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New York Islanders Re-Sign Oliver Wahlstrom

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The New York Islanders have taken care of business with their last notable restricted free agent, re-signing forward Oliver Wahlstrom to a one-year deal. The Athletic’s Kevin Kurz reports that Wahlstrom agreed to his qualifying offer, which would carry a cap hit of just $874,125 next season.

The 23-year-old sniper went 11th overall to the Islanders in the 2018 NHL Draft, but he’s yet to really hit his stride as a pro hockey player. Last season certainly didn’t help matters – a lower-body injury kept him out past the new year and limited him to just 35 games.

He’s played 161 NHL games thus far in his career, notching decent production with 32 goals and 61 points, but he hasn’t cemented himself in a top-six role yet. That’s what he was drafted to do, and he’ll need to impress in his standard third-line minutes in order to move up a famously rigid Islanders depth chart.

He should get some help playing alongside Jean-Gabriel Pageau, one of the better third-line centers in the league, but he’ll likely need some more power play opportunities under head coach Lane Lambert to get his goal-scoring confidence back after a trying couple of campaigns.

This is an important signing for the Islanders to get done in salary cap terms. They had very little flexibility, and getting Wahlstrom to agree to his qualifying offer leaves them with just enough space to remain cap-compliant to start the season with a full 23-player roster with no corresponding moves. However, it won’t be much – likely less than $500K of cap space on opening night.

If the Islanders are to reach the playoffs again in a competitive Eastern Conference, Wahlstrom’s depth scoring will likely be a big part of it. He’s set to be a restricted free agent again next summer.

Florida Panthers Agree To Terms With Casey Fitzgerald

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The defending Eastern Conference champions have made their second signing of the day. Defenseman Casey Fitzgerald is running it back with the Florida Panthers on a one-year, two-way contract after testing the open market, the team announced today. Financial terms were not disclosed.

Fitzgerald hit unrestricted free agency this summer under Group VI rules. This special designation applies to players with significant professional experience who don’t meet the standard eligibility guidelines for unrestricted free agency but have played less than 80 NHL games, allowing them perhaps to find a more significant role with another team earlier in their career. However, the 26-year-old Fitzgerald liked his fit in the Panthers organization, and he’s opted to return for another season.

The son of New Jersey Devils general manager Tom Fitzgerald found his way to the Sunshine State via waivers in January, heading south to the Panthers after the Buffalo Sabres attempted to assign him to the minors. He would play quite sparingly, though, playing just four out of 40 Panthers regular-season games after the claim and two out of 21 playoff games. All in all, that’s 55 healthy scratches for Fitzgerald in 61 games he’s been rostered for as a Panther.

A puck-mover by trade, Fitzgerald’s been adequate in limited NHL action but hasn’t demonstrated enough to push into an everyday spot in the lineup. The right-shot defender has nine assists in 63 games of NHL experience between the Sabres and Panthers but is still looking for his first NHL goal.

Buffalo’s third-round selection in 2016, Fitzgerald likely remains in a press-box role to start the season, even with Aaron Ekblad and Brandon Montour out with injuries. The team went bargain bin shopping on the back end, and their earlier UFA additions of Oliver Ekman-Larsson, Dmitry Kulikov, Niko Mikkola, and Mike Reilly likely push him down the depth chart. He could very well be waived again later on in the season and, if he clears, would be assigned to the AHL’s Charlotte Checkers.

Snapshots: Pekarcik, ECHL, Hurricanes

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One St. Louis Blues 2023 draft choice has found a playing home for next season. 76th overall pick Juraj Pekarcik will be heading stateside to the USHL, committing to the Dubuque Fighting Saints for 2023-24 after spending his career until now in his native Slovakia.

This is a rather consequential choice for the QMJHL’s Acadie-Bathurst Titan, who just used the second overall pick on Pekarcik in this year’s CHL Import Draft. However, the USHL has had quite the influx of Slovak talent in recent seasons, and it makes sense Pekarcik would choose to go to a league where he knows what the development experience will be like. The 6-foot-2 winger doesn’t turn 18 until September and registered 20 points in 16 games with HK Nitra’s junior club in the Slovak U-20 circuit last season. He also added ten points in seven games for Slovakia at last year’s IIHF U-18 World Junior Championship.

