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Best Of The Rest: What’s Left In Unrestricted Free Agency

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After the usual flurry of early-July activity, things have settled down on the transaction front as it often does at this time of year.  That presents an opportunity to take a closer look at who’s left on the unrestricted free agent market.

There are just six players that remain unsigned from our original Top 50 list back in June.  That number dips to five when you consider that David Krejci is one of the six and he’s expected to retire in the near future.  However, there have been some newcomers to the open market in the form of non-tenders while several long-time veterans remain unsigned as well.

Below is our Top 20 Best Of The Rest.  Rankings are based on our original Top 50 voting results with some non-tendered players who were still with their old teams at the time of our vote back in June being slotted in based on their respective situations.

1) Patrick Kane – Originally ranked second on our Top 50 list, his presence here shouldn’t be considered a surprise.  After undergoing hip surgery following the playoffs, he won’t be ready to start the season and his camp has indicated that he’ll wait until he’s ready to return before signing, giving the 34-year-old a chance to assess who the early contenders will be.  One team will be getting an intriguing addition to add to their playoff push – likely on a one-year deal – but we’ll be waiting a while to find out who it will be.

2) Mathew Dumba – Our 18th-ranked player before free agency opened up, the 29-year-old hasn’t had much luck on a couple of fronts.  The pricey long-term deals have been few and far between this summer and it feels like his situation is on hold until Erik Karlsson’s situation gets resolved.  A contender for Karlsson that doesn’t land him could turn around and make a push for Dumba while the blueliner has been linked to Arizona with some speculation about San Jose as a possible one-year pillow deal candidate.

Signed with Arizona, one year, $3.9MM

3) Tomas Tatar – The veteran winger originally came in 22nd on our rankings after putting up his seventh career 20-goal season.  Now 32, Tatar showed he can still produce at a top-six level with New Jersey last season but from the outside, it seems like his playoff struggles could be scaring teams off.  He has just 13 career playoff points in 52 games and was healthy-scratched frequently back in 2021 with Montreal.  Having said that, Tatar had to wait a little while for his market to come around two years ago and he did fine for himself with a two-year, $9MM contract.  At this point, it would be surprising if Tatar lands that price tag or term on his next agreement but he’d fit on a lot of rosters as a secondary scorer as he has averaged more than half a point per game in four of the last five seasons.

4) Jonathan Toews – After Chicago elected not to bring back their long-time captain, we put him 28th on our listing with his ranking being dropped somewhat due to the uncertainty about his playing future.  Nothing is set in stone yet but all indications appear to be that the 35-year-old seems to be leaning toward hanging up his skates.  Perhaps his mind changes closer to training camp and if it does, he’ll be likely signing for a limited role with a presumed playoff contender, one that would put his price tag pretty close to the league minimum.

5) Zach Parise – Somewhat quietly, the 39-year-old put up a 21-goal season with the Islanders last season.  However, his own uncertainty about his playing future resulted in him slipping to 48th in our initial rankings.  Parise has played on one-year deals with the Islanders since being bought out by Minnesota two years ago and on the surface, a reunion with New York on another one-year agreement might be the probable scenario should he decide to play a 19th NHL season although the Isles would need to open up cap and roster space for that to happen.

6) Ethan Bear – The most prominent non-tender to still be on the open market, Bear’s situation is complicated by his injury.  Even though he might be slightly ahead of schedule in his recovery from shoulder surgery, the 26-year-old isn’t expected to be back until sometime in December which is hindering his market.  Bear had a decent showing last season back in Vancouver but was told that the Canucks would need to clear cap space before entertaining the possibility of a reunion.  If a team has an opening on their third pairing and enough cap flexibility to carry him on IR for a couple of months, Bear could be a nice pickup.

7) Phil Kessel – It wasn’t his best hockey by any stretch but the 35-year-old still managed to put up a respectable 36 points while once again playing in all 82 games to extend his record-breaking consecutive games played streak.  However, when it mattered the most in the playoffs, Kessel was in the press box for most of the playoffs for the Stanley Cup champs.  If Kessel wants to continue to extend that streak, his best bet might be signing with a non-playoff team that wants to give a prospect more time to develop in the minors.  But if he wants a shot at a fourth title, he might have to settle for a depth role.  Either way, at this point, it seems unlikely that he’ll be able to land the $1.5MM he made last season.

