairing player so the asking price shouldn’t be exorbitant.  A long-term agreement likely pushes past $5MM per season but it’s also possible they work out what amounts to effectively a second bridge deal (potentially another three-year pact), allowing them to keep the price tag closer to $4.5MM which would give them a bit more breathing room to try to add up front.

As for Schneider, he’s exiting his entry-level deal and doesn’t have arbitration rights just yet.  He has been limited to playing on the third pairing for most of his career which doesn’t make him a strong candidate for a long-term agreement.  Generally speaking, a blueliner who has yet to average 16 minutes per game in a season will be heading for a bridge deal and this case should be no exception.  Schneider should be in line to double his $925K cap hit from his entry-level agreement on what might be a two-year agreement instead of the three-year bridge that Lindgren received when he was in this situation a few years ago.

Add Center Depth

In theory, with Mika Zibanejad and Vincent Trocheck in place as their top two middlemen and Chytil recovering to play in the playoffs, this isn’t necessarily a significant need.  However, with Chytil’s long track record of concussion trouble, they likely can’t simply assume that he’ll be healthy for all of next season.  Finding some injury insurance for him would be beneficial as a result.

Jonny Brodzinski spent a good chunk of the year down the middle but in an ideal scenario, he’s likely not on the third line with regularity.  Alexander Wennberg was brought in at the trade deadline and did relatively well but he’s probably too expensive to keep around.  Jack Roslovic, their other deadline pickup, can also play down the middle but is also unlikely to return.  Meanwhile, Nick Bonino, brought in to be their fourth center last summer, was released midseason and wasn’t replaced either.

At a minimum, a bottom-six addition down the middle would be beneficial, one who can kill penalties and fill the role that Bonino was supposed to cover this season.  Someone a tier below that who can be a serviceable recall wouldn’t hurt either.  But getting a third-line option would be some worthwhile insurance for Chytil’s concussion concerns while also allowing Chytil to play on the wing if it’s deemed a better fit for him.  They can’t do that, re-sign their blueliners, and add an impact right winger but if the latter doesn’t happen, this could be their Plan B.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Atlantic Notes: Swayman, Bussi, Houle

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While a Linus Ullmark trade is the expected outcome when it comes to what happens with Boston’s goaltending situation, Kevin Paul Dupont of the Boston Globe discusses the other possibility on the trade front.  Instead of moving Ullmark and signing Jeremy Swayman to a long-term deal, perhaps extending Ullmark and moving Swayman could be the better way to go for the Bruins.

Swayman has two years of club control remaining (with arbitration eligibility) and is coming off the better year between the two plus a strong playoff showing that saw him post a 2.15 GAA and a .933 SV% in a dozen starts.  His trade value would be considerably higher as a result, giving the Bruins a chance to potentially fill multiple needs, including an impact center and a defensive upgrade.  At this point, it doesn’t seem likely to happen but if trade talks surrounding Ullmark stall out over extension discussions, the Bruins could certainly consider flipping the script.  Considering how quickly the goalie market moves in the summer, however, it’s a decision they’d have to make rather quickly.

More from the Atlantic:

  • Speaking of Bruins netminders, Mark Divver of the New England Hockey Journal reports (Twitter link) that the team has made progress on a new deal for pending RFA goaltender Brandon Bussi. The 25-year-old is coming off a strong year with AHL Providence where he had a 2.67 GAA with a .913 SV% in 41 games.  Depending on if Boston has to take a goalie back in the eventual trade and how they plan to use their cap space, it’s possible that he could be in line to take over the second-string duties next season despite not having yet made an appearance at the NHL level.
  • Just weeks after signing him to a three-year contract, Jean-Francois Houle is no longer the head coach with Montreal’s AHL affiliate in Laval. The Canadiens announced on Friday that they’ve agreed to mutually part ways with Houle, allowing him to be hired by Clarkson University for their head coaching position.  It’s a return home of sorts for Houle as he played there and also began his coaching career with them as an assistant before moving on to the QMJHL and then the professional ranks.  With free agency on the horizon, it wouldn’t be shocking to see Montreal try to fill this vacancy before the end of the month.

