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Latest On Oliver Ekman-Larsson Trade

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With the complexities of a trade involving Arizona Coyotes’ Oliver Ekman-Larsson increasing between the two teams the defenseman put on his short list, Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reported Saturday evening on Sportsnet’s Hockey Central that Arizona went back to their captain and asked him to expand his list of teams. His response was ’No.’

“Ekman-Larsson is only willing to stay at Boston or Vancouver, so that’s how Arizona has to proceed if it wants to get this done,” said Friedman.

Friedman also notes that Arizona Coyotes’ new general manager Bill Armstrong was with the St. Louis Blues when they acquired center Ryan O’Reilly from Buffalo in which there was some money exchanged as Buffalo had to take back Patrik Berglund and Vladimir Sobotka. However, essentially, the team got a prospect, a first-round pick and a second-round pick as the key to that deal. That is what the Armstrong is looking for in an Ekman-Larsson deal.

“Berglund and Sobotka were part of that deal, but it was Tage Thompson, a first and a second and that’s what he would like to do, I think, if he can,” said Friedman. “I believe that the Coyotes like the prospects in Boston better than they like the prospects in Vancouver. But I think that at this point in time, Vancouver might be the team that’s more eager to get the deal done than Boston in terms of the want.”

While that might be a case, getting a deal done won’t be easy. The Canucks have plenty of cap issues to deal with that that’s without factoring in Ekman-Larsson’s $8.25MM AAV for the next seven years, which they have to factor in. The team still has three key unrestricted free agents to deal with, including Tyler Toffoli, Jacob Markstrom and Chris Tanev, and little cap room to accommodate all three, plus a number of restricted free agents, including Jake Virtanen. The Canucks also have to consider soon-to-be RFA’s Elias Pettersson and Quinn Hughes to long-term deals next year, as well as the fact that they are still paying $3.04MM for the next two years on the recapture penalty from Roberto Luongo. The Canucks also lack some of the necessary draft capital with no first or second-rounder to deal in the upcoming draft on Tuesday and Wednesday. The team may also be hesitant to move future picks.

Regardless, the team would still be interested in bringing in Ekman-Larsson, who along with Hughes, would give the team a solid No. 1 and No. 2 defenseman on the left side for the next seven years. The team has little depth on their defense after the 2020-21 season. The team has Tyler Myers locked up at $6MM until 2023-24, but veterans Alexander Edler and Jordie Benn will both be unrestricted free agents in one year.

While Boston was considered the frontrunners only a few days before, Friedman reports that the Bruins may not be ready to make a strong offer as the team can just bring back UFA Torey Krug as a less costly option rather than trade prospects and picks to get Ekman-Larsson.

St. Louis Blues Sign Nolan Stevens To One-Year, Two-Way Deal

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The St. Louis Blues have taken care of one of their restricted free agents, as the team announced they have signed forward Nolan Stevens to a one-year, two-way deal. The deal is worth the league minimum ($700K) at the NHL level and $80K at the AHL level.

While Stevens has yet to make an NHL appearance, he’s not far off. The Northeastern University star who scored 57 goals in four years there, showed quite a bit of improvement in his second AHL season. He tallied nine goals and 18 points in his first pro season, but while his goal-scoring remained the same at nine, he finished the season with 31 points in 50 games. At 6-foot-3, the forward is a solid depth option down the road for a Blues team that has dealt with quite a few injuries over the years and could use someone of Stevens’ skills.

With Stevens signed, the Blues now have six restricted free agents remaining, including defenseman Vince Dunn, but also still are trying to work out a last minute deal to bring back defenseman Alex Pietrangelo with just $5.15MM in available cap space.

Los Angeles Kings Acquire Olli Maatta From Chicago

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The Los Angeles Kings announced they have traded for defenseman Olli Maatta, acquiring him from the Chicago Blackhawks for ECHL prospect Brad Morrison. The Blackhawks will also retain $750K of Maatta’s contract as part of the deal, bringing down Maatta’s salary cap number to around $3.33MM.