8) Caleb Jones – It was a career year for the 26-year-old last season as Jones set new personal benchmarks in games played (73) and points (16) while logging over 19 minutes a night for the first time since seeing spot duty in his rookie year.  However, despite his play, Chicago opted to not tender a $1.35MM qualifying offer that also carried arbitration rights back in June.  His performance last season was worthy of that type of money but in this marketplace, that will be harder to come by as will an opportunity to see the number of minutes he had last season.

9) Pius Suter – While Suter’s numbers dipped last season, he still managed to put up 14 goals for the third straight year, his only three at the top level.  At 27, he’s one of the younger options left in free agency and can play down the middle which is something that can’t be said for most players on this list.  It’s notable that two teams have effectively walked away from Suter already but as far as finding a third-line option that could move up in a pinch when injuries arise, he is one of the better options out there but will be hard-pressed to match the $2.5MM AAV on his last contract.

10) Max Comtois – Back in 2020-21, it looked like Comtois had arrived as a productive power forward after putting up 16 goals and 17 assists in the pandemic-shortened campaign.  However, Comtois managed just 15 tallies in the previous two seasons combined, leading to a non-tender that the 24-year-old classified as mutual.  One of the youngest unrestricted free agents still out there, Comtois still has two more years of RFA eligibility remaining which means even as a possible short-term signing, he could wind up being a longer-term pickup for someone.

11) Josh Bailey – For the majority of his 15-year NHL career, Bailey has been a capable secondary producer.  However, after having one of his best offensive outputs in 2021-22, the 35-year-old struggled last season with his lowest point-per-game average since his rookie year.  That resulted in the Islanders paying the Blackhawks a 2026 second-round pick to buy him out.  Bailey shouldn’t be viewed as a full-time top-six option at this point of his career but in a depth role, he could still be a capable contributor for some teams.

12) Derick Brassard – Last season ended on a sour note for the 35-year-old as he fractured his fibula in early April.  Still, Brassard had a pretty successful season in a depth role, notching 13 goals in 62 games, giving the Sens a bit of scoring in their bottom six.  He went into Ottawa’s camp on a PTO last fall and earned a contract from there.  Given the injury, there’s a good chance that Brassard will have to go that route again but it wouldn’t be wise to bet against him earning himself another opportunity.

13) Paul Stastny – After putting up a 21-goal season in 2021-22, it was surprising to see Stastny not have the best of markets last summer where he settled for a one-year, $1.5MM deal.  Now, in this market, it’d be surprising to see him get that much now.  Last season, the 37-year-old was used in a much more limited role, averaging just 11:52, a career low.  However, Stastny still is well above average at the faceoff dot and isn’t too far removed from being a top-six player.  There should be a role for him on several playoff-bound teams.

14) Eric Staal – That Staal is on this list at all is impressive.  He didn’t play at all in 2021-22 and didn’t start last season with an NHL contract; Florida converted his PTO into a full deal early in the season.  From there, the 38-year-old went and put up 29 points in 72 games while adapting better than many expected to in seeing plenty of action on the penalty kill.  His lack of speed doesn’t help but Staal showed that he can still be a capable contributor in spite of that.  If he wants to play a 19th NHL season, he should at least have some tryout offers on the table.

15) Martin Jones – Last season was an interesting one for Jones.  He had his lowest GAA (2.99) and most games played (48) since 2018-19.  On the other hand, the 33-year-old had the lowest SV% of his career (.886) by ten points and in the playoffs, he was back to being the second-string option.  Jones hasn’t had a save percentage above .900 in the last five seasons, a track record that likely hasn’t helped his cause.  But if a team is looking to bring in some injury insurance or wants to keep a youngster developing in the minors, Jones could get some calls closer to training camp.

