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Central Notes: Pietrangelo, Lowry, Radulov, Boqvist

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The St. Louis Blues got some good news last week when they learned from NHL commissioner Gary Bettman when he announced that the 2020-21 salary cap is expected to rise between $84MM and $88.2MM. With the current salary cap set at $81.5MM this season, that would give the Blues franchise a significant amount of cap space that it could use to re-sign defenseman Alex Pietrangelo, who is currently slated to become a unrestricted free agent this summer.

In his latest mailbag, The Athletic’s Jeremy Rutherford (subscription required) writes that while those numbers sound promising, the NHL was projected to have a salary cap set at $83MM for the 2019-20 season and it ended up being $81.5MM, which suggests that all teams shouldn’t expect a significant increase. However, as far as Pietrangelo is concerned, the scribe believes that St. Louis has no intention of paying out any more than $9.5MM AAV, and the team would prefer a number closer to $8.5MM regardless of the increase in salary cap. The team believes that if other teams are willing to go to $10MM per season, the Blues will not match that.

Rutherford adds that if that’s the case and Pietrangelo opts to sign elsewhere, the team is unlikely to make any significant additions as there aren’t many significant free-agent defenseman this summer. That means the Blues would then hand the reins to Colton Parayko as the defensive leader next season.

  • The Athletic’s Ken Wiebe reports that Winnipeg Jets forward Adam Lowry is likely to return to the lineup Monday for their game against Arizona. Lowry has been out since Jan. 19 with an upper-body injury and should be able to give the Jets a much-needed boost. The 26-year-old has four goals and 10 points in 47 games with 132 hits.
  • The Dallas Stars were without Alexander Radulov Saturday due to illness, while forward Justin Dowling was able to re-enter the lineup since late January. Dowling immediately moved onto the top line next to Jamie Benn and Tyler Seguin. However, with the team desperate to put up some offense after being held to one goal in the past three games, The Athletic’s Sean Shapiro (subscription required) writes that if Radulov has to miss extended time, the Stars should consider in recalling forward Jason Robertson. The 20-year-old prospect has 25 goals in his rookie campaign with the Texas Stars and has appeared in three NHL games already.
  • NBC Sports’ Charlie Roumeliotis reports that after missing Friday’s game with a wrist injury on Saturday, Chicago Blackhawks defenseman Adam Boqvist is expected to enter the Blackhawks lineup today against the St. Louis Blues. He fills a gap with rookie Lucas Carlsson out with a concussion.

Bryan Little Out For The Season

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Jets center Bryan Little has been out of the lineup since taking a puck to the head in early November and he’s going to be out for a while yet.  Head coach Paul Maurice told reporters, including Ken Wiebe of The Athletic (Twitter links) that while the veteran has gone through a variety of tests that have yielded some positive results, they are shutting him down for the rest of the season and he will undergo surgery to help repair his perforated eardrum.  The procedure carries a three-month recovery period.

The 32-year-old only played in seven games with Winnipeg this season but was relatively productive in that span, picking up two goals and three assists.  While his days of playing on the top line have come and gone, he has still been a reliable secondary scorer and the Jets were certainly hoping he’d be able to come back down the stretch and give their offense a boost.

Now, it appears that GM Kevin Cheveldayoff will need to turn to the trade market to get that improvement.  While they’re believed to be wary of going after a prominent rental again, they will have plenty of LTIR space to work with as Little and his $5.291MM AAV can be moved onto there while they have enough confirmation regarding suspended defenseman Dustin Byfuglien’s status to spend on a short-term replacement for him.  All of a sudden, Winnipeg could be a team to watch for between now and the trade deadline.

Meanwhile, Maurice provided an update to reporters, including Mitchell Clinton of the Jets’ team website (Twitter link) regarding two of their other injured forwards.  Adam Lowry (upper body) and Mathieu Perreault (upper body) are both listed as week-to-week with the latter likely to return first.  That will likely only increase the need for them to try to add a forward over the next week or so.

Winnipeg Jets Recall Kristian Vesalainen

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After losing Adam Lowry for the next month and on another two-game losing streak, the Winnipeg Jets have recalled one of their top prospects. Kristian Vesalainen will join the club after playing 44 games for the AHL’s Manitoba Moose this season.

