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Vinnie Hinostroza Signs With Florida Panthers

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The Florida Panthers have signed Vinnie Hinostroza to a contract after the young forward was not issued a qualifying offer by the Arizona Coyotes, according to team reporter Jameson Olive. James Mirtle of The Athletic reports the deal is just one-year in length and worth $1MM.

It’s somewhat shocking that Hinostroza could be had for such a low figure, given his history of success in the NHL and relative youth on the open market. The 26-year-old forward has scored 100 points in 246 games across four seasons, including a 16-goal campaign in 2018-19. Though that number dropped dramatically this year, Hinostroza also shot at an unsustainably-low 3.8%. If that number was at his previous career average of 9.1%, he would have had 12 goals in 68 games despite playing just over 13 minutes a night.

Since he still recorded 22 points in those 68 games, it’s hard to even understand why the Coyotes weren’t able to work out a deal. His qualifying offer would have been $1.5MM and he could have potentially secured more than that through arbitration, but seeing him sign in Florida for just $1MM must sting. That’s especially true with the Coyotes having such trouble scoring and when they instead went out and spent $2.5MM on Tyler Pitlick and John Hayden, both players that are arguably less effective than Hinostroza.

For Florida meanwhile, the signing continues a trend of acquiring players after their previous organizations cut them loose. The team also signed Alexander Wennberg and Radko Gudas today and traded for Markus Nutivaara earlier this week. At such low costs, each of these players represents a chance for some excess value this season in Florida. In Hinostroza’s case, it also reunites him with his former head coach Joel Quenneville, whom he played under in Chicago.

Florida Panthers Sign Alexander Wennberg

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New Florida Panthers GM Bill Zito continues to collect players from his previous team, the Columbus Blue Jackets. After trading for Markus Nutivaara yesterday, the Panthers have now signed Alexander Wennberg, who was bought out by the Blue Jackets. TSN’s Darren Dreger reports that it is a one-year deal worth $2.25MM.

Wennberg, 26, is signing a “show me” deal in an effort to rehabilitate his value on a one-year deal in hopes of cashing in next off-season. Wennberg never lived up to the six-year, $29.4MM deal he signed in Columbus following a breakout 59-point season in 2016-17. He has recorded declining point totals in each of the past three seasons and looked more like a 20-30 point player rather than a 60+ point player. With the Blue Jackets looking to make major improvement to their roster, they opted to buyout the remaining three years of Wennberg’s contract rather than continuing to pay him to under-produce.

No one outside of Columbus knows Wennberg’s true potential better than Zito, who appears happy to give the young forward a second chance. Florida could lose free agents Mike Hoffman and Evgenii Dadonov and will need to find offense elsewhere. A change of scenery and an increased role could be all it takes to get Wennberg to display his star power once again.

The Panthers have also signed minor league forward Ryan Lomberg to a two-year, two-way deal. The salary terms have not yet been disclosed.

MacKenzie Weegar Receiving Trade Interest

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Panthers pending RFA defenseman MacKenzie Weegar isn’t the most well-known player but he is coming off of a career season and is one year away from UFA eligibility.  As Florida looks to overhaul its back end, Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman suggests (Twitter link) that teams are starting to show an interest in trading for the 26-year-old.  Weegar had seven goals and 11 assists in just 45 games last season while seeing his ATOI jump up by more than three minutes per game over his career average as he logged 20:07 per game.  He was tendered a qualifying offer of $1.6MM but stands to make a fair bit more than that on his next contract as he is arbitration-eligible.

Florida Panthers Acquire Markus Nutivaara

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Bill Zito has grabbed one of his old players, making a trade with his former boss. The Florida Panthers have acquired Markus Nutivaara from the Columbus Blue Jackets in exchange for Cliff Pu. No other pieces are included in the deal.

In their second cap-clearing measure since acquiring and signing Max Domi, the Blue Jackets will walk away from the $2.7MM charge that Nutivaara carries over the next two seasons in what is essentially a salary dump. While Pu was once considered a top prospect, he is now 22 and played in just 14 games last season, splitting time between the AHL and ECHL. In fact, it was the second season in a row that Pu spent time in the ECHL, despite his selection in the third round back in 2016. While his career isn’t over, he’ll have to make substantial strides in the final year of his entry-level contract to even warrant a qualifying offer next offseason.