16) Jaroslav Halak – Another veteran netminder that’s still on the market, Halak is more of a true backup at this stage of his career; the 25 games he played last season was his highest workload over the past three years.  Now 38, he isn’t the type of backup that can log starters minutes if injuries arise but he was basically a league-average second-stringer last season which, statistically speaking, elevates him above the other netminders that are still unsigned.  There aren’t many spots available right now around the league but Halak should be a candidate to fill at least some of the ones out there and there are a couple of teams at least that represent a plausible fit for his services if a team wants to keep a younger netminder in the AHL.

17) Danton Heinen – The winger hasn’t been able to replicate his 47-point rookie campaign in 2017-18 and has bounced around a bit in recent years, seeing action with three organizations over the past four campaigns.  The 28-year-old had an 18-goal showing with Pittsburgh in 2021-22 but last season saw him struggle to stay in the lineup at times and when he was in the lineup, he often was on the fourth line, a role that doesn’t fit for him.  Heinen could provide some depth scoring in the right situation where he isn’t miscast in more of an energy or checking role although there might not be too many of those openings at the moment.

18) Nick Ritchie – Power forwards often get plenty of opportunities and Ritchie is one of those players.  Still just 27, he’s coming off his third straight season of double-digit goals while he averaged just shy of three hits per game in the regular season.  Is he the top-six cornerstone Anaheim hoped he would be when they drafted him tenth overall in 2014?  No, but in a bottom-six role where he’s asked to play with some energy and chip in with some production here and there, someone is bound to pick Ritchie up in the coming weeks.

19) Adam Erne – Erne is another player along the lines of Ritchie, a power forward that can contribute a bit of offense from lower in the lineup.  He cleared waivers in Detroit last season due to his contract but still chipped in 18 points in 61 games.  After playing on a $2.1MM AAV the last two years, the 28-year-old is likely heading for one closer to half that price tag but teams looking to add some grit to their fourth line might look in Erne’s direction.

20) Zach Aston-Reese – We finish with another player in that physical fourth-liner profile.  The 28-year-old had a career-high ten goals for Toronto last season and averaged 2.7 hits per game over the last two seasons combined.  He needed a PTO before landing a contract last season so it wouldn’t be surprising to see him go that route again.  But it would be surprising if he’s not with a team for training camp six weeks from now.

For the most part, the players still out there aren’t game-breakers by any stretch.  However, there are certainly some serviceable veterans that remain on the open market that can provide some important depth for teams.  As we reach the part of free agency that technically yields some good bargain signings, there are going to be some valuable depth additions in the coming weeks.

Photos courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Kings Prospect Jack Hughes Transfers To Boston University

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Kings prospect Jack Hughes has decided that a change of scenery was needed.  Boston University announced on their Instagram page that the 19-year-old has transferred to them for the upcoming season.

Hughes, the son of Montreal GM Kent Hughes, was a second-round pick back in 2022 (51st overall) following a strong freshman year at Northeastern that saw him put up seven goals and nine assists in 39 games.  However, he wasn’t able to take a sizable step forward last season, notching five goals and 11 helpers in 32 contests, finishing eighth on the team in scoring.

The Terriers have eight NHL-drafted forwards on the team now along with four blueliners, headlined by Lane Hutson, a presumptive early Hobey Baker candidate.  Hughes is hoping that the move will help give him some more opportunities offensively which would go a long way toward helping him earn an entry-level contract.  The Kings have until August 15, 2025 to give him that deal.

Coyotes Place Jean-Sebastien Dea On Unconditional Waivers

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The Coyotes are parting ways with one of their minor league veterans as CapFriendly reports (Twitter link) that they have placed center Jean-Sebastien Dea on unconditional waivers for the purpose of terminating the final year of his contract.  He is the only player on waivers today.

The 29-year-old has been a productive player in the AHL throughout his career.  Last season, he finished third in scoring with AHL Tucson, notching 23 goals and 27 assists in 67 games.  That helped earn him four appearances with Arizona, the most single-season games he had played at the top level since 2020-21.

For his career, Dea has played in 517 career AHL games spanning 11 seasons, recording 153 goals and 188 assists.  However, his NHL time has been limited as he has just 37 appearances with four different organizations where production has been much harder to come by as he has just five goals and two helpers to his name.