Red Wings Notes: Seider, Raymond, Larkin, Defense, Goaltending

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Red Wings GM Steve Yzerman met with the media today (video link) to discuss his team heading into the draft and upcoming free agency period.  The biggest item on their to-do list this summer is getting new deals in place for pending restricted free agents Moritz Seider and Lucas Raymond.  While Yzerman was hoping to have deals in place early for those two, it doesn’t appear that will be the case.  If Detroit wants to sign both players long-term, that could take up more than half of their $29.3MM of cap space (per CapFriendly) which would play a big role in their offseason spending.  With that in mind, it wouldn’t be surprising to see a fair bit of that money go unspent on July 1st, leaving themselves options to lock up their two key pieces.

More from Detroit:

  • Yzerman confirmed that center Dylan Larkin had minor surgery for an upper-body injury sustained late in the season that kept him out of playing at the Worlds. At the moment, he hasn’t been cleared to skate although he has been training.  Larkin, who averaged over a point per game this season for the first time, is expected to make a full recovery and be ready for training camp in the fall.
  • The Red Wings have a deep back end on paper in terms of having plenty of veterans plus some prospects on the cusp of being NHL-ready. While Yzerman indicated that he’d like to try to re-sign pending UFA Shayne Gostisbehere, he also acknowledged that he’s not sure about bringing back the same group of blueliners next season.  With Simon Edvinsson appearing to be ready for a full-time role and Albert Johansson now waiver-eligible, it seems like one way or the other, they will have to subtract from their current group in the coming weeks.
  • Yzerman noted that goaltender Ville Husso is fully healthy now while fellow netminder Alex Lyon will be ready for training camp after leaving the Worlds early last month. He stated that the team will look into the goalie market but that he isn’t looking to bring in an older netminder who won’t be around in a few years, nor does he want to carry three goalies on the NHL roster full-time next season.  Speculatively, that suggests they’ll likely be primarily looking for a playing partner for prospect Sebastian Cossa who should see the bulk of the playing time with AHL Grand Rapids once again in 2024-25.

Free Agent Focus: Los Angeles Kings

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Free agency is now less than two weeks away and teams are looking ahead to when it opens.  There will be several impact players set to hit the open market in July while many teams have key restricted free agents to re-sign as well.  We continue our look around the NHL with an overview of the free agent situation for the Kings.

Key Restricted Free Agents

F Quinton Byfield – The Kings were hoping that the 2020 second-overall pick would take a big step forward and become a key top-six threat for them in 2023-24.  Mission accomplished on that front.  After being more of a role player in his first couple of years, he was regularly in the top six while taking a regular turn on the power play.  Byfield also did so while playing primarily on the wing which isn’t his natural position.  That could change moving forward now with Pierre-Luc Dubois in Washington, opening up a path for Byfield to move back down the middle.  A bridge contract might be the safer route here, checking in somewhere around the $4MM mark but if GM Rob Blake thinks that Byfield has another level to get to, he could try to pursue a long-term agreement, one that would likely push past $7MM per season.

F Arthur Kaliyev – In his first two seasons, Kaliyev was a decent secondary scorer, albeit an inconsistent one.  However, he struggled considerably in 2023-24 and following the midseason coaching change that saw Jim Hiller take over, the 22-year-old hardly played after that.  With a qualifying offer of just $874K, he shouldn’t be a non-tender risk but it’s more than evident at this point that a change of scenery would be a good idea for both sides.

F Blake Lizotte – After a breakout showing in 2022-23, Lizotte saw his output drop this season, tallying just 15 points in 62 games.  He’s a regular on the penalty kill and plays with some jam despite his smaller stature but he’s owed a $1.675MM qualifying offer, one that also carries arbitration rights.  With a 34-point effort the year before, it’s probable that the award would check in over $2MM.  For the limited role he fills, is that the best use of their money or would a non-tender make more sense while they look to fill that role with someone cheaper?

D Jordan Spence – The 23-year-old was basically a full-time NHLer for the first time this season, getting into 71 games.  He was predominantly limited to playing on the third pairing with a bit of power play time but he still managed a respectable 24 points which will definitely help his case in negotiations.  Given the limited role, it doesn’t make much sense for a long-term agreement to be worked out but a short-term bridge deal worth a little over $2MM might be the right fit.