No, this is more about clearing room for the Blue Jackets, who lose a perfectly capable player in Nutivaara in order to shore up their financial situation. The 26-year-old defenseman has played in 244 games over the last four years for the Blue Jackets, recording 60 points and averaging just under 16 minutes a night. While he won’t be stepping into Florida’s top pair, Nutivaara will certainly play games for them next season. Zito knows exactly what he has here from his time with the Blue Jackets, and obviously knew he could get him for cheap as Columbus reshapes their roster.

In Florida, it certainly feels like even more changes are coming on defense after a dreadful season in their own end. Mike Matheson and Joshua Brown have already been shipped out of town in other trades, but there is still work to be done if things are to look drastically different when the 2020-21 season begins. Keith Yandle and Anton Stralman are now both 34 and on expensive deals, while the team only actually has five four defensemen on one-way contracts. With plenty of cap space to work with, Zito will be able to put his stamp on this team quickly.

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.

 

Free Agent Focus: Florida Panthers

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With free agency now just a few days away, teams are preparing for a frenzy of action.  There will be several prominent players set to hit the open market while many teams have key restricted free agents to re-sign.  The Panthers barely have half of their roster under contract for next season so new GM Bill Zito certainly has his work cut out for him over the coming weeks.

Key Restricted Free Agents

F Lucas Wallmark – One of the parts coming back in the Vincent Trocheck deal at the trade deadline, Wallmark didn’t get much of an opportunity to make his mark before the pandemic hit as he played in just seven games and only played twice in the postseason.  The 25-year-old is eligible for salary arbitration but considering he has only played in two full NHL seasons thus far, an award likely wouldn’t be too high if he makes it to a hearing.  After making the league-minimum $700K in salary this past season, his qualifying offer is only $735K.

D MacKenzie Weegar – Injuries limited the 26-year-old to just 45 games in 2019-20 but he still managed to set career highs in goals (seven) and points (18).  Even more importantly, head coach Joel Quenneville trusted him enough to play him more than 20 minutes a game which is a figure that will play a prominent role if he makes it to arbitration.  After making $1.6MM last season, Weegar should be in line for another million or so in his final trip through restricted free agency although it wouldn’t be surprising to see Zito try to buy out a UFA year or two which would push the price tag closer to the $3MM mark.

Other RFAs: G Phillipe Desrosiers, D Emil Djuse, F Dryden Hunt, F Mason Marchment, F Sam Montembeault, F Aleksi Saarela, D Thomas Schemitsch, F Dominic Toninato

Key Unrestricted Free Agents

F Mike Hoffman – Goal scorers are always a highly sought after commodity on the open market and Hoffman has been one of the more consistent in that department in recent years.  In five of past six seasons, he has scored between 22 and 29 goals with the outlier being a 36-goal campaign in his first season with the Panthers in 2018-19.  He is particularly adept at scoring with the man advantage and Florida took full advantage of that as 28 of his 65 tallies in his two seasons with them came on the power play.  Hoffman may not quite be a prototypical front-line winger but he is certainly one of the top offensive threats that will be hitting free agency and he should have considerable interest.

F Evgenii Dadonov – Hoffman isn’t the only winger of note that’s about to hit free agency.  Dadonov has spent a lot of his last three seasons with Florida on their top line, picking up 182 points in 225 games along the way.  While his production dipped this season to only 49 points, he is still one of the top wingers available on the market and his ability to play both wings will certainly bolster his case.  Three years ago, there was certainly some trepidation from teams about signing Dadonov given that he was coming back from the KHL and that he didn’t play particularly well in his first stint with the Panthers earlier in his career.  With three productive seasons under his belt, his market should be more robust this time around.

F Erik Haula – In a market that is very weak down the middle, Haula could very well be the best of those available.  While he hasn’t come close to replicating the 55-point season he had in Vegas in 2017-18, he has quietly played at a 40-point pace in each of the last two years when he has been in the lineup.  The problem is that the 29-year-old has been hit hard with injuries over that time and has played just 63 times combined in the past two seasons which may be a cause for concern for some teams.  Haula is capable of holding his own as a second-line center in the right situation and may be able to get that opportunity in free agency.

D/W Mark Pysyk – After being a defenseman for most of his career, Pysyk was asked to play on the wing more regularly this past season and held his own all things considered, chipping in with nine goals and nine assists.  Not all of that time was spent on the fourth line either.  Not many players in the league can shift between the two roles which would give the 28-year-old a chance to stand out in a marketplace full of role players.  He almost certainly won’t command the $3.5MM salary he made in 2019-20 but his success on the wing will boost his value compared to had he just played on the third defense pairing.