Dea had one year left on his contract which paid $775K in the NHL and had a guaranteed salary of $300K in the minors that he will be walking away from; Arizona will have no lingering cap charge.  TVA Sports’ Renaud Lavoie adds (Twitter link) that Dea requested his release to pursue an opportunity in Europe.  Once Dea clears waivers on Sunday, the Coyotes will be free to terminate his deal, making him a free agent and lowering their number of contracts to 47 out of the limit of 50.

Poll: Will The Penguins Utilize Their Second Buyout Window?

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As a result of the pre-arbitration settlement with Drew O’Connor earlier this week, the Penguins now have a 48-hour window that began today to buy a player out.  Unlike the regular buyout window, however, there are some additional restrictions on who can be bought out during this stretch.  The player must have a cap hit of at least $4MM and must have been on the roster at the trade deadline.

There is one obvious candidate to go this route in forward Mikael Granlund, who was a speculative buyout option back in June.  The 31-year-old was acquired from Nashville at the trade deadline in somewhat of a surprising move and he struggled with his new team, notching just one goal in 21 games following the swap.  That’s not the type of return they were expecting on someone that has a $5MM cap charge for two more seasons.

It’s not that Granlund is a bad player by any stretch – he’s coming off a 44-point year and had 64 points in 2021-22 but this is not a marketplace for a team to trade a player on an expensive contract and get fair value.  If GM Kyle Dubas doesn’t want to pay future assets to get a team to take on Granlund’s deal and has an eye on completing an Erik Karlsson trade with San Jose, a buyout would be one way to create cap space.

Next season, Granlund’s cap hit would go down to just $833K, yielding more than $4MM in short-term savings.  That amount jumps to $1.833MM for the following three seasons, however.  But if making that move helps acquire Karlsson, it’s an option to consider.

There is also one other speculative candidate for a buyout and that’s Jeff Petry.  The defenseman is widely expected to be traded as part of any potential Karlsson swap but he also holds a 15-team no-trade clause which certainly is a complicating factor.  If none of the teams that aren’t on his no-trade list are interested in picking him up, Pittsburgh might be forced to buy Petry out and then use Granlund as the offsetting salary ballast in a swap.

That route doesn’t yield as much in the way of savings, however, with the veteran having signing bonus money in both remaining years of his deal, one that carries a $6.25MM AAV.  That cap charge would drop to $3MM next season with a buyout before increasing to $4.5MM in 2024-25 so the savings aren’t as significant.  (The Penguins would then carry a $1.25MM charge for 2025-26 and 2026-27.)

It’s worth noting that Pittsburgh will have some short-term flexibility at the start of next season thanks to Jake Guentzel’s ankle surgery that will keep him out for the next three months, making him LTIR-eligible.  But in order to activate him midseason, they’ll need to be cap-compliant.  Accordingly, they can’t really use any of his money to offset Karlsson’s cost, whatever portion of the $11.5MM they’d be taking on.

Dubas has been hesitant to go the buyout route in the past but this is a bit of a different situation now.  The team has 48 hours to make a decision and if going this way helps to facilitate the acquisition of Karlsson, it’s one they’ll strongly have to consider if the trade options either aren’t there or are too punitive in terms of what it would cost to get a team to take on the deal.

What will the Penguins do?  Make your prediction by voting below.

App users, click here to vote.

Crafting A Hypothetical Erik Karlsson Trade To Penguins

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Earlier today, Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet reported that some “clarity” is expected on the Erik Karlsson trade speculation by this upcoming weekend. It will end just over two months of heavy trade speculation, and all signs point to Karlsson heading East to join the Pittsburgh Penguins.

In other news from Pittsburgh this morning, even though it is never a positive for a player to get injured, strictly speaking financially, the Penguins will open up $6MM in cap space due to forward Jake Guentzel’s ankle surgery, landing him on LTIR to begin the regular season. Once Guentzel is put on LTIR at the beginning of the season, Pittsburgh will have just under $2.8MM in salary cap wiggle room.

