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Seven Notable RFAs Still Remain Unsigned

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It’s September 5th, which means that NHL preseason hockey is now less than three weeks away. Teams have been dealing with the realities of a flat salary cap for two offseasons now, but for some teams, it’s crunch time as their young star (or stars) remain in need of a new contract for the 2021-22 season.

While it’s obviously preferable for teams to get these players signed so they can join the team right away, teams do technically have until December 1st to sign any RFAs for them to be eligible to suit up this season. However, waiting into the season to sign the RFAs will increase the cap hit for the first year of the deal, something the league saw with William Nylander’s contract in 2018-19.

For some teams, mainly the Vancouver Canucks, that could be an issue. They’re the team that faces the largest potential cap crunch with both Elias Pettersson and Quinn Hughes to sign. The team currently carries $10.7MM in cap space, but that number could increase to as much as $14.2MM with Micheal Ferland being placed on long-term injured reserve. Pettersson and Hughes both struggled at times this season, but it’s hard to take results from any Canuck into account too much due to the team’s large-scale COVID-19 outbreak. Pettersson was limited to just 26 games because of injury, scoring 21 points. Hughes netted 41 points in 56 games. However, it’s still a hard argument to make that these two aren’t elite talents. Because of this, it’s likely impossible for Vancouver to afford both on long-term deals. One of them will likely be receiving a two-to-four-year contract with a much lower cap hit, but the contracts need to be signed before the start of the season in order to avoid any inflation on the already tight cap hits.

Then there’s two teams who’ve had long, drawn-out negotiations with their respective stars this offseason – the Minnesota Wild and Ottawa Senators. Both Kirill Kaprizov and Brady Tkachuk remain without deals. There appears to be some amount of hope for one team, though. Multiple reports in recent days have suggested the Wild are making progress on a deal, especially considering the deadline has now passed for Kaprizov to sign back home in Russia. The same can’t be said for Ottawa, as Tkachuk has claimed he hasn’t received a legitimate offer from the team and is beginning to get frustrated with the situation (as reported here by TSN’s Shawn Simpson). Ottawa does still have a great amount of salary cap flexibility, though, and they can afford for contract negotiations to stretch into the season.

Staying in Canada, the Edmonton Oilers still have Kailer Yamamoto to lock down in order to fill out their top-six forward group. When Oscar Klefbom is placed on LTIR and Alex Stalock is presumably sent down to the minors, the team will still have just around $1.8MM in cap space. Yamamoto likely won’t be signing anything longer than a two-year deal due to the situation. And though they can create some additional flexibility by not operating with a full roster, Edmonton will still be very interested in avoiding a prorated cap hit as the salary cap situation will remain tight no matter what.

Then there’s the remaining duo of youngsters playing for American teams – Rasmus Dahlin and Robert Thomas. Dahlin’s negotiations will be interesting to watch, purely to see if the team will commit to him long-term or not. The Sabres likely want to pay him more as the team still hasn’t reached the salary cap floor, as they still need to add roughly $2.5MM in cap hits to be cap-compliant. Dahlin will receive much more than that on any deal he signs. The Blues are in a bit of a pickle with Thomas, as the team has just $1.5MM in cap space remaining to ink the promising young forward. Thomas had only 12 points in 33 games this year and spent time injured, but had 10 goals and 42 points the season prior. It’ll likely be a one-year or two-year deal for Thomas, who finds himself in a very similar situation to Yamamoto in Edmonton.

All seven of these players will be watched with a keen eye by many in the hockey community as each day passes before camps open across the league. As the league emerges from the quiet part of the offseason, these players will likely dominate headlines sooner rather than later.

All salary cap figures via CapFriendly.com.

Oilers Notes: Yamamoto, Goaltending, Chaulk

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While young wingers Joel Farabee and Drake Batherson inked six-year deals earlier this week, don’t expect a similar deal to be coming for Oilers winger Kailer Yamamoto.  Postmedia’s Jim Matheson notes that even with that market shifting towards longer-term deals, a bridge contract is still all but a certainty for the 22-year-old who is coming off a quiet year with 21 points in 52 games after putting up just 26 in 27 contests the year before.  Matheson suggests Nashville’s Luke Kunin (two years, $2.3MM AAV) as the type of comparable deal that Yamamoto’s camp could realistically try to work off of while the Oilers may be closer to Jesse Puljujarvi’s deal (two years, $1.175MM AAV) knowing that Yamamoto has limited leverage for this deal.

More from Edmonton:

  • The Oilers carried three goalies down the stretch last season after having all sorts of challenges rostering netminders early on in the campaign but Daniel Nugent-Bowman relays (subscription link) that they won’t do the same in 2021-22, at least to start the year. With Mike Smith set as the starter, that puts Mikko Koskinen and Alex Stalock battling for the second position.  Koskinen has the more recent NHL experience (Stalock didn’t play at all last year) but if their cap situation is tight coming out of training camp, having Stalock be the backup and burying Koskinen in the minors would give them an extra $340K in cap room.
  • Edmonton’s AHL affiliate in Bakersfield has added to their coaching staff as the Oilers announced that Colin Chaulk will join the Condors as an assistant coach. Chaulk last worked in the AHL in 2019-20 as an assistant with AHL Belleville and also has seven seasons of ECHL coaching experience.

