Poll: Which Free Agent Contract Will Be Regretted The Most?
Two years ago the unrestricted free agent was flooded with aging players who still looked like they might have a few effective seasons left in them. That led teams to get into bidding wars and overpay, hoping that they could inject some production into the lineup while dealing with the consequences later down the line. Unfortunately, most of these contracts blew up immediately and provided very little value.
The biggest contracts given out in the first few days of the 2016 UFA market were as follows:
Milan Lucic (EDM) – Seven years, $42MM
Kyle Okposo (BUF) – Seven years, $42MM
Andrew Ladd (NYI) – Seven years, $38.5MM
Loui Eriksson (VAN) – Six years, $36MM
Frans Nielsen (DET) – Six years, $31.5MM
David Backes (BOS) – Five years, $30MM
Jason Demers (FLA) – Five years, $22.5MM
Troy Brouwer (CGY) – Four years, $18MM
Mikkel Boedker (SJS) – Four years, $16MM
That list is uninspiring to say the least, with two of the players having already been traded and a third who was bought out this offseason. Some of the others are among the worst contracts in the league relative to their production, something that can be said a few seasons out of basically every UFA season. This year may be no different, though there seemed to be more talent available.
Here is a list of the biggest contracts handed out this time around:
John Tavares (TOR) – Seven years, $77MM
James van Riemsdyk (PHI) – Five years, $35MM
James Neal (CGY) – Five years, $28.75MM
Paul Stastny (VGK) – Three years, $19.5MM
Ilya Kovalchuk (LAK) – Three years, $18.75MM
Calvin de Haan (CAR) – Four years, $18.2MM
Jack Johnson (PIT) – Five years, $16.25MM
David Perron (STL) – Four years, $16MM
Tyler Bozak (STL) – Three years, $15MM
While there is an obvious difference at the very top, it does seem like teams were wary to hand out six or seven year contracts to forwards approaching or at 30 years of age. van Riemsdyk and Neal especially would have ranked among the very best available in 2016, and likely would have been able to negotiate seven-year contracts along the lines of Lucic and Okposo. Still, not all of these deals will be looked back upon fondly. Even two years from now teams may be considering trades or buyouts to get out from under the cap hit, or stuck in purgatory hoping for a bounce-back campaign.
Which contract do you think will be regretted the most? Is Tavares’ mega-deal going to bite the Maple Leafs when they need to re-sign their young forward group? Will Kovalchuk bolt for the KHL again and leave the Kings holding his big cap hit? Will van Riemsdyk be able to take on more responsibility in Philadelphia and live up to his big number?
Cast your vote below and explain why you think the contract will be regretted. If you think someone else deserves the title—perhaps an Islanders or Canucks signing?—make sure to leave a comment to include them in the conversation.
Which 2018 UFA contract will be regretted the most?
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Ilya Kovalchuk 24% (1,129)
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Jack Johnson 18% (845)
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John Tavares 17% (815)
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James Neal 13% (606)
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James van Riemsdyk 11% (542)
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Tyler Bozak 6% (289)
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David Perron 6% (278)
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Paul Stastny 4% (187)
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Calvin de Haan 2% (106)
Total votes: 4,797
[Mobile users click here to vote!]
Salary Cap Deep Dive: Vegas Golden Knights
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.
Vegas Golden Knights
Current Cap Hit: $70,812,500 (under the $79.5MM Upper Limit)
Entry-Level Contracts
F Alex Tuch (One year remaining, $925K)
D Zach Whitecloud (Two years remaining, $925K)
Among the many things that went right for Vegas was the play of Tuch, who was a surprise in training camp and quickly earned himself a full-time role. The 6-foot-4, 222-pound winger had an impressive rookie season with the Golden Knights, scoring 15 goals and 37 points with much of his playing time coming with the team’s third line. He only improved over time, showing an ability to get into the corners and extend offensive opportunities for the team. He tallied six goals in the playoffs as well, which allowed the Golden Knights to let go veterans James Neal and David Perron, knowing that the 22-year-old Tuch is ready to take his game to the next level. With one year remaining on his entry-level deal, expect him to become a key restricted free agent for the team next season.