Now, with any hypothetical Karlsson trade, a significant hurdle to jump will be how much the San Josh Sharks are willing to retain on his contract. It’s been reported multiple times that the Sharks seem willing to retain 30% of his contract, which would knock Karlsson’s salary down to $8MM over the next four seasons. Keeping this in mind, the Penguins would only need to send around $5.25MM back to the Sharks, if and only if they are not seeking any additional cap space.

The most obvious choice would be to move Jeff Petry’s $6.25MM contract back the other way to San Jose, but with a 15-team no-trade list included in his contract, it would be reasonable to assume the Sharks would be on that list, and the likelihood of Petry accepting a deal to San Jose would be slim. In fact, most of the contracts that the Penguins would want to remove from their roster, have very hefty no-movement clauses, complicating any potential trade in the near future.

However, there is one player who would meet the criteria and was even rumored to be headed toward a buyout in mid-June. That player would be Mikael Granlund, acquired from the Nashville Predators at last year’s trade deadline, and currently sporting a $5MM salary for the next two seasons. Throw in defenseman Jan Rutta and his $2.75MM, also creating an opening on the right-hand side of their blue line, and all of the salary intangibles are worked out.

In terms of which prospects and draft capital should be expected to head back to San Jose, let’s consider General Manager Mike Grier’s first high-profile trade, moving Timo Meier to the New Jersey Devils at last season’s trade deadline. In that deal, the Sharks acquired a salary filler in Andreas Johnsson, a young NHL-ready talent in Fabian Zetterlund, two prospects in Nikita Okhotyuk and Shakir Mukhamadullin, as well as a first and second-round pick.

Given this context, it would be reasonable to assume that Karlsson will command a similar package to Meier, and the Penguins should have the necessary parts to make this happen. The salary fillers are already worked out in Granlund and Rutta, and defenseman Ty Smith seems exactly the type of young NHL-ready talent the Sharks would be pursuing in a package like this. Not too long ago, Smith was projected as one of the better prospects in New Jersey’s system, but ever since coming over in a trade to Pittsburgh, the Penguins just have not been able to give him the amount of ice time that is conducive with his growth.

For prospects, it is going to be very difficult for San Jose to poach away any of Brayden Yager, Owen Pickering, or Joel Blomqvist from the Penguins farm system, but there is another talent that should suffice. Forward Tristan Broz as well as forward Valtteri Puustinen seem like the best choices outside of those top three. Broz is a second-round pick of the Penguins from the 2021 NHL Draft, and he recently wrapped up a 28-point campaign with the University of Denver in the NCAA. Puustinen, on the other hand, is a bit closer to NHL-ready than Broz, scoring 59 points in 72 games in the AHL as a 24-year-old.

Pittsburgh is also in possession of most of its draft picks for the next several seasons, and given the Sharks’ projected draft capital for the foreseeable future, might target top picks during the 2025 or 2026 NHL Draft. In all realism, the Sharks will likely want Pittsburgh’s 2025 first-round pick, as well as a conditional second-round pick in 2026, crafting those conditions in a way where the pick could be upgraded to a first.

And there you have it. The hypothetical trade in its entirety would be the Penguins acquiring Karlsson (30% retained), while the Sharks would acquire, Granlund, Rutta, Smith, Broz, Puustinen, a first-round pick in 2025, as well as a conditional second-round pick in 2026. In any manner, we should know in a few short days what the Karlsson trade package will look like in its entirety.

Free Agent Profile: Adam Erne

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Since being drafted 33rd overall in the 2013 NHL, forward Adam Erne has been following General Manager Steve Yzerman around for his entire career. Yzerman was General Manager that originally drafted Erne with the Tampa Bay Lightning, and after Yzerman made his return to the Detroit Red Wings, one of his first moves was to acquire Erne for a fourth-round selection in the 2020 NHL Draft.

While playing for the Quebec Remparts of the QMJHL, Erne seemed to be one of the more promising power forwards in his class. Playing his last year in juniors during the 2015-16 season, Erne scored 41 goals and 45 assists in 60 games, also racking up 102 PIMS in total. Unfortunately for the Lightning and the Red Wings, those talents have yet to translate to the NHL, and likely never will given Erne’s career track record.

