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Red Wings Re-Sign Patrick Kane

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The Detroit Red Wings are keeping their key midseason acquisition in the fold.  The team announced that they’ve re-signed veteran forward Patrick Kane to a one-year contract.  Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed by the team but Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reports (Twitter link) that the deal carries a base salary of $4MM and could cost as much as $6.5MM if his bonuses are all met.  The structure of the deal is as follows:

$4MM base salary
$1.5MM at 10 games played
$250K at 60 games played
$500K if his team makes the playoffs
$250K if he records 60 points and his team makes the playoffs

Pierre LeBrun of TSN and The Athletic reports (Twitter link) that the deal also contains a full no-trade clause.

Earlier today, Frank Seravalli of Daily Faceoff reported increasing potential for a Kane extension in Detroit while noting that the Montreal Canadiens were prepared to take a run at him if he eventually made it to the open market. Instead, Based on the report from Friedman, Kane will extend his time in Motown for the time being.

After making a return from offseason hip resurfacing surgery, Kane had plenty of suitors as he made his way through the courting process. The veteran talent ultimately landed with the Red Wings on a one-year, $2.75MM contract while reuniting with his former teammate, Alex DeBrincat. Not only did Kane prove he could still be serviceable to any team around the league, but he showed that he could still be a legitimate top-six talent.

In 50 games for Detroit after signing the one-year agreement, Kane would score 20 goals and 47 points while aiding the Red Wings on one of their first playoff hunts in the last several years. Unfortunately, Kane and the team would fall short after losing the tiebreaker in the Eastern Conference wild-card race to the Washington Capitals in the final game of the regular season. With the Red Wings squarely aiming for a playoff berth during the 2024-25 NHL season — Kane appears ready to help with that pursuit.

Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman first reported that a deal was expected to get done.  Pierre LeBrun of TSN and The Athletic first reported the one-year agreement.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Atlantic Notes: Swayman, Bruins, Roy, Bertuzzi, Xhekaj

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With Linus Ullmark now in Ottawa, Jeremy Swayman is the Bruins’ undisputed goalie of the present and future moving forward.  However, it doesn’t appear as if much progress has been made on a new deal, according to Daily Faceoff’s Frank Seravalli (Twitter link).  Last summer, the two sides wound up going through salary arbitration with the netminder receiving a one-year, $3.475MM award.  This past season, the 25-year-old posted a 2.52 GAA with a .916 SV% in 44 regular season games before putting forth a better showing in the playoffs, playing to a 2.15 GAA and a .933 SV% in a dozen postseason contests.  It stands to reason that both sides would like to get a long-term agreement done; that type of deal should carry a price tag of at least $6MM.

More from the Atlantic Division:

  • Still with the Bruins, Kevin Paul Dupont of The Boston Globe suggests that they could be in position to land a pair of prominent Vancouver free agents when the market opens up on Monday, linking Boston to both center Elias Lindholm and defenseman Nikita Zadorov. Lindholm is coming off a down year but still managed 15 goals and 29 assists in 75 games.  He’d give Boston a legitimate two-way middleman after they didn’t really replace Patrice Bergeron and David Krejci last summer.  Zadorov, meanwhile, split the year between Calgary and Vancouver, notching 20 points and 177 hits in 75 games.  However, he was quite impactful in the playoffs, recording four goals and four assists in 13 contests while logging over 20 minutes a game, putting himself in a spot to land a big raise on the $3.5MM he made in 2023-24 on a long-term agreement.
  • The Senators are expected to make an aggressive pitch for pending UFA defenseman Matt Roy, reports Postmedia’s Bruce Garrioch. The 29-year-old is positioned to be one of the top right-shot defenders to hit the open market on Monday and is coming off a strong year that saw him record 25 points, 197 blocks, and 152 hits in 81 games while averaging just under 21 minutes a night.  After making $3.15MM the last three seasons, he could potentially come close to doubling that in free agency which would be very difficult for Ottawa to fit into their current salary structure.
  • While the Maple Leafs were hoping to re-sign winger Tyler Bertuzzi, that won’t be the case according to TSN’s Darren Dreger (Twitter link) who notes that the contract he’s expected to get is more than what Toronto can afford. The 29-year-old couldn’t get a multi-year deal at his asking price last summer, instead settling for a one-year, $5.5MM agreement with the Maple Leafs.  Bertuzzi picked up 21 goals and 22 assists in 81 games during the regular season.  That, coupled with his production in the past (three other years of at least 20 goals) has Dreger feeling that Bertuzzi will land a deal around four years at more than $5MM per season.
  • Canadiens defenseman Arber Xhekaj received a qualifying offer today but a new agent will be handling the discussions. Bartlett Hockey announced (Twitter link) that they’ve signed Xhekaj along with his brother Florian Xhekaj as new clients.  Arber played in 44 games in his sophomore year with Montreal, picking up 10 points, 125 hits, and 81 penalty minutes while averaging just under 16 minutes a night.  He also played in 17 games with AHL Laval, recording 11 points.  Florian, meanwhile, is a Canadiens prospect and will begin his entry-level agreement next season.