Potential Bonuses
Tuch: $93K
Whitecloud: $93K
Total: $186K
One Year Remaining, Non Entry-Level
F William Karlsson ($5.25MM, RFA)
D Nate Schmidt ($2.23MM, UFA)
F Oscar Lindberg ($1.7MM, UFA)
D Deryk Engelland ($1.5MM, UFA)
F Pierre-Edouard Bellemare ($1.45MM, UFA)
F Tomas Nosek ($963K, RFA)
F Ryan Carpenter ($650K, UFA)
D Brad Hunt ($650K, UFA)
G Malcolm Subban ($650K, RFA)
The most important piece the Vegas Golden Knights need to lock up is Karlsson, who just signed a one-year deal with Vegas Saturday. However, now the team has just one year to lock up Karlsson, the team’s top scorer, to a long-term extension. Less than a year, actually, as the team can’t agree to an extension until Jan. 1, 2019. That gives Vegas time to see how 25-year-old will respond in his second year. After piling up 43 goals last season (and seven more in the playoffs), the team wants to see that he can put up similar numbers before handing him a major deal considering the most he’s ever scored in his NHL career was nine goals.
The team will also have to lock up the speedy Schmidt, as well to a long-term deal at some point. The 27-year-old was a key figure on the Golden Knights defense, posting career highs of five goals and 36 points, but also showed his mettle in the playoffs, putting up another three goals and seven points. He could easily get a similar deal to the one that Miller signed with the team (four years, $15.5MM) earlier in the offseason. With an influx of prospects likely to hitting the team for the 2019-20 season, several veterans will have to prove they deserve new contracts this coming year, including Lindberg, Bellemare, Engelland, Carpenter, Hunt and Subban, although unless someone has a breakout year, none should cost the team too much.
Two Years Remaining
F David Clarkson ($5.25MM, UFA)
F Cody Eakin ($3.85MM, UFA)
F Ryan Reaves ($2.78MM, UFA)
F Erik Haula ($2.75MM, UFA)
D Nick Holden ($2.2MM, UFA)
D Jonathon Merrill ($1.38MM, UFA)
F William Carrier ($725K, RFA)
The team likely will have to pay up if they want to keep Haula. The team’s second-line center may move to the third line now that the team locked up Stastny to a free agent deal. However, if Huala can continue to produce like he did last season, the 27-year-old should be able to fetch a nice contract. He had a career-high in goals last season as he scored 29 and 55 points.
The team should also recoup some of their losses as well in two years as Clarkson’s deal will expire, so that will free up $5.25MM for the team as the team currently has to wait till the start of the season before they can place his contract on LTIR. Others like Eakin and Reaves will likely have to earn another deal over the next two seasons. Both had solid showings for Vegas this year, but will have to prove their consistency. While Reaves deal looks overpaid on paper, the team opted to give him three years worth of money as long as he only signed for two years.
Pacific Notes: Sutter, Karlsson, Talbot, Stone, McPhee
Much of the attention that has come towards the Vancouver Canucks this offseason either fell to their plethora of prospects, many of which seem to be ready to contribute next season, or their highly criticized signings of Jay Beagle, Antoine Roussel and Tim Schaller on the first day of free agency (not including the resignation of Trevor Linden). Regardless, The Athletic’s J.D. Burke (subscription required) writes that forgotten man Brandon Sutter‘s stock is definitely heading up this season.
The 29-year-old forward has provided the Canucks with a physical and defensive presence, but hasn’t been required to show his offensive skills. Suddenly, with scoring becoming a great team need and the addition of players like Beagle, Roussel and Schaller, the opportunity to play a more offensive role is suddenly in front of him.