If it had not been for injuries, Erne likely would have recorded career totals in all facets of the game, but going on the injured reserve seven times during four seasons with Detroit, Erne could never keep up any momentum. This past year was so poor that the Red Wings decided to place Erne on waivers in February, and he spent the next month in the AHL.

Nevertheless, being able to put up 20 points in a year will always have value in the NHL, and Erne might benefit from playing on the fourth line of a competitive team. He will surely garner less than his $2.1MM salary over the last two years, making him an affordable option for all 32 teams in the NHL.

Stats

2022-23: 61 GP, 8-10-18, -12 rating, 21 PIMS, 55 shots, 37.5% CF, 13:23 ATOI
Career: 355 GP, 40-49-89, -59 rating, 171 PIMS, 436 shots, 45.9% CF, 12:21 ATOI

Potential Suitors

For any team to be taking a shot at Erne at this point in his career, the team must be confident that he is an immediate improvement to their bottom six forward core. Taking that into account, it would be reasonable to assume that the Colorado Avalanche, Lightning, and Washington Capitals could all be possible fits for Erne’s services.

As of right now, the Avalanche are projected to have 12 forwards in their opening night lineup, with both Ben Meyers and Fredrik Olofsson making up the bottom tier of their forward group. To say the least, given his track record, Erne would almost certainly be a much stronger producer for the Avalanche than either Meyers or Olofsson on the wing. Neither forward has sniffed 20 points up to this point in their careers, but to their credit, they have both played far fewer years than Erne. The only drawback to Erne joining the Avalanche is the fact that he does not profile as a player being able to fit into Colorado’s high-speed offensive approach.

Similarly to Colorado, a reunion with Tampa Bay makes a lot of sense for both parties. Logan Brown and Alex Barre-Boulet currently project as the bottom forwards in the Lightning’s lineup, and Erne would give the team an improvement in that area. Brown has yet to live up to his draft status as an 11th overall pick, and although being one of the best players in the AHL over the last several years, Barre-Boulet has not produced to the same level in the NHL.

Not the same degree as Colorado or Tampa Bay, Erne could be an interesting fit into the Capitals’ bottom six. Hopefully, Max Pacioretty will make his debut with the club at some point this season, giving the team some added forward depth. Before Pacioretty returns, Washington certainly has the capability to improve upon forward Joe Snively at the bottom of their lineup, and Erne would do just that. Snively has yet to score over seven points in the last two seasons while averaging approximately the same amount of ice time as Erne.

Projected Contract

If any team does commit to a full NHL contract for Erne, it will almost certainly be a one-year, $775k agreement. Due to his relatively low production, as well as his injury history over the last several seasons, unfortunately, Erne has lost all hope of any team being willing to go beyond that number. However, at this point in the offseason, it would be more than rare to see a team give a guaranteed contract to a player of his caliber. Erne is most likely headed for a professional tryout agreement in September, where he will have the responsibility of earning his roster spot during training camp.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Snapshots: Stars, Lindholm, Michkov

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The Dallas Stars announced a flurry of minor hockey operations moves today, headlined by carving out an official role for former netminder Ben Bishop in the organization. He’ll serve with the team as a player development coordinator in his first officially outlined front-office job in the NHL. Bishop, who’d last played in the NHL during the 2020 postseason and was forced to retire due to injuries, could not officially take a job with the team while still under an NHL contract with another organization, the Buffalo Sabres, whom Dallas traded the final season of his contract to for financial relief after it became clear Bishop wouldn’t play again.

Bishop played three seasons for the Stars from 2017 to 2020, earning a 74-48-11 record in 143 regular-season appearances with a .923 save percentage, a 2.33 goals-against average, and 14 shutouts. In the postseason, he played 16 games for Dallas, achieving an 8-8 record with a .920 save percentage and a 2.67 goals-against average, shining most brightly in the starting role in the 2019 Stanley Cup Playoffs, eventually losing to the champion St. Louis Blues in seven games in the Second Round. Throughout his career with St. Louis, Ottawa, Tampa Bay, Los Angeles, and Dallas, Bishop amassed a 222-128-36 record in 413 regular-season appearances with a .921 save percentage, a 2.32 goals-against average, and 33 shutouts.

