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Kings Sign Alex Turcotte To Three-Year Extension

June 22, 2024 at 4:05 pm CDT | by Gabriel Foley 13 Comments

The Los Angeles Kings have signed 2019 fifth-overall pick Alex Turcotte to a three-year, league-minimum extension. The deal will be two-way in year one and one-way in years two and three, per Zach Dooley of LA Kings Insider (Twitter link).

Turcotte was set for restricted free agency this summer after finishing out his three-year, $7.4MM entry-level contract this season. He spent much of the deal in the minor leagues, totaling 85 points in 126 AHL games over the last four seasons. The high-scoring was enough to routinely earn Turcotte NHL call-ups, though he went without a point through 12 NHL games over the last two seasons, and only posted four points in the 20 he played in this year.

Turcotte hasn’t yet fought his way above the NHL’s fourth line but the Kings aren’t giving up on him yet, with the structure of his new deal suggesting they’re setting him up for one more strong development year in the minors, then awarding him two years to carve out a daily role. There’s certainly talent worth the price of admission in Turcotte, who formed a fantastic duo with wingers Matt Boldy and Trevor Zegras during his two years with the U.S. National Team Development Program. Despite Boldy’s powerful drive and Zegras’ flashy hands, it seemed like it was Turcotte’s quick playreading and crisp passing that made the most consistent impact. Los Angeles bit on his upside, taking him in the spot immediately ahead of Moritz Seider, Dylan Cozens, Philip Broberg, and Zegras. That’s a choice L.A. is likely kicking themselves for now, though Turcotte will at least have another chance to work towards NHL impact.

Multiple Teams Showing Interest In Golden Knights Goaltenders

June 22, 2024 at 3:00 pm CDT | by Brian La Rose 2 Comments

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

June 22, 2024 at 1:19 pm CDT | by Brian La Rose 3 Comments

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.

Offseason Checklist: New York Rangers

June 22, 2024 at 12:12 pm CDT | by Brian La Rose 1 Comment

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

June 22, 2024 at 11:10 am CDT | by Brian La Rose 1 Comment

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.

East Notes: Lightning, DeBrusk, Ullmark

June 22, 2024 at 10:05 am CDT | by Josh Cybulski 4 Comments

Eduardo A. Encina of the Tampa Bay Times expects the Tampa Bay Lightning to make a trade in the near future to cut costs as they try to find room to sign pending free agent captain Steven Stamkos to a contract extension. The Lightning are up against the cap with just $5.335MM in cap space and have just 18 active roster players signed for next season.

Encina looks at the contracts of Tanner Jeannot and Erik Cernak as possibilities to move on from. Jeannot has struggled since coming over from Nashville for five draft picks and Callan Foote and is slated to make $2.665MM next year, while Cernak is owed $5.2MM. Jeannot seems like the likelier of the two to be moved as he has just a year left on his contract at half the cost and has already been linked to multiple teams.

In other Eastern Conference notes:

Nick Kypreos speculates in the Toronto Star that the Toronto Maple Leafs have interest in pending free agent forward Jake DeBrusk. The 27-year-old has haunted the Maple Leafs in the playoffs could slide into the team’s top six if they don’t bring back Max Domi or Tyler Bertuzzi. DeBrusk is coming off a disappointing season with the Boston Bruins, tallying just 19 goals and 21 assists in 80 games. However, the Edmonton, Alberta native is just a year removed from a 27-goal season and has surpassed 25 goals on three separate occasions.
Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reported on 32 Thoughts that he believes that a big holdup on the Linus Ullmark trade is a potential contract extension being worked out. Friedman points out that a lot of teams aren’t interested in paying the Bruins high asking price for a goaltender that would only be a rental and would like an extension in place before making the deal. Friedman also notes that in the case of a team like the Ottawa Senators, he would have to waive his no-trade clause and likely work out an extension with the team to make the trade happen. Boston has held firm on their asking price in recent weeks but might have to adjust it as some teams that were in on Ullmark have already addressed their goaltending situation, and there are other potential available options on the market.