One suggestion is to have Sutter center the team’s second line with Elias Pettersson playing next to him to start the season. Then once, Pettersson has adjusted to North American play, allow the two to switch places.
- After signing a one-year deal for $5.25MM this morning, Vegas Golden Knights center William Karlsson remained positive about staying in Las Vegas long-term, according to Jesse Granger of the Las Vegas Sun. He hopes he can duplicate the 43-goal season from last year, which should hand him the long-term deal he wants when he goes through restricted free agency again next season. “In an ideal world I would’ve liked a long term deal, but I like to bet on myself and that’s what this is. Now I can go prove myself,” Karlsson said.
- The Edmonton Sun’s Robert Tychkowski interviewed Edmonton Oilers goaltender Cam Talbot about the team’s signing of Mikko Koskinen to a one-year, $2.5MM deal. Koskinen is likely to take a much bigger role than the 15 games that Talbot didn’t play in. That signing likely had something to do with Talbot’s on-ice struggles as he went from a 2.39 GAA and a .919 save percentage in 2016-17 to a 3.02 GAA and a .909 save percentage. However, Talbot welcomes the challenge. “I like the competition,” Talbot said. “I enjoy it. It pushes everyone to be better. Maybe it will take a little bit of the starts away from me and I can be at the top of my game.”
- The Athletic’s Kent Wilson (subscription required) writes that the Calgary Flames made a poor move last offseason when they signed defenseman Michael Stone to a three-year, $10.5MM deal. The veteran defenseman was thought to be a top-four defenseman, but once the team added Travis Hamonic via trade, Stone was sent to the team’s third pairing and truly struggled last year. Now, with $7MM remaining on his deal over the next two years, Stone stands in the way of multiple young defenseman, including Rasmus Andersson. With little trade value, things could get ugly at some point in the next year.
- In another tweet, Granger interviewed Vegas Golden Knights general manager George McPhee about the talent at the forward position. The team added center Paul Stastny, but lost two quality players in James Neal and David Perron. Despite the losses, the team has several in-house candidates like Alex Tuch and Tomas Tatar ready to step up. “I like where we are, but if there’s an opportunity to upgrade at the forward position at any time over the next year we will,” McPhee said.
Vegas Golden Knights Building Winner From Within
The Vegas Golden Knights had an incredible season last year, but with just one offseason between a Stanley Cup Finals appearance, there are many who feel that the Golden Knights fortunes are folding. A recent poll by PHR that asked what NHL playoff team won’t make the playoffs next year has the Vegas Golden Knights receiving the most votes after the team allowed James Neal and David Perron to walk away this offseason. Much of that has to do with Neal’s 25 goals last year, while Perron himself contributed 50 assists in Vegas.
Yet, the Vegas Golden Knights, aside from signing center Paul Stastny to a three-year deal, have made it clear they don’t want to be locked into long-term deals and would prefer to see their young players continue to grow. That’s why the team let Neal go to Calgary for five years and Perron to St. Louis for four. Instead, the team feels they can build from within. The only reason that Vegas didn’t trade Neal and Perron away at the trade deadline is the team decided they would use them as their own rental players, which seemed to have worked as they went to the finals.
While the team probably has to wait another year for their top prospects in Cody Glass, Nick Suzuki, Erik Brannstrom and Nicolas Hague to start paying dividends for the team, the Golden Knights already have two players in place who they know are ready to take that next step as the team expects to move Alex Tuch and Tomas Tatar up to the second line, according to Gary Lawless of NHL.com.
Tuch, who came over in a trade with the Minnesota Wild in an expansion draft deal, played a big role on the team’s third line last year and often got playing time on the second line while Neal and/or Perron were injured. The 22-year-old winger is eight years younger than Neal as well as two inches taller. Tuch posted 15 goals, playing just almost two minutes less than Neal. Tuch’s 37 points was just seven shy of Neal’s totals of 44 points. And Tuch doesn’t have Neals’ injury issues, which kept the veteran out of 11 games last season.