More from across the league today:

  • The Buffalo Sabres confirmed the Jacksonville Icemen as their next ECHL affiliate today, as expected. It amounts to a swap of affiliates between the Sabres and New York Rangers, now affiliated with the Cincinnati Cyclones, Buffalo’s previous affiliate in the second-tier minor league. The current Sabres team does have one connection to the Icemen – assistant coach Jason Christie, who coached the Icemen for four seasons before heading to the Sabres in 2021 and remains the ECHL’s all-time leader in games coached.
  • Without an AHL affiliate to store their prospects next season, the Carolina Hurricanes have loaned a trio of Finnish prospects back to their home country, per team reporter Walt Ruff. 20-year-old defenseman Aleksi Heimosalmi will head back to Assat, where he’s spent the past two seasons on loan from Carolina after they selected him 44th overall in 2021. Right wing Tuukka Tieksola, their 2019 fourth-round pick, is heading back to Finland with Lukko after recording 24 points in 52 games with the AHL’s Chicago Wolves last year. Lastly, forward Ville Koivunen is heading back to Karpat, where he’s played most of his career to date after recording 28 points in 52 games with them last season. Doing this early in the summer gives Carolina less to worry about when figuring out where to assign their prospects closer to the start of the season.

Florida Panthers Sign John Ludvig

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The Florida Panthers announced today they’ve agreed to terms with restricted free agent defenseman John Ludvig on a two-year, two-way contract. The team did not disclose financial details.

The 22-year-old left-shot defender will be a restricted free agent again at the end of his new deal and will likely be eligible for arbitration at that point. After COVID and injuries significantly limited Ludvig’s playing time since turning pro in 2020, he finally put together a full-time pro campaign last year with the AHL’s Charlotte Checkers, skating in 54 games and recording 17 points.

It really was a strong first impression for Ludvig, who worked his way into Charlotte’s top four with solid defensive awareness and a good bit of physicality to his game. Born in Canada to Czech parents, Ludvig went to the Panthers with the 69th overall pick in the 2019 NHL Draft.

Standing at 6-foot-1 and 213 pounds, Ludvig still needs another season or two before he’s ready for NHL action considering his delayed development, but it does look like there’s some NHL upside there. He flashed solid offensive instincts in his post-draft season with the WHL’s Portland Winterhawks, serving as the team’s captain in 2019-20 and exploding for 62 points in 60 games before turning pro the following year.

Connor Bedard Signs Entry-Level Contract With Blackhawks

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9:08 a.m.: Chicago has now made the deal official, confirming the maximum cap hit of $950K for Bedard on his three-year ELC. CapFriendly provides the full breakdown of the deal, which carries the same structure in all three seasons: an NHL salary of $855K, a $95K signing bonus, a Schedule ’A’ performance bonus worth $1MM, and a Schedule ’B’ performance bonus worth $2.5MM.

8:09 a.m.: 2023 first-overall pick Connor Bedard has agreed to terms with the Chicago Blackhawks on his three-year entry-level contract today, The Athletic’s Scott Powers reports.

The surely multi-million dollar commitment from Chicago to Bedard on his 18th birthday is quite the present. Signing Bedard to his ELC officially paves the way for him to suit up in a Blackhawks uniform on opening night in a few months, as expected.

Labeled the best prospect since Connor McDavid in 2015 and Auston Matthews in 2016, Bedard will look to make a splash with the Blackhawks next season after dominating the WHL with the Regina Pats, notching 71 goals and 72 assists for 143 points in just 57 games. His 2.51 points per game tied him for the highest rate in a single season for a 17-year-old with former Pittsburgh Penguins forward Rob Brown, who had 173 points in 69 games with Kamloops in 1985-86.