Nicholas Robertson Requests Trade From Toronto

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TSN’s Chris Johnston reports that former second-round pick of the Toronto Maple Leafs, Nicholas Robertson, has no intentions of signing a contract with the organization this offseason and has requested a trade. Robertson will become a restricted free agent tomorrow as his entry-level contract is set to expire.

Robertson made the full-time jump to the NHL level during the 2020-21 NHL season as he suited up in six games for the Maple Leafs. He only managed one assist at the NHL level and put together a strong performance with the Toronto Marlies of the AHL as he scored 11 goals and 16 points in only 21 contests. The organization gave him another mild chance the following season with 10 games for the Maple Leafs but Robertson once again spent a large part of the season with the Marlies in a year that saw him put up 16 goals and 28 points in 28 games.

It would not be until this past season that Toronto would give Robertson a longer look with the Original Six franchise. Robertson didn’t disappoint either as he scored 14 goals and 27 points for the Maple Leafs in 56 games while only averaging around 11 and a half minutes a night.

All signs indicate that Robertson is disgruntled with the Maple Leafs organization inconsistently shuffling him back and forth from the minors to stay under the salary cap. The 22-year-old still has considerable promise at the NHL level and believes he has earned a larger role with an organization than Toronto is willing to give. Given his age and the fact he will not demand too much as an RFA, Robertson should have plenty of suitors on the trade market willing to give him an established role in the NHL.

Lightning Nearing Extension With Victor Hedman

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According to Kevin Weekes of ESPN, the Tampa Bay Lightning are nearing a contract extension with all-star defenseman Victor Hedman. The news comes shortly after the report indicating that Jake Guentzel will be signing with the organization after the team traded for his signing rights earlier this afternoon. Because he is already signed to a contract in Tampa Bay, Hedman will have to wait until tomorrow to sign a new agreement.

Hedman is set to wrap up his current eight-year, $63MM extension after the 2024-25 NHL season concludes, and would have become an unrestricted free agent for the first time in his career at 34 years old. With an average annual value of $7.875MM since the start of the 2017-18 NHL season, there is an argument to be made that Hedman has been playing on a bargain of a contract for some time.

Over the life of his current contract, Hedman has appeared in 503 regular season games for the Lightning while scoring 91 goals and 427 points. The Lightning have made the postseason in each year of the deal while Hedman has assisted the team with 17 goals and 80 points over those seven years. Hedman has also won one Norris Trophy, one Conn Smythe Trophy, and two Stanley Cup rings in hardware.

The former second-overall pick can still be counted on to log heavy minutes on the ice but may see his workload increase after the team parted ways with defenseman Mikhail Sergachev on the second day of the 2024 NHL Draft. Hedman appeared to handle the workload fine with Sergachev out for much of the regular season this past year but it will be interesting to see if he can keep up that fortitude over the life of the expected extension.

The full terms of the deal will likely break tomorrow and it will be interesting to see how long the Lightning go on a Hedman extension. The team was recently willing to give a similarly-aged Steven Stamkos an eight-year agreement to keep the AAV down towards a team-friendly level.

Predators Nearing Agreement With Alexandre Carrier

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Defenseman Alexandre Carrier won’t be hitting the open market on Monday after all.  Pierre LeBrun of TSN and The Athletic reports (Twitter link) that the two sides are close to finalizing a new contract.  Terms of the potential agreement have not been disclosed.