Alan Quine Signs AHL Contract

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Alan Quine may be known more for his scoring prowess in the AHL than for anything else, but the veteran forward has played on an NHL contract in each of his nine pro seasons. That streak will come to an end this year, as Quine has signed a one-year deal with the AHL’s Henderson Silver Knights, the team announced.

Quine, 28, played exclusively in the minors this past season while under contract with the Edmonton Oilers, the first time he had gone without an NHL appearance since 2014-15. A perennial depth asset, apart from one 61-game season with the New York Islanders, Quine is a prototypical “AAAA” player, to steal a baseball term. He possesses the skill to produce in a major way in the AHL, with a career mark of .84 points per game in 285 games, but it doesn’t translate to the NHL. Quine has just ten goals and 28 points to his credit in over 100 career NHL games for a career mark of .26 points per game, over three times less than his AHL pace. All but ten of these points also came in his one season as an NHL regular, meaning his spot starts ever since have produced few results. Quine also lacks the defensive ability to contribute in a bottom-six role, further limiting his use. The result is an offensive depth option whose lack of actual production over the years has progressively limited his opportunity to the point that he is now in the AHL full-time.

With that said, Quine’s days as an impact player are far from over. Quine spent all but seven AHL games on the Oilers taxi squad last season and never saw one game; he is surely ready to get back to work. Playing on an AHL contract, without wasting time as an NHL scratch or taxi squad member, will allow the veteran forward to focus solely on his play in the minors and helping to develop his teammates. Filling a leadership vacuum in Henderson, who saw Danny O’Regan and Dylan Sikura depart this off-season, Quine will take on a top role for the Silver Knights and will very likely return to scoring at better than a point-per-game pace. Who knows, perhaps Quine may even do enough to get another NHL look next summer. The opportunity is there to show that he is still a talented offensive asset that could bring value to an NHL club.

Oilers Seeking More Defensive Depth

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  • The Oilers are believed to be looking for a right-shot defenseman that could split time between the NHL and AHL, suggests Kurt Leavins of the Edmonton Journal. Edmonton has limited veteran depth when it comes to their minor league pool so having someone with some NHL experience that can play on the third pairing when needed while being able to clear waivers and worth with their prospects would certainly be beneficial.  It’s getting close to the time where PTO agreements will start to be signed and it wouldn’t be surprising to see if this is how the Oilers try to fill this spot.

Stuart Skinner's Spot On The Depth Chart Starting To Look Shaky

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  • Oilers goaltender Stuart Skinner has been Edmonton’s top goalie prospect basically since they drafted him back in the third round in 2017. However, as Postmedia’s David Staples notes, they’ve never really shown much confidence in him, evidenced by the acquisition of veterans in recent years including Alex Stalock who presently sits ahead of him for the third spot on the depth chart.  With some of their other prospects now in the minor pros (Ilya Konovalov and Olivier Rodrigue), time is running out for Skinner to establish himself as a viable option for Edmonton.  If that doesn’t happen soon, it’s possible that he’ll become a trade candidate if one of those other prospects is ready for a bigger role in Bakersfield.

Free Agent Profile: James Neal

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Things have fallen sharply for veteran forward James Neal since his storybook season with the inaugural Vegas Golden Knights. After scoring 25 goals and 44 points in 2017-18 to mark his 10th consecutive season of scoring 20 or more goals, Neal signed a now-infamous five-year, $28.75MM deal with the Calgary Flames on the second day of free agency in 2018. He only lasted one season in Calgary on that contract, however, scoring just seven goals and 19 points, sometimes serving as a healthy scratch.

But many thought redemption was in order for Neal when a swap with the Edmonton Oilers sent him to Northern Alberta in exchange for Milan Lucic. With the chance for Neal to play with one or both of Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl, 20 goals or more was again the expectation for the consistently gifted scorer. Neal didn’t quite hit the mark, but would’ve if the season hadn’t been cut short due to COVID-19 – his bounce-back season in Edmonton saw him score 19 goals and 31 points in 55 games, numbers reminiscent of his time in Vegas.

However, Neal’s decline accelerated this season, and his numbers once again plummeted to unacceptable depths for his $5.75MM cap hit. He’s now a free agent after being bought out by the Oilers on July 27th, a buyout that’ll see Neal cost them $1.917MM against the cap for the next four seasons. 2020-21 was Neal’s roughest season yet, actually, spending almost half of the 56-game season sitting in the press box. His shooting percentage and time on ice fell sharply as Neal’s lack of strong play-driving cost him a significant role at even strength.

Neal still carries veteran leadership and name recognition. It also doesn’t hurt that he’s played in 11 straight playoffs, totaling 58 points in 110 games over that timeframe. It remains to be seen whether teams will value that experience enough to extend Neal a contract offer.