Of course, this isn’t the first time Vesalainen will be in the NHL. The first-round pick from 2017 ended up making the club out of camp last season and played five games for the Jets at the beginning of the year. After not having a real spot for him in the NHL however, he eventually used a clause in his contract to go back to the KHL.

That meant Vesalainen played in three different leagues in 2018-19, not the perfect development path for a top prospect. This season has been much different, with all of his games coming at the AHL level. The 20-year old sits third on the Moose in goals with nine and has 22 points so far.

Whether he’ll get a real opportunity at the NHL isn’t clear, but the team does still have two games before the All-Star break. After losing their last two with a combined score of 12-3 they are now 25-20-4 and actually have a negative goal differential.

Jets’ Adam Lowry Out A Minimum Four Weeks

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The Winnipeg Jets have been fortunate enough to avoid major injuries to their core players this season. The only exception has been center Bryan Little, who suffered an upper-body injury in early November and has yet to return to return to game action. However, Little has begun practicing with the team and the timing could not be better. The Jets’ depth down the middle has taken another hit, as center Adam Lowry has sustained an upper-body injury of his own and is expected to miss a significant amount of time. The team believes that he will miss “at least four weeks”, putting a return date some time around late February.

Lowry’s injury occurred in Sunday night’s game against the Chicago Blackhawks, when he took a blindside hit from Drake Caggiula. Caggiula was given a minor penalty for interference, but there is not expected to be any additional response from the league. Lowry got up slowly and went straight to the locker room in obvious pain and did not return. Winnipeg went on to lose 5-2, slipping to 4-5-1 in their past ten games.

Winnipeg was looking forward to Little’s return, as their struggles of late have dropped them out of the playoff picture. Now, even with Little hoping to return soon, the Jets wills till be short-handed with Lowry out. The Athletic’s Murat Ates writes that Andrew Copp will move up to third-line center for the time being, as the team awaits Little’s return and waits out Lowry’s potential month or more absence. Lowry has just ten points on the year, but is invaluable to the team in other ways. He leads the team in hits and is their most skilled face-off man, while skating on the team’s top penalty kill unit. While Copp does many of these same things well, increased ice time for Copp is not going to make up for the loss of Lowry and even Little’s return will not totally make up for his absence. The Jets will continue to have to work hard to stay relevant this season in the wake of this injury news.

Adam Lowry Suspended Two Games

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The Department of Player Safety has decided that Adam Lowry deserves supplementary discipline for his hit on Oliver Kylington during the Heritage Classic on Saturday night. Lowry has been given a two-game suspension for the incident. As the accompanying video explains:

This is boarding. It is important to note that from the moment Kylington collects the puck from behind the net, Lowry sees nothing but his back. While we acknowledge Lowry’s assertion that he anticipated Kylington opening up as he came up ice so that Lowry could deliver a legal check, the onus is on Lowry to adjust course when that does not happen. 

The Calgary Flames defenseman did not suffer a major injury on the play and was back at practice today, but Lowry does still qualify as a repeat offender given he was suspended in March of this year.

It’s been a tough start to the season for Lowry, who is still without a point through the first 12 games. While he has never been a very offensive player, he has contributed consistently over the years even in a limited role. Where his real value lies however is in winning faceoffs, killing penalties and adding a dose of physicality, exactly what got him in trouble this time. The team will have to deal without his presence for a pair of games.

Winnipeg’s Lowry To Have Hearing With Department Of Player Safety

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The Department of Player Safety announced that Winnipeg Jets forward Adam Lowry will have a hearing Monday for boarding Calgary’s Oliver Kylington.

The incident happened in Calgary’s zone at the end of the second period during the Jets’ 2-1 overtime victory at the outdoor Heritage Classic at Mosaic Stadium Saturday evening. Once time expired in the second period, Lowry put his shoulder right into Kylington’s head (video here). The 26-year-old received a two-minute minor for boarding, while Kylington seemed to escape any major injury as he returned and played in the third period.