Other UFAs: F Brian Boyle, F Ryan Haggerty, F Joel Lowry, F Danick Martel, F Jack Rodewald, F Paul Thompson

Projected Cap Space

Cap room is an issue for many teams this offseason but that’s not the case for Florida as they have more than $21MM in space, per CapFriendly.  However, that’s only with a dozen players signed so there are a lot of spots that need to be filled.  Depending on what their internal budget for 2020-21 is going to be set at, the Panthers could potentially be a team to watch for in the coming days in terms of seeking a prominent free agent or leveraging their cap room to add players via trade.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Panthers May Pursue Mark Borowiecki In Free Agency

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After trading Josh Brown to the Senators today, it appears as if the Panthers are looking to replace him with a soon-to-be-former Ottawa blueliner.  Postmedia’s Bruce Garrioch suggests that Florida may take a run at signing veteran defenseman Mark Borowiecki when the free agent market opens up next Friday.

The 31-year-old is coming off of his best offensive year after he picked up 18 points (5-13-18) in 53 games while also seeing his ice time climb to 17:56 per contest, the highest of his career.  Of course, that’s not what prospective suitors will be counting on as instead, Borowiecki is known for his physicality and willingness to block shots, elements that many teams still look for on their bottom pairing.

For all of the talent they have on paper including Aaron Ekblad, Keith Yandle, and Anton Stralman, Florida’s back end has been an area of concern in recent years and the signing of Sergei Bobrovsky last summer didn’t help stop the bleeding.  While Borowiecki wouldn’t play in their top four, he’d at least bring a bit of stability to the third pairing and while he’s likely to land a raise on the $1.2MM he made in each of the last two seasons, a deal for him wouldn’t be big enough to significantly impact their offseason spending plans.

Ottawa Senators Acquire Josh Brown

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The Ottawa Senators and Florida Panthers have completed a trade, sending Josh Brown to Canada’s capital in exchange for a fourth-round pick in next week’s draft. Brown is a pending restricted free agent and will need to reach a new agreement with the Senators. Ottawa GM Pierre Dorion released a statement on his newest addition:

Josh Brown is a big, strong defenseman who plays a physical style of game. He’s a defensive defenseman who skates very well and who is exceptionally competitive. He’s also a very good shot blocker who clears a lot of space in front of the net. We’re looking forward to seeing him in our lineup.

Interestingly enough, you could say many of those same things in reference to veteran defenseman Mark Borowiecki who is not expected to re-sign with the Senators this offseason. Brown enters the roster as a potential replacement, but one who is considerably younger and has posted much better possession statistics over his short NHL career.

In 93 games with the Panthers over the last two seasons, Brown has posted just ten points, but was often asked to play just a few minutes of ice time. Averaging a little over 13 minutes a game, he only broke the 17-minute mark in four of his 56 contests. In Ottawa, that number will likely increase as they look to find a new mix of talent.

The Senators will watch Borowiecki and Ron Hainsey both hit the open market when free agency opens and have just four defensemen under one-way contracts. Young options like Erik Brannstrom are expected to be given a chance to secure full-time roles, but a more experienced name like Brown could find a big opportunity on the rebuilding club.

You can bet head coach D.J. Smith will give him that chance, given their history together. Brown was the captain of the Oshawa Generals back when Smith was coaching in the OHL, winning the Memorial Cup together in 2015.

For the Panthers, defense was a position that needed an overhaul after their struggles last season and new GM Bill Zito has worked quickly. Brown joins Mike Matheson on the way out and leaves the Panthers with just three players of their own on one-way contracts. Aaron Ekblad, Keith Yandle and Anton Stralman are an expensive trio at the top of the chart, while MacKenzie Weegar will surely get a new contract as an arbitration-eligible restricted free agent. But more changes may be coming from Zito, who obviously saw something that needed fixing and is acting quickly.

Goalie Notes: Lundqvist, Calgary, Knight

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The King has hit the court after today’s buyout of Henrik Lundqvist, adding yet another name to the overflowing free agent goaltender market. Of course, there is no guarantee that the former New York Rangers netminder will continue his career in the NHL, given his age and career so far. Lundqvist has only ever played for the Rangers, suiting up more than 1,000 times for the team over 15 years.