“Olli is a well-rounded player who will fit well with our group of defensemen,” said Vice President and General Manager Rob Blake. “He is a young player that already has a lot of valuable NHL experience, including a pair of Stanley Cups, and we look forward to having him join our organization.”

For the Kings, the team just acquired a two-time Stanley Cup champion for practically nothing besides that two year, $3.33MM AAV price tag. Maatta, who originally signed a six-year, $24.5MM contract with the Pittsburgh Penguins back in 2016. While he has struggled with his play the last few years, he still should make an immediate impact with Los Angeles, who needs as much defensive help as it can. After star defenseman Drew Doughty, Maatta likely becomes the second best defenseman on the team as most of their defense is comprised of younger, unestablished players.

Of course, Maatta hasn’t been nearly as sharp since signing that deal, especially considering the original costly $4.1MM AAV. With only two years of more than 20 points on his offensive resume, Maatta has even had some trouble dominating on the defensive side and found himself on the Penguins’ third pairing before they traded him last offseason to Chicago. His play wasn’t much better with the Blackhawks where he put up four goals and 17 points in 65 games. However, Maatta did play better in the playoffs, posting three goals and six points in nine playoff games for Chicago.

For Chicago, it’s a great deal to free up as much cap room. The team has a number of key players it must re-sign, including unrestricted free agent goaltender Corey Crawford as well as the need to work out long-term extensions with restricted free agents Dylan Strome and Dominik Kubalik, who have become top-six players recently.  Because of that, unloading Maatta’s contract was expected to occur at some point. There was some discussion that the Blackhawks had planned to buy out Maatta if they couldn’t find a trade option. With Maatta’s contract (or most of it) off the books, the team now has $11.1MM of available cap space with 16 players signed.

While the loss of Maatta takes away a veteran from the team’s defense, the Blackhawks are loaded with young defensive players who look close to NHL-ready, including Adam Boqvist, Ian Mitchell, Nicolas Beaudin and Lucas Carlsson, amongst others.

Chicago did acquire Morrison, who played 50 games at the AHL level in 2018-19, but found himself in the ECHL with the Fort Wayne Comets where he played just 17 games. A fourth-round pick of the New York Rangers in 2015, has one year remaining on his entry-level contract.

Winnipeg Jets Tender Qualifying Offers To Six Players

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The Winnipeg Jets are joining several teams to announce their qualifying offers early (before Wednesday’s deadline) as the team announced they have tendered qualifying offers to six players. The players receiving offers were forwards Mason Appleton, Jansen Harkins, Jack Roslovic and C.J. Suess and defensemen Sami Niku and Nelson Nogier.

Many of those players played significant roles for Winnipeg last year. Roslovic is at the top of the list, who has continually improved as a forward in Winnipeg. The 23-year-old broke double digits in goals (12) last season, adding 29 points and many believe the center is a strong candidate to take over as the team’s No. 2 center next year and could be a candidate for a breakout season after a solid February before the season was shutdown. He also saw his ice time increase by almost five minutes last year.

Appleton also played a key role with the team, posting five goals and eight points in 46 games as a bottom-line forward, who will likely take on that role again next year. Harkins is another fourth-line option for the Jets, who posted two goals and seven points in 29 games last season, while the 26-year-old Suess posted career highs with the Manitoba Moose in the AHL with 14 goals and is a solid depth option for the Jets.

Many thought Niku would step into a full-time role when the Jets found themselves short-handed at the beginning of the year. The 23-year-old has been quite effective in the AHL the last couple of seasons, but while he did appear in 17 NHL games last season, the blueliner will have to try to establish himself there once again. His playing time did increase that this year as he averaged 16:10 of ATOI. The 24-year-old Nogier played his entire season in Manitoba and continues to be a depth option for the team.

With seven restricted free agents, one player was told he won’t be back with the team as Michael Spacek wasn’t tendered an offer sheet. Spacek, a Jets’ fourth-round pick in 2015, played three seasons with the Moose, but saw a decline in his play last season, scoring a career-low nine goals and 20 points in 45 games. He hasn’t appeared in an NHL game yet.