Stats

2020-21: 29 GP, 5-5-10, -2 rating, 11 PIMS, 51 shots, 49.3% CF, 12:06 ATOI
Career: 850 GP, 294-261-555, +8 rating, 581 PIMS, 2,483 shots, 53.2% CF, 17:22 ATOI

Potential Suitors

The good news here for James Neal is that there are still plenty of teams looking to add affordable, experienced depth, especially on the wings. There are still a few options that make sense for the 33-year-old Ontario-born winger.

The Carolina Hurricanes come to mind immediately as a team that’s still looking to fill out their forward group, especially their depth in the bottom-six. Neal fits well in this role for them, especially considering the limited scoring upside of some current options in Jordan Martinook, Steven Lorentz, and Stefan Noesen. If paired with a strong play-driver and playmaker like Jordan Staal, Neal’s scoring touch could give a boost to Carolina’s third line.

If Neal wants to chase a Stanley Cup, and if the interest is mutual, the Colorado Avalanche also make a decent amount of sense. For a team that lost both Brandon Saad and Joonas Donskoi this offseason, his double-digit scoring upside is more palatable than that of someone like Darren Helm’s or Stefan Matteau’s. The New Jersey Devils also come to mind as a squad who could still use some additional veteran presence to help propel a potential playoff push this season.

Projected Contract

Neal was not included on our Top 50 UFA list, as he hadn’t been bought out at the time of publishing. But it’s still hard to imagine Neal receiving anything more than the $1MM range on a one-year contract, considering he hasn’t been inked to a deal already. Neal finds himself in a similar situation to that of Jason Spezza a few years back — a once consistent talent who’d seen his numbers drop in recent seasons. Spezza took a league-minimum $700,000 (at the time) contract to stay in the league, and it’s a strong possibility Neal will have to do the same.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Oilers Have Shown Interest In Jake DeBrusk

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  • A pair of Western Canadian teams still have varying degrees of interest in Bruins winger Jake DeBrusk, reports Fluto Shinzawa of The Athletic (subscription link). The scribe notes the Oilers and Flames as teams interested, though Calgary is to a lesser degree.  DeBrusk is coming off a tough season that saw him post just 14 points in 41 games, hardly worth the $3.675MM AAV (that also carries a $4.85MM salary).  However, he scored at least 16 goals in each of his first three NHL seasons so there is a track record of some success.  Shinzawa suggests that a swap for a center would be Boston’s preference but neither of those teams have a center that could plausibly be had around that particular price tag.

Why Two Years For A Bridge May Be Better Than One For Kailer Yamamoto

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  • With Edmonton’s cap situation being fairly tight already even with LTIR-bound Oscar Klefbom taken into consideration, there’s a case to be made that a one-year contract for RFA winger Kailer Yamamoto would make the most sense. However, Bruce McCurdy of the Edmonton Journal suggests that a two-year deal would be better to serve as a hedge for Jesse Puljujarvi’s contract next summer even though the AAV on a two-year pact would undoubtedly be higher.  Yamamoto has 52 points in 102 career NHL games and since he has basically only been a regular for the last year and a half with the Oilers, his bridge deal may come in a little lower than some of the other ones that will be handed out to players coming off their entry-level deals this summer.

Lack Of Scoring Chances Allowed May Explain How Koekkoek Received Two-Year Deal

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  • David Staples of the Edmonton Journal examined the recent two-year deal that the Oilers handed to defenseman Slater Koekkoek. While his numbers were underwhelming last season – one goal in 18 games while averaging just 13:10 per contest – he was better than several Edmonton blueliners in terms of frequency of allowing scoring chances.  Koekkoek’s numbers usually wouldn’t be good enough to yield a multi-year contract so there’s a good chance that the team was intrigued by that particular stat as well.

Edmonton Oilers Sign Slater Koekkoek

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The Edmonton Oilers will be bringing back a familiar face. The team has signed Slater Koekkoek to a two-year contract that will carry an average annual value of $925K. Koekkoek was an unrestricted free agent, but spent this past season with the Oilers. PuckPedia reports that the deal is worth $750K in 2021-22 and $1.1MM in 2022-23.

Koekkoek, 27, registered a single point in 18 games for the Oilers, but still was in the lineup when the team took on the Winnipeg Jets in the first round of the playoffs (and were quickly swept). If things go according to plan he won’t be there this time around, as the Oilers have revamped their defensive group, but the team still obviously values him enough to bring him back on an inexpensive deal.

Selected 10th overall by the Tampa Bay Lightning in 2012, Koekkoek was supposed to bring a mix of size and offensive ability. Insead, by the time he got to the NHL that offense had completely dried up, limiting him to a depth role. In 85 games for the Lightning spread over parts of five years, he registered 14 points. He actually eclipsed that mark by one in just 64 contests with the Chicago Blackhawks, but there was still never really any sign of a top-four player.

Now, even hitting the open market at a relatively young age, Koekkoek has taken the security of a two-year deal with the Oilers. He’ll slide into the depth chart somewhere around seven or eight, depending on the development of some of the younger options in Edmonton’s pipeline, but there’s little doubt Koekkoek will be playing games for them at some point this year.

Mark Spector of Sportsnet broke the deal on Twitter

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