Other RFAs: F Samuel Fagemo, F Carl Grundstrom, G Jacob Ingham, F Tyler Madden, G Erik Portillo, F Alex Turcotte

Key Unrestricted Free Agents

F Viktor Arvidsson – Suffice it to say, this was not the ideal walk year for the 31-year-old.  Arvidsson missed the first 50 games of the season after undergoing back surgery, then landed back on LTIR just four games after returning.  He did come back to finish off the year and played in the playoffs but suited up just 21 times combined.  Still, Arvidsson has a track record of being a quality top-six piece with five 20-goal seasons under his belt while being a strong possession player which helps.  But with the injuries, it’s hard to see teams offering up a long-term deal.  Instead, the offers might be more of the three-year variety while he’s a candidate to opt for a one-year pillow contract in the hopes of showing he’s fully healthy, thereby bolstering his value for the 2025 open market.

F Trevor Lewis – A veteran of 16 NHL seasons, Lewis has been an effective fourth liner for quite some time.  His production has dropped compared to his first stint with the Kings when he was more in his prime but he’s still worth signing to fill the role he has the last few years.  That will be a contract at or close to the league minimum salary but he should get another deal to give him a shot at reaching 1,000 career regular season games, a number he’s 26 shy of at the moment.

D Matt Roy – Roy has been one of the more under-the-radar blueliners over the past few years.  He’s a stable second-pairing player who can move up when needed while also helping to anchor the penalty kill.  On top of that, he’s a right-hand shot, the side that’s always in high demand.  Los Angeles would undoubtedly love to bring him back but the 29-year-old is well-positioned to cash in and this is his best shot at a big long-term deal.  After making $3.15MM the last three seasons, he could come close to doubling that on the open market.

G Cam Talbot – The veteran wound up settling for a low-cost contract that ultimately paid him $2MM with bonuses; $1MM of that will be on the Kings’ books in 2024-25.  Still, the move worked out well for both sides as the 36-year-old made 52 starts, posting a 2.50 GAA with a .913 SV%, more than respectable numbers for someone at that price point.  With their acquisition of Darcy Kuemper, it’s likely that Talbot moves on but as one of the more proven netminders on the market, he should be able to land another one-year deal, perhaps with a bit more guaranteed money this time around.

Other UFAs: D Kevin Connauton, G Pheonix Copley, G Aaron Dell, F Hayden Hodgson, F Mikhail Maltsev, D Steven Santini, F T.J. Tynan

Projected Cap Space

After being rather limited spending-wise last summer, the Kings have $23.45MM in flexibility for next season.  Granted, they have as many as ten players to sign with that money with a fair-sized chunk of that being earmarked for Byfield’s contract and the re-signing or replacing of Arvidsson and potentially Roy.  Nonetheless, Blake has a chance to make another splash this summer, one he’ll be hoping works out a lot better than the one he made around this time a year ago.

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

PHR Mailbag: Blackhawks, Draft, Zegras, CapFriendly, Panthers, Player Safety

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Topics in this edition of our mailbag include several draft questions, where Trevor Zegras might be playing next year, and much more.  If your question doesn’t appear here, check back in our mailbag from last weekend.  There will be one more that runs on Monday.

UncleMike1526: Who should be the one player, be it trade, UFA signing, or RFA signing the Blackhawks should target this offseason?

I’ll go with Jake Guentzel here.  Not only is he one of the top free agents available but he doesn’t cost anything but cap space to bring in.  (Unless Chicago were to trade for his negotiating rights, then it’d be a mid-round pick which isn’t a big deal for them.)  They’re at the point now where they need to start adding pieces and while he alone won’t turn around their fortunes for next season, getting a quality scorer for free (or close to it) would be great.

I also put some value in the success he had with Sidney Crosby.  It’s not as easy as some think to keep up with elite players so finding someone that could ride shotgun with Connor Bedard isn’t as easy as it seems.  Getting someone who has spent the majority of the last several years in that type of role would be the perfect fit to work with Bedard.  It might not be an easy sell considering there will be plenty of playoff-contending teams that will have interest but that would be a great outcome for them.