Tatar came over at the trade deadline as the team unloaded a first, second and third-round pick to acquire the 27-year-old winger, but he struggled to adjust to the Golden Knights lineup and found himself a healthy scratch during much of the team’s playoff run and even when he did play, he only saw time on the team’s third line. Regardless, Tatar has proven to be a capable winger, who has tallied 19 goals or more for five straight years. With a full training camp to adjust to the team, it’s extremely likely, he should be able to take a bigger role on Vegas’ second line as well.
Lawless also suggests that fourth-line energizer Tomas Nosek is another candidate to take a larger role next season and could blossom in the right situation. The 25-year-old center has been one of the keys to Vegas’ successful fourth line, but only averaged 11:06 of playing time through the season, posting seven goals. However, his presence is the playoffs suggests he could be ready for an increased role after scoring four goals in 17 games.
Throw in the fact that many of their players are just starting to hit their prime, most of their players should continue to improve and get better.
Central Notes: Tarasenko, Schmaltz, Keith
The St. Louis Blues have done everything they can to retool their team to not only get them back into the playoffs, but make a deep run of it. They went out and acquired Ryan O’Reilly, signed Tyler Bozak, David Perron and Patrick Maroon and have two top prospects on the brink of joining their team in Robert Thomas and Jordan Kyrou.
However while answering mailbag questions, The Athletic’s Jeremy Rutherford (subscription required) suggests that the biggest improvement to the team should come from within as he believes that Vladimir Tarasenko has just scratched the surface of what he’s capable of. The 26-year-old has posted goal totals of 37, 40, 39 and 33 goals over the past four seasons, but he is more than capable of becoming the superstar that many felt he could be when he was drafted in the first round in 2010. Rutherford even compared him to Brett Hull.
However, the scribe says he needs to fix a few things if he wants to take that next step, including playing more relaxed and not let everything around him frustrate him. He also feels that although he’s coming off shoulder surgery this offseason, he needs to get into the best shape of his life and be more engaged on the ice.
- Chicago Blackhawks’ Nick Schmaltz has come a long way since being viewed as a prospect two years ago. Now the team’s second-line center, who many view as the eventual successor to Jonathan Toews on the first line, Schmaltz feels he’s ready to take on a bigger role with the team, according to Mark Lazerus of the Chicago Sun-Times. However, the first thing the 22-year-old must do is improve on his faceoffs. Schmaltz has struggled with faceoffs for two straight years, winning just 31 percent of his faceoffs in his rookie year, while improving to 40 percent this year (321 faceoffs won out of 801). Unfortunately, that number is still not good enough as the team hopes for closer to 50 percent. “I’ve got some stuff that I’m going to continue to work on, especially in the faceoff circle,” Schmaltz said. “If I can continue to get that up, that’ll only help our team game with the puck.”
- John Dietz of the Daily Herald interviewed Duncan Keith at the 11th annual Fan Convention on Friday and Keith, who scored just two goals on 187 shots, was quick to take the blame for the Chicago Blackhawks’ struggles last season that had them missing the playoffs for the first time in 10 years. The 35-year-old defender has averaged 25:13 of ATOI throughout his career, but saw those numbers decline to 23:50 last year and it might drop even further in the future. “I definitely take some of the blame from last year, knowing that there were certain things I could do better,” Keith said. “On the good things, I’ll continue to do that. Other things, I’ll try to work on and be better at.”
Petteri Lindbohm Signs In Switzerland
The St. Louis Blues have done a miraculous job of both adding talent – bringing in Ryan O’Reilly, David Perron, Tyler Bozak, and Patrick Maroon to name a few – and retaining their own restricted free agent assets this off-season. The team has already signed Joel Edmundson, Dmitrij Jaskin, Robby Fabbri, and Oskar Sundqvist to reasonable extensions and had just two RFA’s left to sign. However, one of those players has decided to go elsewhere to continue his hockey career. Defenseman Petteri Lindbohm will not re-up in St. Louis, but instead sign with Lausanne of the Swiss NLA. The team announced the transaction today, making the one-year contract official. The Blues will retain Lindbohm’s NHL rights.