Florida’s Henrik Borgstrom Signs With Liiga’s HIFK For Rest Of Season

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There have been a number of questions surrounding what will happen with Florida Panthers restricted free agent Henrik Borgstrom next season and some of those questions were answered when a report from Lassi Seppa of Jatkoaika (translation required) reported that Borgstrom has signed with the Liiga’s HIFK team for the rest of the season. There is, however, an out-clause if he chooses to return to North America.

Borgstrom, who falls under the 10.2(c) CBA clause for restricted free agents, is a restricted free agent, but because he hasn’t accrued three years of experience, he isn’t eligible for an offer sheet and has little to no power other than holding out. This may be the next best option for Borgstrom who has seen his status as one of the Panthers’ top prospects slip in the last couple of years. The 23-year-old and 2016 first-round pick by the Panthers came out of the University of Denver with quite a bit of fanfare and many expected him to immediately step into a major role with the club. He got a chance like that in 2018-19 in which he appeared in 50 games, but saw mostly third-line minutes and picked up just eight goals and 18 points. Last year was even more disappointing for the winger, who made four appearances with the Panthers, spending most of his season with the AHL’s Springfield Thunderbirds. He didn’t fare much better there as he managed just 11 goals and 23 points in 49 games and rumors leaked out that he was considering returning to Europe due to his unhappiness with his development in the Panthers’ system.

That opportunity lies in front of Borgstrom now as he joins HIFK. The forward has some experience with the franchise as he played with the HIFK junior squads from 2013 to 2016, including a season with the HIFK U20 team in which he tallied 29 goals and 55 points before being drafted 23rd overall by Florida later that year. He could remain with the Liiga team or use that leverage to hold out for a better role with the Panthers next season.

 

West Notes: Golden Knights, Stars’ Injuries, Coyotes’ Changes, Samberg

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The Vegas Golden Knights seem to be a team that is being mentioned in multiple rumors for many pending unrestricted free agents despite having little to no cap room to speak of. The most recent one has the Golden Knights ready to pounce on St. Louis Blues star defenseman Alex Pietrangelo, who currently isn’t expected to re-sign with St. Louis.

David Schoen of the Las Vegas Review-Journal confirms that the Golden Knights are ready to go after the right-shot defenseman, who finished fourth in the Norris Trophy voting this year, assuming he reaches free agency on Oct. 9 and the team will deal with the salary cap juggling after that. Much of the reasoning comes from owner Bill Foley’s will to win and spend to the cap ceiling, while other teams are trying to refrain from that.

Of course, if Pietrangelo does opt to return to St. Louis or chooses another destination, the scribe notes there are other options for the team to upgrade on defense in free agency, including a pair of blueliners who spent time playing for head coach Peter DeBoer in San Jose, Brenden Dillon and Dylan DeMelo.

  • ESPN’s Greg Wyshynski reports that the five Dallas Stars’ players who were “unfit to play” for Game 5 are still unfit as of Sunday. Ben Bishop, Roope Hintz, Radek Faksa, Stephen Johns and Blake Comeau are all expected to miss Game 6 on Monday. A new player to monitor, however, will be defenseman Andrej Sekera, who is considered to be a game-time decision, according to NHL.com’s Mike Heika. Sekera missed half of the first period and all of the second period after blocking a shot during Game 5 Saturday. He did return for the third period, but forced himself to play through the pain.
  • Coyotes beat reporter Craig Morgan reports that the scouting cleanout in Arizona is continuing. The team, who recently fired scouting director Lindsay Hofford and assistant to the GM Jake Goldberg, has removed two more names in the front office. Phil McRae, director of North American Amateur Scouting and Mat Milbury, an amateur scout, are both no longer with the team.
  • Murat Ates of The Athletic (subscription required) writes that Winnipeg Jets defensive prospect Dylan Samberg’s ability to make the NHL squad out of training camp next season could be critical to the team’s playoff chances. Samberg, the 6-foot-4 defenseman out of the University of Minnesota-Duluth, is believed to be close to NHL ready, but might need more seasoning in the AHL. However, with just four defenseman under contract and little cap room to maneuver with, the scribe believes that the quicker that Samberg can get acclimated to the NHL pace could be critical for the team. While there is little worry about this defensive game, there are questions on how well his offense will translate over.