With that in mind, Bedard is expected to assume a first-line center role in the Windy City out of the gate, a glimpse into the team’s long-term future after an aggressive roster restructuring. The Blackhawks made multiple roster moves this offseason with Bedard in mind, acquiring a former Hart Trophy winner in Taylor Hall and retaining some skill for the top-six in Andreas Athanasiou to give Bedard at least some talent to play with in a Chicago forward group devoid of much to write home about.

Bedard’s six-figure cap hit could be the biggest bargain bin deal in the league by its conclusion in 2025-26, at which point he’ll be able to sign quite a lucrative second deal with the salary cap expected to rise north of $92MM by that point.

Among U-25 forwards in Chicago’s top-six next season, he’ll likely be joined by 2020 17th overall pick Lukas Reichel, who’s coming off a pair of excellent campaigns in the minors with the AHL’s Rockford IceHogs and added 15 points in 23 games with the Blackhawks last year. Those two are the shining stars at forward of a prospect pool that’s quickly grown into one of the league’s best, including a pair of top-20 picks in Frank Nazar and Oliver Moore still to come.

Winnipeg Jets Sign Morgan Barron

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The Winnipeg Jets signed restricted free agent forward Morgan Barron to a two-year contract today, the team announced via press release. The contract is worth $2.7MM and carries a cap hit and average annual value of $1.35MM.

It’s a nice bit of work for the two sides, who avoid arbitration with the two-year pact. The Jets still have quite a bit of work to do with Gabriel Vilardi, Rasmus Kupari and Logan Stanley needing new deals, but it’s a good dent in their remaining offseason work.

The 24-year-old forward is coming off a career year in 2022-23, setting career-highs in goals (eight), assists (13) and points (21) while transforming into an everyday NHLer for the first time, skating in 70 regular season games for the Jets. As part of the trade return for Andrew Copp at the 2022 trade deadline from the Rangers, Barron looks to develop into a solid bottom-six forward who could have staying power in Winnipeg. He also appeared in all five games of Winnipeg’s first-round playoff loss to the Vegas Golden Knights.

Barron will look to build on those offensive totals next season, although he’s likely to start the campaign in a fourth-line role. A healthy Cole Perfetti, plus full seasons from depth players like Mason Appleton and Nino Niederreiter, likely push him down the depth chart slightly, although he’s shown the ability to be effective in a limited role.

Boston Bruins Sign Three Players

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The Boston Bruins signed a trio of restricted free agents to one-year, two-way contracts today, per a team announcement. Goaltender Michael DiPietro, defenseman Alec Regula and defenseman Reilly Walsh all agreed to deals with $775K cap hits.

In doing so, the Bruins have retained some notable depth pieces for the AHL’s Providence Bruins, and they’ve also taken care of business with all their restricted free agents aside from their two pending arbitration cases – forward Trent Frederic and goalie Jeremy Swayman.

DiPietro will get another shot at trying to work his way up the organizational ladder after coming over from the Vancouver Canucks via trade last year. Once regarded as one of the better goalie prospects in the league, some perceived rushed development on Vancouver’s part, as well as limited play during the COVID-19 pandemic, significantly stunted the 24-year-old’s development. Boston decided to assign DiPietro to the ECHL’s Maine Mariners for most of last season, where he regained some confidence by compiling a 19-9-0 record with a 2.61 goals-against average and .918 save percentage in 29 games. PuckPedia later added DiPietro’s minor-league salary will be $80K.

Regula recently came over to the Bruins from the Chicago Blackhawks as part of the trade return for winger Taylor Hall. The 22-year-old is now in his third NHL organization after being selected 67th overall by the Detroit Red Wings in 2018, but he’s shown good defensive upside during his time in the minors and has 22 NHL games under his belt with the Blackhawks. The 6-foot-4, 218-pound right-shot defender put up five goals, 16 assists and 21 points in 51 games for the AHL’s Rockford IceHogs last year.