You mention an RFA signing in your question but an offer sheet would not be advisable for them.  If they’re signing someone of consequence, it’s going to cost them at least one first-round pick.  Those picks are unprotected and considering that one player alone isn’t going to make a big difference, I’m not sure they should be running the risk of losing what could be a fairly high lottery pick a year from now.

jminn: If Chicago takes Artyom Levshunov second overall, who do you think the Ducks will take? They’ve said they need both a right-handed defenseman and a right-handed wing. Do they attempt to get that at number three or take the guy they think is the best available player even though they’re loaded with left-handed defenders?

If it’s me in charge, I’d go with Ivan Demidov.  There is a bit of risk considering he was playing at a lower level but he might be the most skilled player left on the board.  Anaheim is still at a point where they should be looking to add firepower to their quickly improving forward group and getting a possible front-line winger to go with their young centers would be great.

But it’s not me in charge, it’s Pat Verbeek.  He has certainly put an emphasis on size and grit and Anton Silayev could be that type of unicorn defender that rarely comes around.  Even though he doesn’t have the offensive upside that several other blueliners do, players with his profile that can play at a high level don’t come around too often.

Yes, the Ducks have ample left-side depth on the back end.  But they don’t have anyone like Silayev.  He’s someone who could be that key shutdown defender who kills penalties and plays in late-game defensive situations, basically being the perfect complementary piece to Pavel Mintyukov and Olen Zellweger on the left side.  Watching these playoffs, Silayev could be a significant difference-maker and that’s why I think they’ll view him as the BPA and add him to their already-deep prospect pool.

GBear: Draft question!

Assuming the Preds are looking for a forward who is a drive-the-play type player, who would you be looking at as likely available at the #22 spot at the draft? I’m leaning towards Sacha Boisvert, fwiw.

This is probably a good time for my annual reminder that I’m not a scout by any stretch of the imagination so I’m relying solely on second-hand info as a result.  Boisvert seems like a good fit in that range.  I wonder about Igor Chernyshov falling into that range as well.  He has that power forward-type of profile but we’ve seen some Russian-born players slip in recent years and if he does, he could fall into Nashville’s laps.

I don’t know if he necessarily fits the profile you’re hoping for but the other player that comes to mind for them if they’re going for a forward is Andrew Basha.  He is a bit smaller but is a strong puck carrier who could drive the play while being an all-situations player.  He’s the type of complementary player that I could see GM Barry Trotz showing some interest in him and that’s in the range that some think Basha will land in.

jminn: Do you think Carter Yakemchuk is NHL-ready or does he need AHL seasoning?

Offensively, I think Yakemchuk could hold his own in the NHL next season and that’s a compliment.  His shot is a considerable weapon and he doesn’t hesitate to get involved in the rush; that’s something teams could work with.  Physically, he has a frame where he might be able to stick as well.  But on the whole, no, I don’t think he’s ready to play at the top level just yet.

One of the big knocks on him is his skating.  That’s something that pro teams will exploit pretty quickly.  In general, his defensive game needs some work.  Part of that can be fixed with skating improvements but he needs reps against easier competition to start developing some better habits on that end.  I think he’d be overwhelmed if exposed to NHL-level players on an extended basis.  Most blueliners would; there’s a reason why there are very few 18-year-old defenders in the NHL.

I’ll also clarify that Yakemchuk isn’t eligible to play in the AHL next season.  As a CHL-based player, it’s NHL or bust for him.  He’s not eligible to play in the minors on a full-time basis until 2026-27.  Unless his defensive game and skating improve considerably over the next couple of years, he could certainly benefit from time in that level as well to shore up that side of his game before getting regular NHL minutes.  That’s a pretty standard development curve for most rearguards and I think it’s probably the best one for him as well.

@SamToo22: Where does Trevor Zegras end up?

One of the challenges of finding the right fit for Zegras (if he’s moved at all) is trying to figure out what it is they want.  I expect they’ll be active in free agency again this summer as they look to add veteran pieces to help position themselves toward moving past their rebuild.  But having said that, it would surprise me if they were interested in moving Zegras for that veteran type of piece; I think they’ll want someone (or something) with considerable club control.  That takes some potential suitors off the table.