Atlantic Notes: Yzerman, Cholowski, Cozens, Mittelstadt

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After a acquiring a 2021 second-round pick from the New York Rangers for taking on the contract of defenseman Marc Staal and his $5.7MM contract for one more year, the Detroit Red Wings still have $27.4MM in available cap space to spend. The question becomes, will general manager Steve Yzerman take more contracts on this offseason or was this a one-time deal?

“There’s so much uncertainty in the league right now,” Yzerman said on a Zoom call to reporters after the trade (via the Detroit Free Press). “We’re heading into the draft, we’re heading into free agency, we don’t really know when we’re starting, what the landscape is going to look like next year. So we’re all kind of going into uncharted waters. And for the Red Wings, we are in a position (where) we do have cap space that we can use it. And I hope to use it wisely. But one way we would like to try and use it is to acquire future assets should any teams be in a position where they really have to move contracts and don’t have any other options.”

Detroit does have some need for some veteran options to help out their young team that finished with a 17-49-5 record and in dead last. Assuming the Red Wings keep Staal, could they find other options to help fill some of those needed players on the roster. Of course, adding more and more picks is another option for Yzerman and the Red Wings.

“Nobody wants to give up picks or prospects, but sometimes you have to do what you have to do to make your team better, and we’re trying to — I don’t want to say take advantage of that, but find teams that are in a position that need to do that,” Yzerman said. “And again, we’re trying to add picks or prospects, and at the same time ice a team.”

  • Sticking with the Red Wings trade, The Athletic’s Max Bultman (subscription required) writes that with the likelihood of the team keeping Staal on the team for next season after Yzerman complimented his penalty killing abilities, it could be bad news for defenseman Dennis Cholowski. The team’s 2016 first-round pick has had two years to establish himself into the team’s defensive lineup, but has been unable to do that yet, spending half a season each year in the AHL. This could be a breakout season coming up for him. However, with Danny DeKeyser and Patrik Nemeth ahead of him on the left-defense depth chart and now with Staal added in, Cholowski will likely have to earn his way into Detroit’s lineup by beating out Staal in training camp. Of course, he could move over to the opposite side of the defense as well, but there are other obstacles in his way there too.
  • With the recent addition of Eric Staal as their new No. 2 center, the Buffalo Sabres could have the luxury of easing their two young centers into the Sabres’ lineup this year, according to The Athletic’s John Vogl (subscription required). Before the trade, the Sabres had penciled in 2019 first-round pick Dylan Cozens into the No. 2 center position and 2017 first-round pick Casey Mittelstadt as their No. 3 center. With Staal in the fold for at least one more year, that plan will change. The scribe writes that it’s possible the team could move one or both of them to the wing to add some top-six depth there now that Marcus Johansson was traded to Minnesota. Cozens could move over to the right side, while Mittelstadt could play on the left, giving the team quite a few options in training camp.

Free Agent Focus: San Jose Sharks

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With free agency now less than a month away, many teams are already looking ahead to when it opens up.  There will be several prominent players set to hit the open market while many teams have key restricted free agents to re-sign.  While cap space remains an issue in San Jose, this is not the year that their free agents are likely to break them. The team does have a key restricted free agent to sign, but the team must decide what unrestricted free agents they want to bring back after a disappointing 2019-20.