After a rough 2022-23 showing, the 27-year-old had a nice bounce-back effort this past season.  Carrier played in 73 games, scoring a career-best four goals while adding 16 assists and a career-high 137 blocked shots while logging a little under 19 minutes a night.  He was one of their most-used penalty killers, averaging more than two minutes a night shorthanded.  He added a goal and two assists with 19 blocks in six playoff contests where his ATOI jumped to over 21 minutes per game.

For his career, Carrier has played in 217 NHL games, all with Nashville who drafted him in the fourth round (115th overall) back in 2015.  He has just 10 goals and 52 assists to his name but has become an effective shot blocker and defensive blueliner, even earning a spot on the All-Rookie team back in 2021-22.

Carrier played on a one-year, $2.5MM deal in 2023-24, an agreement that gave him a nice raise based on his play the past couple of years while giving the Preds a chance to walk away if he couldn’t get back to his form from a couple of years ago.  Since he was able to rebound nicely, Carrier should be in line for a nice raise and a multi-year pact this time around.

Lightning Reportedly Reach Contract Agreement With Jake Guentzel

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According to Frank Seravalli of Daily Faceoff, the Tampa Bay Lightning have agreed to terms on a contract with pending UFA forward Jake Guentzel. The deal’s financial terms were not disclosed and may take until tomorrow to fully develop. The news comes a few hours after the Lightning acquired Guentzel’s rights from the Carolina Hurricanes in exchange for a third-round pick in the 2025 NHL Draft.

The reported deal will likely check in at an eight-year term with the Lightning owning enough cap space to give Guentzel nearly $10MM annually. Because the team acquired Guentzel’s signing rights earlier today, Tampa Bay became the only team able to sign Guentzel to an eight-year contract. If Guentzel made it to free agency tomorrow, the Lightning would have only been able to offer him a max of seven years — the same as all other suitors.

After being acquired by the Hurricanes at the trade deadline from the Pittsburgh Penguins, Guentzel proved beyond the shadow of a doubt that he could thrive without playing next to Sidney Crosby. However, by inking a contract with the Lightning, Guentzel may arguably have better linemates. The team will likely start him next to Nikita Kucherov and Brayden Point on the top line, with the former finishing up a season in which he led the league in assists and points.

Guentzel will land in Tampa Bay having already played 520 regular season games at the NHL level while scoring 227 goals and 491 points through eight years. Largely known for his postseason contributions; Guentzel is a one-time winner of the Stanley Cup as he’s scored 38 goals and 67 points in 69 career games in the playoffs. After being knocked out in the first round of back-to-back postseasons, the Lightning will surely be looking for Guentzel to help turn around the team’s most recent fortunes.

Depending on the financial terms of the agreement, the contract between Guentzel and the Lightning organization may have some collateral damage. With longtime captain Steven Stamkos hitting the free agent market tomorrow, Tampa Bay may not have the cap flexibility to re-sign him after all.

Blues Hoping To Extend Pavel Buchnevich

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In a recent post-draft interview, the General Manager of the St. Louis Blues, Doug Armstrong, indicated that he and the organization will be aggressive in signing forward Pavel Buchnevich to an extension this summer (X Link). The news marks a sharp pivot for the Blues organization as Buchnevich’s name had begun popping up in the rumor mill before the trade deadline.

Any potential Buchnevich extension in St. Louis will likely clock in somewhere between four-to-seven years with the AAV checking in below the identical $8.125MM salaries given to Robert Thomas and Jordan Kyrou on their current extensions. An extension offer would not be a surprise for Buchnevich, however, as the forward has finished top-three in team scoring in each of his three seasons with the organization.

Over three years with the Blues, Buchnevich has already surpassed his scoring total over five years with the New York Rangers. Suiting up in 216 games since the start of the 2021-22 NHL season, Buchnevich has scored 83 goals and 206 points while wearing the blue note with another one goal and 11 points in 12 playoff contests. Buchnevich also racked up impressive possession metrics this past season by leading the team with a 52.8% CorsiFor%.

Given his internal value to the Blues organization, it was always going to be difficult for Armstrong to find an adequate return for Buchnevich’s service on the trade market. Instead, the team appears set on continuing the relationship and keeping Buchnevich in the mix for the next several years.