On the flip side, having been rebuilding for basically six years now, a strictly futures-based return probably isn’t going to fly either.  Sure, a high draft pick could be part of a package but there needs to be someone that isn’t years away from being an impact NHL player.  This element might not reduce any suitors but it puts more limitations on the types of offers that could be made.

Montreal has been suggested as a possible fit.  They’ve moved younger players and draft picks at the last couple of drafts for more win-now help and they have a fairly deep prospect pool and some young roster players that could be appealing.  If he went there, it wouldn’t surprise me.

But my pick is Utah.  It’s the same general idea as Montreal in that they have a draft pick surplus, a strong group of prospects, and some younger roster pieces that can help Anaheim in the near future.  Like many, I expect Utah to take a swing or two this summer and go after someone like Zegras who is young enough that he can be a part of the younger core group they already have.  They certainly could use some help down the middle and an influx of offensive talent so if Zegras winds up moving, Utah is my guess at a landing spot.

Gmm8811: So let’s talk about CapFriendly… where are we gonna go now to find that kind of information? Maybe your site will expand its content? Also, any updates on what is going on with the players involved in the Hockey Canada mess?

jminn: Why didn’t the NHL buy CF? Daly and his chimp sleeping at the wheel.

Losing cap sites is something I’ve been accustomed to over the years.  I remember about 20 years ago when there weren’t any sites but rather a mailing list with an Excel spreadsheet (which took quite a while to get onto, might I add) that had contract info but not cap tracking.  Teams have taken over cap sites before and we’ve been fortunate enough to have new ones pop up quickly.  Fortunately, we don’t have to wait for a new one this time as PuckPedia has been up and running for several years now.  Meanwhile, as Josh Erickson noted in a reply to this question in the callout, we are looking into some options as well but obviously there’s nothing to report on that front.

As to why the NHL didn’t take over the site, they are steadfastly against salary disclosure.  I remember Gary Bettman saying in the past that he didn’t think there was much demand for this information; it came a day or two after the cap site at the time crashed due to too many visitors putting too much strain on the site’s server.  We’ve learned since Washington’s purchase was announced that the league wasn’t too thrilled about the existence and popularity of CapFriendly so the last thing they were going to do was amplify it by folding it into their own site.  If anything, I suspect there were some cheers from the league office when it came out that a team was buying it and getting CapFriendly out of the public domain.

Meanwhile, regarding the Hockey Canada situation, TSN’s Rick Westhead relayed last week (Twitter link) that a trial date won’t be set until mid-August while the earliest a trial could happen would probably be April 2025 and that the proceedings could take at least two months.  Accordingly, there isn’t going to be much news on that front for a while yet.

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Offseason Checklist: Vancouver Canucks

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The offseason has arrived for all but the two teams who are still taking part in the playoffs.  For the rest, it’s time to examine what they will need to accomplish over the coming months.  Next up is a look at Vancouver.

The Canucks were one of the surprises of the season, going from a non-playoff team to winning the Pacific Division and getting deep into the second round despite being without their starting goalie.  GM Patrik Allvin has already checked one significant item off his summer to-do list with the recent re-signing of Filip Hronek to a long-term extension but he still has some items to check off in the coming weeks and months.

Reload The Back End

Even with Hronek under contract, Vancouver has just three full-time blueliners signed for next season – Hronek, Quinn Hughes, and Carson Soucy.  Noah Juulsen is also under contract, but he profiles as a sixth option at best and preferably a seventh who comes in when injuries arise.  That leaves three spots to fill, either by re-signing or replacing their pending unrestricted free agents.

The most notable of the trio is Nikita Zadorov.  The 29-year-old did well after being acquired early in the season from Calgary and then was a difference-maker for them in the playoffs.  He has struggled to get a long-term deal so far in his career, but that shouldn’t be the case this time around, with some suggesting that he could get six years and $6MM per season.  There’s mutual interest in having Zadorov stick around, but with how well-positioned he is to cash in, it’d be hard to pass up testing the market.