Walsh also arrived in Boston via trade this summer, coming over from the New Jersey Devils in a minor swap nearly a month ago. At 24, Walsh immediately became one of the more promising young defenders in the Bruins’ system, and he’ll be one of Boston’s first call-up options (along with Regula) if injuries strike. He’s displayed solid two-way skills in the minors, recording nine goals, 32 assists and 41 points in 71 games with the AHL’s Utica Comets last year. He does have one NHL game under his belt, recording an assist in his lone appearance with the Devils in 2021-22.

All three players are slated to become restricted free agents with arbitration rights at the season’s end.

Buffalo Sabres Sign Linus Weissbach

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The Buffalo Sabres signed left wing Linus Weissbach to a one-year, two-way contract today, the team said in a release. Weissbach’s new deal carries a $775K cap hit; however, the team did not disclose the complete structure of his contract.

With no pending arbitration cases, Weissbach was Buffalo’s last unsigned restricted free agent. Weissbach was eligible for arbitration but chose not to file.

The Swedish winger had quite a solid sophomore campaign with the AHL’s Rochester Americans, finishing fourth on the team with 47 points in 69 regular-season games last season and recording his first 20-goal campaign in the pros. He added on three goals, seven assists and ten points in 12 games of postseason play as the Americans advanced to the Eastern Conference Final, losing to the eventual Calder Cup champion, the Hershey Bears.

At 25 years old, Weissbach is a bonafide top-six AHL winger. How much farther he can rise from there remains to be seen. Still, his high-energy play and consistent forechecking earned him a qualifying offer last month and at least one more season of action in the Sabres organization.

Getting any games played within the organization out of a seventh-round pick is generally a victory for a team’s scouting department, and it’s fair to say the Sabres’ scouts can be happy with their choice after selecting Weissbach 192nd overall in 2017. The 5-foot-10 winger has gathered 84 points in 136 games over two seasons in Rochester after a successful four-year stay at the University of Wisconsin, where he earned Big Ten All-Rookie honors in 2017-18 and an All-Star team nod in 2020-21.

Free Agent Profile: Tomas Tatar

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Since the NHL’s salary cap upper limit has remained relatively flat in the last few years, salary cap space has been extremely scarce across the league. The type of player perhaps most negatively impacted by the leaguewide lack of cap space is the NHL’s “middle-class” of free agents. The are the sort of complementary players who don’t necessarily define a lineup, but nonetheless regularly contribute to one.

Tomas Tatar is maybe the best example of a player whose earning power has been decreased by the tight financial situation of most contending teams.

As a scoring winger with a consistent track record of potting 20-30 goals and 45-55 points per season, Tatar is exactly the kind of player who would have likely sparked a significant bidding war on the free agent market.

That’s especially true when one considers the fact that Tatar has the upside to score even more, as he did in 2020-21 when he led the Montreal Canadiens with 61 points in 68 games. That’s a 73-point 82-game pace, and the type of production that’s rare to find on the open market.

But with cap space at an absolute premium, those types of bidding wars became reserved for only the cream-of-the-crop free agents.

That leaves players such as Tatar unable to secure the pricey contracts lasting a half-decade or longer free agents in earlier cycles (such as James Neal or Andrew Ladd) were able to receive.

In his most recent trip to free agency, Tatar ended up signing a two-year, $4.5MM AAV contract with a rebuilding New Jersey Devils team.

It wasn’t exactly an unfair yearly price tag for Tatar’s services, but it also wasn’t the career-defining cash-in with a contending club that many free agents in earlier cycles had been able to land.

Fast forward two years, Tatar has once again hit free agency and he remains unsigned more than two weeks after the market opened. Next to Vladimir Tarasenko he’s one of the few goal scorers and proven NHL commodities left on the market, though there are certain elements of his profile that could give contending teams pause.

Perhaps the most significant red flag in Tatar’s profile is for how consistent his regular-season production has been, a lack of productivity in the playoffs has been similarly consistent. Tatar only scored one goal in 12 playoff games for the Devils, sat as a healthy scratch for most of the Montreal Canadiens’ 2021 Stanley Cup Final run, and has just 13 points in 52 career playoff games.