Shane Pinto Hoping To Be Offer-Sheeted

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Offer sheets are a rarity in the NHL and it’s even rarer that there is word of a player believed to be trying to solicit one on the opening day of free agency.  However, that appears to be the case in Ottawa as Postmedia’s Bruce Garrioch reports (Twitter link) that Shane Pinto’s camp will be looking to get an offer sheet when the market opens up on Monday.

[Related: Offer Sheet Thresholds for 2024]

The Senators and Pinto haven’t had much success with contract talks.  Last year, the two sides weren’t close to an agreement for most of the summer and just when it looked like they were closing in on an agreement, the 23-year-old was suspended for the first half of the season for a violation of the league’s gambling policy.  Upon being reinstated, he didn’t have much choice but to accept a pro-rated deal for the minimum salary of $775K.

To his credit, Pinto was rather productive for the Sens down the stretch, notching nine goals and 18 assists while logging over 18 minutes a night.  That brought him up to 30 goals and 40 assists in 140 career NHL appearances.

Both sides were believed to be interested in a long-term agreement but a report in mid-May suggested that they were far apart on money with Pinto’s camp believed to be seeking around $5MM on that contract.  The report that he’s now seeking an offer sheet indicates that they remain far apart in discussions.

A $5MM asking price pegs the required compensation at a first-round pick and a third-round pick.  Both of those must be 2025 selections and the offer-sheeting team must have their own picks to use; they can’t substitute one from another team.  That means that 16 teams are ineligible to attempt to give Pinto an offer sheet at that threshold, per CapFriendly, unless they’re able to re-acquire their own selections first.

Once the market officially opens up at 11 AM CT on Monday, there will generally be a free-for-all when it comes to unrestricted free agent signings so if Pinto is to get his way and get an offer sheet, he may have to be patient and wait for the dust to settle before assessing if there is a viable option out there.  Unlike many restricted free agents, salary arbitration isn’t an option as he is ineligible for one this summer so if he wants to show the Sens that he’s worth the money he’s seeking, an offer sheet is the only route he can take.

Panthers Sign Rasmus Asplund To One-Year Deal

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During parade day for the 2024 Stanley Cup Champions Florida Panthers, the organization got a minor item of work completed. PuckPedia reports that the organization has signed forward Rasmus Asplund to a one-year, two-way agreement that will pay $775K at the NHL level and $400K at the AHL level. The reported deal was later confirmed by David Dwork of The Hockey News.

After being traded from the Buffalo Sabres to the Nashville Predators during the 2022-23 NHL season, Asplund became an unrestricted free agent last offseason after not receiving a qualifying offer from the Predators. A few days after free agency officially opened, Asplund signed an identical contract with the Panthers paying him $775K at the NHL level and $400K in the AHL.

As things would turn out, Asplund would never see a dime of his salary in the NHL as he spent the entire year with the Charlotte Checkers of the AHL. As an effective playmaker in the minor leagues, Asplund scored nine goals and 35 assists in 67 games which led the team in the latter category.

It will be interesting to see how high the Panthers play Asplund up the depth chart next season as the team could lose several players up front to unrestricted free agency in the next 24 hours. If Florida can bring back a generous amount of their forward depth from last year, expect Asplund to spend most if not all of his time back in the AHL.

Blues Re-Sign Hunter Skinner

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The Blues took care of one of their potential restricted free agents today, announcing that they’ve re-signed defenseman Hunter Skinner to a one-year, two-way deal.  The contract pays $775K in the NHL and $80K at the AHL level.

The 23-year-old was originally a fourth-round pick by the Rangers back in 2019 and joined St. Louis as part of the Vladimir Tarasenko trade back in February 2023.  Skinner split his playing time that season between their two AHL affiliates plus New York’s ECHL squad.

This past season, Skinner was a full-timer in the AHL, getting into a career-best 50 games with Springfield.  He picked up three goals and seven assists along with 94 penalty minutes, bringing his career totals at that level to 33 points and 151 PIMS in 132 contests.

Skinner will be waiver-eligible for the first time next season so he’ll have to pass through unclaimed during training camp to make it back to the Thunderbirds.

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