Tyler Myers had a contract that made him a target from the moment it was signed.  Miscast in a top role, the 34-year-old had arguably his best season in five years with Vancouver in 2023-24 as he was moved down the lineup.  He won’t get $6MM this time around, but there’s believed to be mutual interest in him coming back at the right price.  Meanwhile, that isn’t expected to be the case for Ian Cole, with the 35-year-old being set to possibly land with his sixth organization since 2020.

With nearly $17MM in cap space per CapFriendly, there’s room to potentially have one contract of significance as they re-sign or replace these veterans, although if they want to add up front – more on that shortly – then they’ll need some more cost-effective options as well.  Notably, Myers and Cole logged the most minutes shorthanded, so as they look to fill those spots, it’s likely that they will be looking to bring in some players with a track record of success on the penalty kill.

Boeser Extension Talks

As it stands, the Canucks won’t have nearly as much roster turnover via free agency in 2025 as they will this year, at least among their star players. They do have one big fish to get extended before next summer, though.

Brock Boeser finally hit his potential in earnest in 2023-24. After posting middling stat lines the past two seasons while dealing with a variety of personal struggles, which he opened up about to The Province’s Ben Kuzma last year, he erupted for a career-best 40 goals and 73 points in 81 regular-season contests. Averaging 18:36 per game and flourishing under head coach Rick Tocchet, he’s made himself an irreplaceable part of their core group of forwards and has set himself up well heading into a contract year.

As of today, he’d earn a significant raise on his current $6.65MM cap hit. Evolving Hockey projects a max-term eight-year deal in the $8MM AAV range as the most likely scenario if Boeser were to be extended shortly after becoming eligible to sign one on July 1. But with their aforementioned large plate of free agents to deal with this summer, extension talks with Boeser will likely take a while to get going.

Injuries were a concern early on in his career, but he has flashed the potential to consistently produce in the 70-point range in the past. His 0.90 points per game this season was a career-high, but he did get close on multiple other occasions (0.89 in 2017-18, 0.81 in 2018-19, 0.88 in 2020-21).

Add Impact Forward

A quick glance at the Canucks’ depth chart next season reveals a painstakingly clear need for a top-six winger (or two) to help complement J.T. Miller and Elias Pettersson. Boeser has one spot locked down, and Conor Garland should likely find himself further up in the lineup after a strong 2023-24 campaign, but Ilya Mikheyev is currently slated for a second-line role alongside Pettersson. He’s not expected back next season anyway, and assuming they can clear the entirety of his $4.75MM cap hit, that’s more money for their front office braintrust of Patrik Allvin and Jim Rutherford to play with.

Their top target is clear. They were linked to former Penguins forward Jake Guentzel at the trade deadline, and while they lost a bidding war to the Hurricanes, he’s available again this summer, with Carolina dangling his signing rights before he reaches UFA status. As expected, they’re checking in on him again.

He’d be the most expensive option available to meet the ’impact forward’ moniker, likely save for Panthers winger Sam Reinhart. Guentzel is likely to cost a team around or more than $9MM per season, and Vancouver would need to pounce quickly. Can they get certainty in the coming days that they’ll be able to accommodate such a deal under the salary cap? That’ll be a story to follow as next week’s draft nears.

Other cheaper options to complement Miller or Pettersson on the wing include Jonathan Marchessault, Teuvo Teräväinen, or a reunion with Tyler Toffoli. All would be significant short-term upgrades over Mikheyev or other oft-used options higher up in the lineup, like youngster Nils Höglander.

Clear Poolman’s Contract

We’re all but certain that defenseman Tucker Poolman won’t play again due to migraine issues. He hasn’t skated in an NHL game since October 2022 and spent all of the 2023-24 campaign on long-term injured reserve.

While some criticized the four-year, $2.5MM AAV deal Poolman received from the Canucks in free agency, few thought it would yield just 43 games of service from Poolman in a Vancouver sweater. Regardless, the 31-year-old Iowa native now has just one year left on his deal, and it’s gumming up the offseason salary cap works. Could a team desperately in need of salary cap relief, such as the Golden Knights or Lightning, acquire Poolman’s $2.5MM cap hit next season and place it on LTIR for some much-needed in-season relief? It would be a win-win situation.