Lowry has had issues with behavior before. He was suspended two games back in March of 2019 for cross-checking Nashville’s Filip Forsberg. He also received a one-game suspension in his rookie season in 2014 for boarding Buffalo’s Patrick Kaleta.

Pacific Notes: Golden Knights, Oilers, Canucks

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After two years of heavy turnover and maneuvering to get their franchise off to a hot start, it looks like the Vegas Golden Knights will be taking a back seat when free agency opens on July 1. While most people weren’t expecting Vegas to be active this offseason, with their cap room already used up, Ken Boehlke of SinBin.vegas writes that President of Hockey Operations George McPhee admitted the team will be inactive:

Well we’re in pretty good shape with our core group. We have basically everyone signed up and we are close on some other things. So I don’t imagine we’re going to be out looking at free agents this summer. We like the team the way it is and we like the young guys that we have coming along.

What McPhee meant when he said the team was close on some other things could be very interesting, although it could range anywhere from a potential long-term deal with restricted free agent William Karlsson, to potential deals for fellow RFA’s Nikita Gusev, Tomas Nosek, Jimmy Schuldt or veteran UFA Deryk Engelland, or even a trade to free up cap space to sign any of them.

  • The Athletic’s Jonathan Willis (subscription required) looks at the potential compatibility between the Edmonton Oilers and the Winnipeg Jets, wondering if the two teams might be a perfect match for solving each of their problems. The scribe suggests the Jets could use Edmonton to help unload some of their less-significant contracts, such as Mathieu Perreault or Dmitry Kulikov, or if the Jets are more motivated, they could consider sending winger Nikolaj Ehlers, who is coming off a disappointing season, to Edmonton for a package that could include a defenseman such as Darnell Nurse or Andrej Sekera and some of Edmonton’s youth that could help bolster the team’s depth.
  • Allan Mitchell of the Athletic (subscription required) writes that the Oilers are in need of an inexpensive third-line center option, one that can kill penalties, suggesting the team look via the trade market to find that player. He writes that the Oilers should consider trying to pry Montreal Canadiens’ center Phillip Danault, as well as look at Winnipeg’s Adam Lowry, Ottawa’s Jean-Gabriel Pageau, Detroit’s Luke Glendening, or Dallas’ Radek Faksa. The scribe adds that the most likely candidate that Edmonton would be able to steal away could be Pageau.
  • The Vancouver Sun’s Patrick Johnston writes that the Vancouver Canucks should seriously consider trying to convince Toronto Maple Leafs unrestricted free agent Jake Gardiner to sign with them this offseason. While there have been rumors that Toronto wants to unload other contracts in hopes of keeping Gardiner in the fold, Johnston writes that Gardiner would be the perfect puck-carrying defenseman that the team hasn’t had since Alexander Edler was in his prime. However, he wonders whether the U.S.-born blue liner might prefer to avoid playing in Canada after a taking a lot of heat from Toronto fans over the years.

Winnipeg’s Adam Lowry Suspended Two Games

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Winnipeg Jets forward Adam Lowry was suspended by the Department of Player Safety for two games for his high stick against Nashville Predators forward Filip Forsberg on Friday.

The incident happened during 14:35 of the third period after a struggle between the two players on the boards. Forsberg registered a hit against Lowry, who then swung his stick and hit him in the face (video here). Lowry had a hearing earlier today and contended that he did not intend to hit him in the face, the Department of Player Safety made it clear that Lowry’s intent was still to hit him with his stick. He received a two-minute minor for high sticking on the play.

Lowry will have to sit out two important games for the Jets as he’s slated to miss Sunday’s game at Columbus and Tuesday’s game at Tampa Bay. The 25-year-old forward has 185 hits this season as well as eight goals and 17 points. The loss of two games will cost Lowry $31,362 for the two game suspension as he is not considered to be a repeat offender.

Jaden Schwartz Receives Max Fine For Cross-Checking

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Cross-checking is apparently the flavor of the week for the NHL Department of Player Safety. After handing Winnipeg Jets defenseman Ben Chiarot a maximum fine for cross-checking on Monday, they have assigned the same punishment to St. Louis Blues forward Jaden Schwartz, per an announcement. Schwartz will be out $5,000 as a result of his actions, the most he could be fined under the CBA.