Elsewhere in NHL-related items today:

  • While speculation is increasing about potential trades for Calgary Flames center Elias Lindholm, Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman said on NHL Network yesterday that it hasn’t been backed up by actual talks within league circles. Calgary surely remains in talks to attempt to extend Lindholm, and it’s becoming more and more likely he’ll at least start the season with the team. Surely, the Flames will look to get off to a strong start not just for standings purposes but also to help convince Lindholm and Mikael Backlund, their two most important remaining pending UFAs, to stick around.
  • One of the concerns that caused star Russian prospect Matvei Michkov to fall all the way to the Philadelphia Flyers at seventh overall earlier this month was the lack of control over his development. He’s under contract with KHL club SKA St. Petersburg for three more seasons, leaving the Flyers without any immediate input into his post-draft development. That fact’s already become notable as, speaking with Match TV, Michkov revealed SKA plans to try the natural winger at center next season. Obviously, there’s no telling how such a move will work out so early on in a player’s professional development, but it’s an interesting wrinkle in Michkov’s pro career overseas worth keeping an eye on as the season progresses.

East Notes: Sabres, Allison, Pridham

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Defensemen Jacob Bryson and Ilya Lyubushkin could be in play on the trade market ahead of the regular season, the Buffalo News’ Lance Lysowski said today. In Bryson’s case, he could find his way off the team via waivers as well, as there will be a significant roster crunch in Buffalo with nine defensemen signed to one-way contracts. The team added Connor Clifton and Stanley Cup champion Erik Johnson via free agency to bolster their back end, pushing anyone not named Mattias Samuelsson, Owen Power, or Rasmus Dahlin two spots down the team’s depth chart.

Both Bryson and Lyubushkin have just one year of term left on their contracts, making them easily movable if Buffalo so chooses. However, both of their cap hits aren’t the best value – Bryson is a seventh defender on a contending team at best, making $1.85MM against the cap, while Lyubushkin is a capable shutdown defender but limited otherwise and costs $2.75MM. It’s hard to envision a contending team trading for those pieces at those salaries, but the Sabres could find a willing trade partner among teams like the Anaheim Ducks, Arizona Coyotes and Chicago Blackhawks, who may want to plug some short-term holes in their blueline.

More from around the Eastern Conference:

  • Winger Wade Allison is likely facing a make-or-break year with the Philadelphia Flyers, writes Charlie O’Connor of The Athletic. While he has potential as an intriguing young power forward, the team has a number of higher-upside, younger wingers fighting for spots, such as Bobby Brink, Olle Lycksell, and Tyson Foerster. Allison did score nine goals in 60 games last season but dealt with a handful of injuries, something that’s becoming a worrying track record for a player who sustained a significant ACL tear to end his college career and missed most of the previous two seasons before last. If he can’t improve on his production or force his way onto some special teams unit, he’s a potential non-tender candidate next offseason as a pending restricted free agent.
  • Toronto Maple Leafs assistant general manager Brandon Pridham is likely sticking with the organization despite rumors to the contrary, Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman said while appearing on NHL Network yesterday. Friedman connected Pridham’s preference to stay in Toronto to new Pittsburgh Penguins general manager Kyle Dubas’ wait on filling the GM position in Pittsburgh full-time, saying Pridham was his top candidate for the Penguins’ GM role. Instead, Pridham informed the Leafs earlier this summer that he’d prefer to stay with the organization instead of following his former boss to Pittsburgh. The Penguins announced yesterday that Dubas will serve as the team’s full-time GM in addition to his president of hockey operations role.

Bob Murdoch Passes Away

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Longtime former NHL player and coach Bob Murdoch has passed away at the age of 76 after a four-year battle with Lewy Body Dementia, Parkinsonism, and Alzheimer’s, the NHL Alumni Association said today. Murdoch spent the first three seasons of his career with the Montreal Canadiens from 1970 to 1973 before he was traded to the Los Angeles Kings, where he would play until 1979. He was traded again to the Atlanta Flames, the franchise with which he would finish out his NHL career, retiring in 1982 after staying with the team during their move to Calgary.