Key Restricted Free Agents

F Kevin Labanc – The only significant restricted free agent the team needs to sign is Labanc, who surprised quite a few people when he signed a one-year, $1MM bargain contract last offseason with many expecting he took a low deal with the assumption he would be rewarded with a long-term deal the following year. We’ll see if that’s the case, but Labanc’s production didn’t jump off the charts like many had hoped. In fact, the 24-year-old finished with a disappointing 2019-20 season, posting just 14 goals and 33 points in 70 games, significantly less than the 56 points he produced the previous year. What type of contract Labanc receives will be interesting to see, but the forward is still considered to be a significant piece to their core and must return to his 2018-19 form if the team hopes to improve on its dismal season last year.

F Antti Suomela – The Sharks are hoping to bring back the 26-year-old back as a potential fourth-line center, but the Finnish center spent most of his season in the press box in San Jose as the team’s extra forward. He managed to appear in 20 games with one goal and seven points, serving mainly as the team’s fourth-line center. With plenty of questions marks down the team’s middle, Suomela has every chance to prove he deserves a more significant role.

Other RFAs: F Jonathan Dahlen, F Jayden Halbgewachs, F Maxim Letunov, D Nicolas Meloche, D Jacob Middleton, D Jeremy Roy, G Andrew Shortridge, D Tony Sund, F Manuel Wiederer.

Key Unrestricted Free Agents

F Joe Thornton – The Sharks have made it quite clear that if Thornton wants to return next season, he’s welcome to. So, the question isn’t whether the Sharks want him, but whether Thornton wants to return. The 41-year-old made it clear at the end of the season that he would like to have a chance to win a Stanley Cup before his career ends. That seems unlikely to happen, which could suggest that Thornton may be more interested in joining a legitimate cup candidate for 2020-21. He was hoping to be traded to a contender at the trade deadline, but the team wasn’t able to find the right trade partner. Regardless, with the questions up the middle, the Sharks wouldn’t mind bringing back their heart and soul of the team despite his declining production. He did remain healthy all season, but produced one of his lowest totals since his rookie campaign in Boston back in 1997-98 with just 31 points.

F Melker Karlsson – The long-time bottom-six forward could be looking for another team as the Sharks must decided whether Karlsson’s lack of numbers is worth holding onto. Solid on the penalty kill, Karlsson’s three-year $6MM contract is now up and it’s likely the team might be ready to move on from him after scoring just six goals last season, his lowest numbers ever. Even his hits saw a major decline. If they do bring him back, expect it to be at a much lower AAV.

G Aaron Dell – After two impressive years in net in San Jose, the next two seasons have been less impressive. It’s likely that Dell will be asked to move on as the team attempts to find a better tandem fit with Martin Jones now that they announced the will not buy him out. Dell got more appearances this year with a career-high 33, but a 3.01 GAA and a .907 save percentage wasn’t what the team was looking for while Jones’ struggled. Expect Dell to find a backup job elsewhere in the league.

Other UFAs: F Jonny Brodzinski, D Brandon Davidson, F Anthony Greco, F Stefan Noesen, D Dalton Prout.

Projected Cap Space

Unfortunately for the Sharks, the team doesn’t have some of the cap advantages that other lottery teams possess (or the lottery pick, for that matter). The team has about $67.4MM committed to just 16 players, so there isn’t too much money remaining for the team to fill the rest of its roster spots. Regardless, they will likely dip into the free-agency pool a little bit to bolster a depleted roster, but will most likely have to focus on improving their defense and adding a more reliable goaltender who take take some of the pressure off of Jones.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Lightning Captain Steven Stamkos’ Season Is ‘Done’

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He appeared in one game, scored a goal and helped lift his Tampa Bay Lightning to a victory in Game 3 of the Stanley Cup Finals. Now Steven Stamkos’ season is over. Head coach Jon Cooper announced that Stamkos season is ’done’ at today’s press conference.

“Hopefully the next time you see him on the ice is during a trophy presentation,” said Cooper. “To be honest, I didn’t think he was playing at all in these playoffs. I don’t think any of us did. So, he gave us 2:47 of brilliant hockey that’s a phenomenal story, scored a huge goal for us in a win and hopefully we can keep that momentum.”