The hit in question was on Carolina Hurricanes defenseman Dougie Hamilton in last night’s game between the two teams, a convincing 5-2 Hurricanes win. Late in the first period, Hamilton delivered a hard, but legal check on Schwartz along the boards and Schwartz decided to retaliate with a cross-check up high on Hamilton. The decision cost Schwartz a two-minute minor right away, but has cost him even more in retrospect. It’s another knock against Schwartz in a disappointing season for the 26-year-old winger. Schwartz has just 28 points through 58 games and it could be that his offensive frustration is beginning to boil over into his checking game.

Player Safety might not be done dolling out discipline today. They have also announced that New Jersey Devils forward Kurtis Gabriel will have a hearing this afternoon in regards to a boarding penalty against the Philadelphia Flyers’ Nolan Patrick last night. So too will Winnipeg Jets forward Adam Lowry for what’s being called “high-sticking/slashing” on Nashville Predators forward Filip Forsberg. With the Devils set to face the Boston Bruins tonight, the department will likely act swiftly in their punishment of Gabriel following his hearing, while they can take more time with the Lowry decision as the Jets are off today.

Salary Cap Deep Dive: Winnipeg Jets

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Navigating the Salary Cap is probably one of the more important tasks for any general manager to have. Teams that can avert total cap chaos by walking the tightrope of inking players to deals that match their value (or compensate for future value without breaking the bank) remain successful. Those that don’t see struggles and front office changes.

PHR will look at every NHL team and give a thorough look at their cap situation heading into the 2018-19 season. This will focus more on those players who are integral parts of the roster versus those who may find themselves shuttling between the AHL and NHL. All cap figures are courtesy of CapFriendly.

Winnipeg Jets

Current Cap Hit: $74,274,122 (under the $79.5MM Upper Limit)

Entry-Level Contracts

F Patrik Laine (one year, $925K)
F Kyle Connor (one year, $925K)
F Kristian Vesalainen (three years, $925K)
F Jack Roslovic (two years, $894K)
F Brendan Lemieux (one year, $839K)
D Sami Niku (two years, $775K)

Potential Bonuses:

Laine: $2.65MM
Connor: $850K
Roslovic: $213K
Lemieux: $200K
Niku: $183K

Total: $4.1MM

The Jets were hit hard when many of their entry-level deals expired a year ago and next year won’t be too much different as the team, which is now starting to feel the strain of the salary cap, will have to find a way to hand over a lot of money to Laine, who could receive a long-term deal at an extremely high price. Of course, the 20-year-old is worth that money. The winger scored 36 goals in his rookie campaign and topped that with a 44-goal season last year. If he can reach numbers even close to that, he could be one of the highest players in the league in a year.

Connor should also cost the team a good deal of money as the 21-year-old winger posted 31 goals in his first full NHL season last year and looks to be heading in a similar direction and could also get himself a contract in the $5MM+ range in one season. The team gets another year for Roslovic, who is currently playing in the bottom-six, but don’t be surprised if the 21-year-old center might eventually move into the top-six at some point in the season.

It’s still too early to know where Vesalainen stands, but the highly-touted prospect will get time immediately in a bottom-six role and develop his skills. With three years on his entry-level deal, the team hopes it can get some cheap scoring options from him for a few years.

One Year Remaining, Non-Entry-Level

D Jacob Trouba ($5.5MM, RFA)
D Tyler Myers ($5.5MM, UFA)
D Ben Chiarot ($1.4MM, UFA)
F Brandon Tanev ($1.15MM, UFA)
F Andrew Copp ($1MM, RFA)
D Joseph Morrow ($1MM, RFA)
F Nic Petan ($874K, RFA)
F Marko Dano ($800K, RFA)
G Laurent Brossoit ($650K, RFA)

While the team is deep in forwards, their defense has many long-term questions surrounding them. Two of those players have contracts that will expire at the end of the season. Trouba is the most interesting. Despite holding out several years ago and showing little interest in Winnipeg, it looked like things were improving after Winnipeg enjoyed an impressive season last year that took them to the Western Conference Finals. However, another difficult negotiations that failed to bring in a long-term deal and the team may be forced to move on from Trouba sooner than later. He can be an unrestricted free agent after the 2019-20 season.