Murdoch then spent a decade in the NHL as a coach with the Flames, Chicago Blackhawks, Winnipeg Jets, and San Jose Sharks. His stints with Chicago and Winnipeg were in head coaching roles, and he won a Jack Adams award in his first season with the Jets in 1989-90 after the team made a 21-point jump in the standings from the prior season.

Undrafted, Murdoch made his way to Montreal at 24 after playing for the Canadian national team and in the minors for the Montreal Voyageurs of AHL. While his role with the team was limited in the first two of his three seasons there, he did suit up in the postseason for Montreal’s Stanley Cup victories in 1971 and 1973. After a breakout year in 1972-73, recording 24 points in 69 games, he garnered a first-round pick on the trade market and was shipped to the Kings.

Murdoch had the best years of his career in California, consistently posting double-digit point totals and playing a strong brand of physical, two-way hockey. In 1974-75, he recorded career highs across the board with 13 goals, 29 assists, 42 points, a +39 rating, and 116 penalty minutes in 80 games. He earned year-end All-Star team consideration that year.

After retiring and then leaving the NHL coaching circle in 1993, Murdoch headed overseas, where he coached in Germany. He lasted just half a season with Mad Dogs München in 1994-95 but immediately found a new job in the DEL with Kölner Haie, where he stayed until 1997. He followed that up with a three-year stint behind the bench of the Nürnberg Ice Tigers from 1999 to 2002. Most recently, he served as a scout for the WHL’s Tri-City Americans from 2013 to 2015.

We at PHR send our condolences to Murdoch’s family, friends, and former teammates.

“Clarity” On Erik Karlsson Trade Could Come This Weekend

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The Pittsburgh Penguins could finally be inching closer to landing defenseman Erik Karlsson with a second buyout window opening for the team this weekend. The pursuit of Karlsson by the Penguins, Carolina Hurricanes and others has been a dominant storyline for the past two months, and now there’s a sense that some clarity might be on the horizon, Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman said on NHL Network yesterday.

Now armed with some additional salary cap flexibility thanks to Jake Guentzel’s ankle injury that should place him on LTIR for the first month of the season, the Penguins have more dice to roll in regard to a Karlsson deal. The team could also free up more space through that second buyout window, using one on someone like Mikael Granlund, who’s locked in at a $5MM AAV for two more seasons. It would be a change in pace for GM Kyle Dubas, though, who’s expressed publically he’s hesitant to go the buyout route. As GM of the Toronto Maple Leafs, he offloaded a first-round pick for the Carolina Hurricanes to take and buy out the final season of Patrick Marleau’s contract in 2019.

That being said, there aren’t a whole lot of other options for the Penguins to free up enough space to make a deal unless the Sharks are willing to take on a bad contract or two in return. The latter is unlikely, given they’re undoubtedly going to retain more salary than they’re comfortable with to facilitate a Karlsson trade. With Friedman hearing there’s increased activity this week on the Penguins/Karlsson train, it’s not hard to connect the dots on Dubas’ potential cap-clearing plans.

While the list of teams connected to Karlsson is largely public knowledge at this point, what a potential deal could look like isn’t. It’s been reported multiple times that San Jose will likely have to retain at least $3.5MM of Karlsson’s $11MM cap hit for four more seasons to move him out, but other than that, it’s anyone’s guess as to what amount of roster players, picks, and prospects it’ll take to win a bidding war for last year’s Norris Trophy winner.

Speculatively, one player who could head to San Jose is 23-year-old defenseman Ty Smith. The 2018 17th-overall pick burst onto the scene with 23 points in just 48 games during his rookie season with the New Jersey Devils in 2020-21, but he struggled heavily on the defensive end of things the following season and was traded to Pittsburgh in 2022. He spent most of last season in the minors, only skating nine games with the Penguins, but he’ll need waivers to return there next season if he can’t find a spot in the NHL lineup. On a team with paper-thin defensive depth such as San Jose, he’d likely immediately factor in as a top-four threat.

It’s worth noting that Pittsburgh also has all six of their first- and second-round picks in the next three drafts.

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