Stamkos had sat out for the entire playoffs until Wednesday with an lower-body injury. Word was the 30-year-old was working out and felt close to returning and was itching to return to the ice. He got that opportunity, but it was quite obvious that he wasn’t himself and looked uncomfortable on the ice. On top of that, he only played in 2:47 of ice time (five shifts) during the game, yet miraculously found the net at 6:58 of the first period to give Tampa Bay a 2-0 lead, a game they eventually won 5-2.

“The conversation was this morning because there’s only one or two games left in the series,” Cooper said. “He did everything he could to get back, and he did get back and unfortunately he couldn’t go any further. I’m sure this will all be addressed after the series is over.

It’s not clear what the injury is that Stamkos has been dealing with. However, Stamkos underwent core muscle surgery in March that was expected to keep him out for six to eight weeks. Of course, the league shut down not long after that, but there will be no report on the specifics of his injury until after the Stanley Cup finals is complete.

Snapshots: Boeser, Miller, Caufield, Langlois

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With plenty of trade speculation that has surrounded Vancouver Canucks forward Brock Boeser over the last few months, there are quite a few people who have connected the dots of the Canucks sending their promising 23-year-old forward to Minnesota, Boeser’s hometown, to beef up their defense. With a new contract in the hands of Jonas Brodin, general manager Bill Guerin needs to trade Matt Dumba and a swap of the two players make sense, according to Sportsnet’s Iain MacIntyre.

However, Canucks general manager Jim Benning said recently that he isn’t trying to trade Boeser, who has scored 71 goals in the past three seasons.

“Lots of GMs call us about our players,” Benning said. “I listen and sometimes we have a conversation. That’s my job as a GM. If I’m not listening to other GMs, then I’m not doing my job. But we’re not trying to trade Brock Boeser. I have not had a conversation with Minnesota about him.”

Another reason for the trade speculation is that Vancouver has three key unrestricted free agents it would like to re-sign and don’t have the cap space at the moment to do it. Boeser has a $5.88MM contract for two more years and while not an albatross of a contract, the team could save some cap space if they were willing to move one of their forwards to bring in defensive help. Dumba makes $6MM, so the contracts would even out, but then could allow the team to try to focus on re-signing Tyler Toffoli to replace Boeser in the lineup if the Canucks could make that swap.

  • The Athletic’s Eric Stephens writes (subscription required) that the Anaheim Ducks still are waiting for backup goaltender Ryan Miller to make up his mind on coming back for a 18th season. Miller told Stephens that he has been on the ice approximately seven times now and is just trying to see if his body can adjust to sitting for as long as he has. Regardless, the 40-year-old has yet to make a decision, but the long layoff (he last played on March 10) has definitely made him think twice about returning. “You have things that you’re used to doing and when they stop, it’s shocking to the system,” said Miller. “I tried to install a little bit of normalcy so I can kind of get my sense of direction … I just thought that it was best not making any decisions either way if you’re sitting on the couch.”
  • After a report from SportExpressen Saturday that Edmonton Oilers prospect Raphael Lavoie was cut from Rogle of the SHL after the Oilers loaned him to the top SHL team, a new report this morning suggests that they have set their sights on Lavoie’s replacement. HockeyNews.se reports that Rogle is now in negotiations to recruiting Montreal Canadiens star prospect Cole Caufield to join the team. ESPN’s Chris Peters reports that Caufield has been looking for a place to play with his college season at the University of Wisconsin delayed, although the rumor last week was that he was headed to Switzerland. Rogle has declined comment on the situation. Caufield, the Canadiens top pick in 2019, scored 19 goals in his freshman year at Wisconsin.
  • The Montreal Canadiens announced the passing of three-time Stanley Cup winning defenseman Albert “Junior” Langlois, who died at age 85 on Saturday. He helped the Canadiens win Stanley Cups in 1958, 1959 and 1960, the last three of their historic five-straight Cup titles. He also played for the New York Rangers, Detroit Red Wings and the Boston Bruins. The stay-at-home defenseman played 497 games in his NHL career with 21 goals and 112 points. PHR offers our condolences to his family.

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