Set to turn 33 in December, it’s not exactly likely that the inability to contribute in the playoffs that has been consistent throughout his career will end up changing. So while Tatar is still searching for his first-ever Stanley Cup, he might be a better fit for a team looking to escape its rebuild with the goal of reaching the playoffs, rather than a club with true Stanley Cup aspirations.

Stats

2022-23: 82 GP, 20-28-48, +41 rating, 30 PIMs, 153 shots on goal, 60.2% CF, 15:07 ATOI
Career: 783 GP, 211-244-455, +42 rating, 276 PIMs, 1,636 shots on goal, 60.6% CF, 15:29 ATOI

Potential Suitors

Tatar is an interesting case because what sort of contending team wouldn’t jump at the chance to add a consistent 20-25 goal, 45-50 point scorer to its lineup? But as previously mentioned, the pattern Tatar has clearly established throughout his career of struggling mightily to produce in the postseason should give many contending teams pause.

At this point, combining the realities of Tatar’s profile with the realities of the leaguewide financial picture, Tatar’s most optimal suitors are franchises more concerned with escaping a rebuild and reaching the postseason rather than the ones worried about immediately competing for the Stanley Cup.

A team such as the Buffalo Sabres, who own the NHL’s longest playoff drought, could be a good fit. While they already boast quite a bit of talent along the wings, Jack Quinn recently underwent surgery to repair an Achilles injury and is expected to miss the start of next season. They’re currently projected to have around $6.7MM in cap space, so fitting Tatar on a one-year contract would be no issue.

Not only would signing Tatar insulate them against any further health complications in their forward corps, it would also protect their playoff chances in the case a player such as J.J. Peterka gets hit with a sophomore slump.

Another team that could fit is the Sabres’ Atlantic Division rival, the Ottawa Senators. They too have the cap space to fit a Tatar contract, and similar to Buffalo they are desperate to return to the playoffs after a long absence.

Ottawa just dealt Alex DeBrincat away and while they received Dominik Kubalik in return, Tatar would be a powerful addition to their third line. He could greatly help the development of a young winger such as Ridly Greig, who could end up playing on Tatar’s line.

Projected Contract

At this point, it seems unlikely Tatar’s next deal will match the two-year, $4.5MM AAV pact he signed in his last trip to free agency. A one-year deal seems the most likely outcome, and the ultimate price could very well depend on what Tarasenko signs for. Should Tarasenko end up receiving under $5MM, for example, Tatar’s argument to receive a guarantee around that number weakens.

Tatar could very well end up earning a one-year deal at a mid-range AAV, but seeing as players such as Blake Wheeler have taken contracts below even $1MM overall, attempting to project what Tatar will earn on his next deal is something of a guessing game. The most important thing to know, then, is that at this stage of the market, the race to secure Tatar’s services is unlikely to be extremely competitive and pricey.

Photos courtesy of USA Today Sports Images

Seattle Kraken Sign Eduard Sale

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07/16/23: The Kraken have now officially announced their signing of Sale, confirming the $950k AAV that was reported earlier.

07/15/23: The Seattle Kraken are reportedly close to signing their first-round pick of the 2023 NHL Draft, Eduard Sale, to a three-year entry-level contract. The contract will reportedly have an AAV of $950K each season, and pay Sale a base salary of $855K (Tweet Link).

At the time of the 2022 NHL Draft, Sale had already made some noise as a potential top-10 selection this year. During that year, Sale primarily played with HC Kometa Brno of the Czechia U20 league, and flat-out dominated, scoring 42 goals and 47 assists in only 39 games.

This past season, finally moving up to the professional leagues for HC Kometa Brno, Sale could only manage seven goals and seven assists in 43 games. Although the transition to professional hockey did not go as smoothly as desired for Sale, he still played well in international tournaments for Czechia, scoring 11 goals and eight assists in 18 games played for their U18 team, as well as three goals and seven assists in 11 games for their U20 team.

Sale is primarily an offensive talent at this point, still needing a bit of development on the defensive side of the puck. Next season, Sale is set to join the Barrie Colts of the OHL. The Colts originally drafted Sale with the 29th overall selection at the OHL’s Import Draft last summer.

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