Morning Notes: Toffoli, McGroarty, Buyouts

June 22, 2024 at 9:04 am CDT | by Josh Cybulski 8 Comments

Elliotte Friedman (32 Thoughts) believes that the Vancouver Canucks could target Tyler Toffoli if they are unable to land pending free agent Jake Guentzel. The Canucks have been linked to Guentzel on several occasions and will likely face stiff competition to acquire the former Stanley Cup Champion. Toffoli is familiar with the Canucks organization as the 32-year-old was traded to the team in February 2020 and dressed in ten regular season games, notching ten points.

Friedman also linked Toffoli to the New York Rangers, saying that he wouldn’t be surprised to see the Rangers in the mix for Toffoli. New York recently moved Barclay Goodrow’s contract off the books and has almost $13MM in cap space heading into the offseason. Although they have some pending restricted free agents who will eat up a lot of that cap room and the pending Igor Shesterkin extension to deal with.

In other morning notes:

Friedman noted on the 32 Thoughts podcast that teams have inquired about former Winnipeg Jets first-round pick Rutger McGroarty (14th overall), and the Jets have engaged in trade talks about him. Friedman doesn’t get too far into the details but says that he’s heard that McGroarty is being talked about in trade discussions. The Jets hold the 20-year-old’s rights for two more years, and McGroarty decided in April to return to Michigan for another season in the NCAA. With Winnipeg in win-now mode, it would make sense for the team to look at moving him for a player that they can insert into their roster right away, particularly if they are concerned about losing his rights in two years.
Jeff Marek reported on the 32 Thoughts podcast that there will be buyouts in the coming days as the first buyout window will open 48 hours after the completion of the Stanley Cup final and will stay open until 5 p.m. Eastern Time on June 30th. Jeff Skinner of the Buffalo Sabres has been a name that’s been mentioned often when it comes to a buyout, as have Jack Campbell of the Edmonton Oilers and a pair of Philadelphia Flyers in Cam Atkinson and Cal Petersen. With the salary cap rising, teams have become creative when it comes to dumping salary, as evidenced by Barclay Goodrow being placed on waivers and the Washington Capitals and Los Angeles Kings swapping Pierre-Luc Dubois for Darcy Kuemper. Buyouts have long-term salary cap ramifications and teams have become more strategic about using them.

Stars Notes: Dellandrea, Tanev, Carrier

June 22, 2024 at 8:10 am CDT | by Josh Cybulski 2 Comments

Elliotte Friedman and Jeff Marek spoke about the Dallas Stars on the 32 Thoughts podcast today saying that the belief is that the Stars traded Ty Dellandrea to the San Jose Sharks to open up room on their roster for other moves. Dellandrea was dealt to the Sharks for a 2025 fourth-round pick and the speculation is that the Stars feel that Mavrik Bourque is ready to step into a full-time role and that ice-time could come from Dellandrea.

Bourque is a former first-round pick in 2020 (30th overall) and has played just one NHL game to this point in his short career. However, the 22-year-old has good offensive instincts and excellent hockey IQ and has excelled in the AHL posting 26 goals and 51 assists in 71 games last season for the Texas Stars. Given his progression, it seems likely that the Plessisville, Quebec native is ready for an NHL role.

In other Dallas Stars notes:

Jeff Marek also noted on the 32 Thoughts podcast that the Stars have taken a run this week at re-signing Chris Tanev before he goes to unrestricted free agency. This was also mentioned earlier in the week by Darren Dreger on TSN 1200. Tanev and the Stars have an interest in extending their working relationship as they believe Tanev is an excellent fit on the team’s backend. At 34 years old, Tanev is looking at his last opportunity to secure a lucrative multi-year deal, and the Stars will likely need to up their offer to keep the Toronto, Ontario native in Dallas.
Friedman notes on 32 Thoughts that he’s heard rumblings that the Stars have an interest in Vegas Golden Knights forward William Carrier. The 29-year-old Carrier will be an unrestricted free agent on July 1st and has played for Stars head coach Pete DeBoer before as a member of the Golden Knights. Carrier doesn’t score much, posting just six goals and two assists in 39 games this season, and has also struggled to remain in the lineup over the years, never playing more than 71 games in a season.

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

June 21, 2024 at 9:00 pm CDT | by Brian La Rose 7 Comments

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.

Free Agent Focus: Los Angeles Kings

June 21, 2024 at 8:23 pm CDT | by Brian La Rose 1 Comment

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.

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