Myers is also a candidate for the team to move on from as the veteran is on the final year of a seven-year, $38.5MM deal. While Myers is still a very productive player, the long term deals the team has already signed off on as well as potential deals with Laine and Connor could make him a cap casualty as well. The team has Niku, among others, sitting in the AHL waiting for a spot to open and some could open up at the end of the year.

Two Years Remaining

D Dmitry Kulikov ($4.33MM, UFA)
D Josh Morrissey ($3.15MM, RFA)

The team made a couple of free agent signings last offseason, including bringing in goalie Steve Mason and signing Kulikov. Mason has already been traded away after a disappointing season, while Kulikov has had trouble fitting in as well, even being held out of several playoff games last year. The 27-year-old is barely holding onto his spot as a third-line defender and could find himself fighting for time eventually if he can’t improve his game.

Morrissey is a different story. The partner to Trouba has been a solid defender and has continued to improve his game and will still be a restricted free agent in a few years, giving the team another opportunity to lock him up long-term.

Three Years Remaining

D Dustin Byfuglien ($7.6MM, UFA)
F Mathieu Perreault ($4.13MM, UFA)
F Adam Lowry ($2.92MM, UFA)

Byfuglien is locked up long-term and in many ways is the face of the franchise, who produces both physicality and offense for the team. The 6-foot-5, 260-pound blueliner did just provide eight goals last year, one of the lowest totals of his career, but the 33-year-old still managed to produce 45 points. The team needs the veteran to continue his dominant play for a few years more if the team intends to continue a long-term Western Conference run.

The team also needs Perreault to continue playing solid hockey as one of their best bottom-six forwards. The 30-year-old posted 17 goals last year, one goal shy of his career-high. The 25-year-old Lowry is another player who the team needs to step up for the franchise. He posted 15 goals in 2016-17, but managed to score just eight goals last year in 45 games. However, his passing game showed quite a bit of improvement.

Four Or More Years Remaining

G Connor Hellebuyck ($6.19MM through 2023-24)
F Mark Scheifele ($6.13MM through 2023-24)
F Nikolaj Ehlers ($6MM through 2024-25)
F Blake Wheeler ($5.6MM in 2018-19; $8.25MM through 2023-24)
F Bryan Little ($5.29MM through 2023-24)

The franchise has quite a few blue-chip players already locked up long-term with the most important position, goaltending, looking to be in good shape after the team signed Hellebuyck to a six-year, $37MM deal. The 25-year-old posted an impressive breakout season that saw him post a 2.37 GAA and a .924 save percentage and should be a major positive for the team over the next six years.

The team signed Wheeler, their captain, to a long-term extension this offseason. He will finish out his previous deal at $5.6MM, but will start on a four-year extension at $8.25MM. Wheeler posted 20 goals for the fifth-straight season, but also saw his points total surge as the 32-year-old put up a career-high 91 points last year, way better than his previous career-high of 78 points.

Ehlers signed a seven-year extension at this time last season and the 22-year-old posted a career-high 29 goals last season playing on the other side of Laine and producing one of the team’s most dangerous lines. The team also has Little working as a second-line center, although many believe that he’d be better off with a bottom-six role down the road, which would make him an expensive long-term cost at $5.29MM.

Buyouts

F Mark Stuart ($583K in 2018-19)

Retained Salary Transactions

None

Still To Sign

None

Best Value: Scheifele
Worst Value: Kulikov

(Excluding entry-level contracts)

Looking Ahead

The Winnipeg Jets have done an incredible job so far drafting and developing high-end talent and so far have done an excellent job keeping them in the fold for what the team hopes to be a solid five year run for a Stanley Cup. The team has already locked up many of their top players and while they still have a few more to go, they look well on their way to doing that. The only real question is how general manager Kevin Cheveldayoff handles his defense as he has a pair of major decisions to make within the next year when it comes to dealing with Trouba and Myers.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

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