PHR’s Josh Erickson contributed significantly to this article.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Offseason Checklist: Colorado Avalanche

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The offseason has arrived for all but the two teams who are still taking part in the playoffs.  For the rest, it’s time to examine what they will need to accomplish over the coming months.  Next up is a look at Colorado.

Expectations were high once again for the Avalanche heading into 2023-24.  The team made some moves to shore up their forward group over the offseason, leading them to be a speculative favorite to come out of the Central Division.  However, they came up a bit short, falling to Dallas in the division final.  Now, GM Chris MacFarland will look to add to his group again, a task that will be harder this time around.  Here’s what should be on his checklist in the coming weeks.

Create Cap Flexibility

Captain Gabriel Landeskog missed the entire season, allowing Colorado to go well into LTIR last summer as they knew in advance he wouldn’t be available to play.  There is still some uncertainty as to whether he’ll be ready to play next season but the winger has made it known he intends to try.  That effectively encumbers $7MM as they need to have that free in case he’s able to return from his knee cartilage transplant.

Then there’s Valeri Nichushkin.  He’ll miss the first few weeks of the season while being in Stage Three of the Player Assistance Program and will be cap-exempt during that time.  However, whenever he is cleared to return, his full $6.125MM cap charge will come onto the books.  They have to assume he’ll be cleared to come back so that money will be tied up as well.

While the Avs have over $16MM in cap room, per CapFriendly, they have quite a few roster spots to fill with that money; a big chunk of which will go to a pending RFA which will be highlighted shortly.  With the volume of spots (as many as eight) to fill, they’ll be hard-pressed to spend big on an unrestricted free agent which will make it difficult to re-sign Jonathan Drouin.

Finding a way to move all or at least some of Josh Manson’s $4.5MM AAV would be one way to accomplish this although it’s usually not easy to free up that much cap space for a couple of years.  Ross Colton ($4MM for three years) might be another option to move although doing so would create another hole down the middle to fill.  There aren’t many ways to do it but if MacFarland can open up some more wiggle room, they’ll have plenty more viable options to build their roster.

Rantanen Extension Talks

While this is something that could easily stay on the back burner this summer, it wouldn’t be surprising to see Colorado take a real run at an extension for winger Mikko Rantanen.  Once July 1st hits, he’ll officially be in the final year of his contract, making him eligible to sign a new deal at any time.

The 27-year-old has been playing on a contract that pays $9.25MM per season since 2019.  It’s hard for that pricey of a contract to be construed as a team-friendly one but that is the case here.  Rantanen has become an impactful and consistent producer, averaging at least 1.23 points per game in each of the last four seasons.  He has been even more productive in the playoffs, averaging a minimum of 1.25 points per game over the last four postseason, tallying 62 points in 48 games over that span.

As a result, Rantanen is well-positioned to earn a considerable raise along with a max-term agreement of eight years if he wants to sign for that long.  Earlier this month, Corey Masisak of The Denver Post outlined some possible comparables for what Rantanen’s next deal could look like.  At this point, it’s fair to suggest that there’s a chance that Rantanen could sign the richest contract for a winger in NHL history (in terms of cap hit), surpassing Artemi Panarin’s $11.643MM.  That still would slot him a bit behind Nathan MacKinnon who checks in at $12.6MM.

This isn’t something that MacFarland has to get done this summer as Rantanen is signed through next June.  However, it would be worthwhile to at least get an understanding of the asking price (if not get a deal done altogether) to aid in their spending plans now as some of the players they’ll be pursuing shortly will undoubtedly be seeking multi-year deals.  Having a better sense of what the 2025-26 books will look like makes navigating those other discussions a little easier.

Re-Sign Mittelstadt

Now, let’s get back to that pending RFA of note, center Casey Mittelstadt.  The Avs pulled off arguably the most surprising trade back at the deadline, acquiring the 25-year-old from Buffalo in exchange for promising young defenseman Bowen Byram.  In doing so, they shored up their second line, something they’d been looking to do since losing Nazem Kadri to Calgary in free agency.