His agent Don Meehan told Pierre LeBrun of The Athletic that Lundqvist’s desire to play elsewhere is  “to be determined” while Craig Custance was told by an NHL source that they had been told the veteran goaltender would be playing “unless the market isn’t there for him.” The 38-year-old will collect $1.5MM in buyout salary from the Rangers each of the next two years.

  • There are a lot of goaltenders available this year and the Calgary Flames have checked in on all of them, according to Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet. That includes speaking with the Columbus Blue Jackets who have two young goaltenders under contract in the NHL and several more interesting prospects on the way. The Flames have David Rittich under contract for the 2020-21 season at $2.75MM but could use an upgrade at the position if they hope to contend for the Stanley Cup. Not only does Rittich’s .907 save percentage this season not inspire a ton of confidence he’s the answer, but the Flames also may be thinking about the effects of a condensed schedule on the position. Rittich started 48 games in 2019-20, the most of his career, and had an .893 save percentage after Christmas.
  • One team that will hang up if Calgary calls? The Florida Panthers, who have shut down multiple teams asking about top goaltending prospect Spencer Knight. Custance reports that the Panthers have absolutely no desire to move Knight, who they picked 13th overall in 2019 despite the presence of Sergei Bobrovsky (and his long-term contract). Knight, 19, put up a .931 save percentage as a freshman for Boston College and will likely be USA Hockey’s starter once again at this year’s World Juniors.

Pittsburgh Penguins, Florida Panthers Complete Trade

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After coming close to a trade yesterday, the Pittsburgh Penguins and Florida Panthers have worked through their “glitch.” That deal has now been completed, with Patric Hornqvist heading to Florida in exchange for Mike Matheson and Colton Sceviour. No salary has been retained by either team.

Panthers GM Bill Zito’s statement on the move reveals exactly why he targeted Hornqvist:

A proven winner and champion, Patric brings a level of competition to our club. He is a talented veteran presence who plays with an edge and we look forward to what he can add to our group.

That championship resume is not something that many other players on the Panthers have and something that Zito will obviously value as he looks to turn around Florida in his first time as a GM. Hornqvist is also arguably the best player involved in the trade, even at his age.

Likely turning 34 just as the next NHL season gets underway (his birthday is January 1), Hornqvist has plenty of miles on a body that is routinely used to battle in front of the net and in the corners. The physical forward has scored 238 times in his career, including 84 goals from his net-front spot on the powerplay. It’s not like things have gone downhill of late either, as Hornqvist recorded 17 goals and 32 points in just 52 games this season.

Of course, for the Panthers this deal is about a lot more than just adding pedigree and leadership. Getting out from under Matheson’s contract will be seen as a big win, even if he’s able to turn around his career in Pittsburgh.

The 25-year-old defenseman had fallen completely out of favor in Florida since signing an eight-year contract in 2017. That deal carries a cap hit of $4.875MM through the 2025-26 season, and actually has a partial no-trade clause that will kick in next year. The Panthers had scratched Matheson several times and even tried him at forward as they attempted to squeeze some value out of the deal, but it just wasn’t working. In 299 games with the team he had registered 91 points, but routinely posted underwhelming defensive and possessions statistics.

A part of the deal that wasn’t reported yesterday is Sceviour, who shouldn’t be entirely overlooked. Even if he isn’t a household name, there’s no doubting Sceviour’s ability to serve a depth role in the bottom-six and help a penalty kill. He’s been a regular NHL player for the last six seasons, good for about ten goals and 25 points a year.

It is notable though that with Sceviour’s addition, the Penguins aren’t even actually opening any cap space in this deal. Hornqvist’s $5.3MM cap hit is actually surpassed by the combined totals of Matheson ($4.875MM) and Sceviour ($1.2MM) next season, though obviously, they take up two roster spots now.

More likely, Penguins GM Jim Rutherford saw this as an opportunity to reshape his group and considered Hornqvist too expensive to serve the third-line role he was likely penciled moving forward. The acquisition of Kasperi Kapanen pushed him down the lineup, plus Rutherford has been clear that he felt this group needed a drastic change if they wanted to compete for another Stanley Cup.

The question now becomes how exactly Matheson fits in. The Penguins already had four defensemen making at least $3.25MM, plus youngster John Marino who has taken hold of a top-four role. There very well could be another move coming, but for now, it is a crowded (and expensive) blueline.

Photos courtesy of USA Today Sports Images

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