Mittelstadt followed up a breakout 2022-23 performance that saw him put up 59 points with a similar showing between the two teams this season, tallying 57 points in 80 games.  However, that doesn’t quite tell the full picture as he was limited to 10 points in 18 appearances following the swap, a point-per-game drop of 0.2 compared to his output with the Sabres.  However, Mittelstadt was more impactful in the playoffs, collecting nine points in 11 games which will help his case this summer.

Mittelstadt is coming off a three-year bridge agreement that carried a $2.5MM AAV and has a required qualifying offer of $2.6MM.  He’s also arbitration-eligible for the first and only time as he can reach unrestricted free agency next summer.  That last note effectively rules out another short-term contract that would only buy a year or two of team control.

Given their cap constraints, it’s hard to envision the Avs working out a max-term agreement as the cost of it in terms of a higher AAV would make things a bit harder for them in the summer.  Accordingly, a medium-term deal (four to six years) feels like the sweet spot to try to aim for.  If that winds up being where the two sides land, he’s likely to at least double his qualifying offer and could push for $6MM.  Getting him locked up would certainly give them some stability down the middle with MacKinnon not going anywhere either.

Load Up On Depth

Last summer, Colorado needed to sign several players to low-cost one-year deals to round out their roster.  Up front, they added Drouin, Chris Wagner, and Joel Kiviranta while re-signing Andrew Cogliano all for $825K or less and also brought in Frederik Karlsson for the minimum from Dallas.  On the back end, they brought back Jack Johnson for the minimum and later acquired Caleb Jones who was also making the minimum salary.  They didn’t hit on every addition but most of them turned out pretty well while Drouin wound up being a key part of their forward group.  However, all but Wagner are free agents next month.

That’s a lot of roster spots to try to fill and depending on what happens with Mittelstadt’s deal and potentially trying to bring Drouin back, they’re going to be looking at trying to fill the rest either internally or with low-cost free agent pickups.  With their internal options, Nikolai Kovalenko and recent free agent pickup Jere Innala figure to be the likeliest to grab spots although both of them also check in at price tags higher than last summer’s group of depth additions.

With that in mind, MacFarland will likely be targeting four to six players for the league minimum or very close to it to try to backfill their forward group and round out the defense corps.  Additionally, he will likely be trying to add some potential in-season recalls on two-way deals worth the minimum in the NHL.  There will be a lot of these types of contracts signed in the first few days of free agency; expect Colorado to be among the leaders in them.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Pacific Notes: Marchessault, Mantha, Vladar, Wouters

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The Golden Knights are continuing their discussions with Jonathan Marchessault’s camp in advance of his pending unrestricted free agency, relays The Fourth Period’s David Pagnotta (Twitter link).  The 33-year-old had a career-best 42 goals in 2023-24 on the heels of winning the Conn Smythe Trophy in their Stanley Cup title in 2023.  That has him well-positioned to earn a fair-sized raise on the $5MM he made in each of the last six years but that increase will be tough for Vegas to fit on their books with less than $1.2MM in regular cap space, per CapFriendly.  Yes, Robin Lehner and his $5MM should land on LTIR again but they also need to re-sign Pavel Dorofeyev and shore up their depth in the coming weeks.

More from the Pacific:

  • Speaking of Golden Knights pending unrestricted free agents, Anthony Mantha told RDS that the team has told him he will not be offered a deal for next season. The winger was acquired just before the trade deadline from Washington after putting up 20 goals with the Caps but he struggled with his new team, eventually being scratched in their first-round exit to Dallas.
  • Flames goaltender Daniel Vladar is expected to be ready for training camp after undergoing hip surgery back in March, relays team reporter Ryan Dittrick. The 26-year-old struggled this season, posting a 3.62 GAA with a save percentage of just .882 in 20 appearances.  However, he’s now the veteran netminder on Calgary’s roster as it’s expected that he’ll team up with top prospect Dustin Wolf as their tandem for next season following the trade that saw Jacob Markstrom go to New Jersey today.
  • Vancouver’s farm team in Abbotsford announced that they’ve signed captain Chase Wouters to a two-year contract extension. The 24-year-old has spent the last three seasons with the Canucks’ affiliate and posted nine goals and 14 assists in 66 games in 2023-24.  Rick Dhaliwal of CHEK and The Athletic reports (Twitter link) that the deal pays the forward $225K per season.

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