Lindbohm, 24, will likely be missed by some in the Blues organization but not by others. Although the 2012 sixth-round pick out of Helsinki, Finland showed promise, he never could quite put it all together. Both injuries and inconsistency impacted the development of a player some saw as a future top-four defenseman. When healthy, Lindbohm showed a well-rounded two-way game at the AHL level, but never stayed at the minor league level long enough to impress for a whole season. In the NHL, Lindbohm simply struggled to produce when given an opportunity and too often found himself on the wrong side of goals. This past season, Lindbohm did not make an appearance with the Blues for the first time since coming over to North America in 2014, yet he also suited up for only 23 games with the AHL’s Chicago Wolves and posted only three points. He was ruled out for the remainder of the season in early January with a shoulder injury.
The Blues may have been willing to offer Lindbohm a minimum salary two-way deal, or maybe just an AHL contract with the San Antonio Rampage, just to see if Lindbohm could ever string together a whole season of healthy, high-end play, but it seems unlikely that they would have matched the salary and certainly not the type of role that Lindbohm will get with Lausanne. The Swiss club struggled in 2017-18, having to fight off relegation, and will likely throw Lindbohm into a top pair position right away in hopes that his talent can help to jump start the new campaign, especially with the risk that he could be struck by injury at any time. Playing alongside other NHL transplants like Dustin Jeffrey and Joel Vermin, Lindbohm will look not only to improve his own stock, but also prove that he can lead a team to the postseason.
With Lindbohm departing, St. Louis has just defenseman Jordan Schmaltz to sign before they their restricted free agents are all tied up. The Blues are bankrupt for cap space, looking at just a $285K margin right now per CapFriendly, but the team won’t carry 15 forwards as projected and the demotion of a Jordan Nolan or Chris Thorburn should be enough to fit Schmaltz in under the cap for the coming season.
Central Notes: Blackhawks, Toews, Kyrou, Makar
For a rare change of pace, the Chicago Blackhawks prospect camp was dominated by the team’s defensive prospects, which included several big names including 2018 first-round pick Adam Boqvist. The Athletic’s Scott Powers (subscription required), who posts his 20 takeaways from development camp, writes the most important fact is that of all their blueline talent, four of those players have the potential to develop into top-four talent, including Boqvist, 2017 first-rounder Henri Jokiharju. 2018 first-rounder Nicolas Beaudin and 2017 second-rounder Ian Mitchell.
That’s a big improvement for a club that hasn’t produced a top-four defenseman since they drafted Niklas Hjalmarsson back in 2005. The team has had multiple failures when drafting defenseman in the first two rounds since then or have traded them in deals to improve their NHL club instead, including Simon Danis-Pepin (2nd-2006), Akim Aliu (2nd-2007), Dylan Olsen (1st-2009), Justin Holl (2nd-2010), Stephen Johns (2nd-2010), Adam Clendening (2nd-2011), Dillon Fournier (2nd-2012) and Carl Dahlstrom (2nd-2013).
- NHL.com’s Tracey Myers writes that Chicago Blackhawks captain Jonathan Toews hit the ice for the second time this offseason last week and said he is working on little parts of his game to improve after a slightly down season last year that saw the Blackhawks miss the playoffs. While his 20 goals and 52 points were solid, his progression has shrunk in each of the last two seasons. “I think the biggest thing is just feeling good and getting back to feeling strong and fast,” Toews said. “As I’ve mentioned a few times, it’s just getting rid of old injuries and just feeling healthy again. I’m kind of taking advantage to work in that area.”
- In a mailbag series, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch’s Jeff Gordon writes that top prospect Jordan Kyrou, who has finished up his junior career, will have a tough time earning a spot in the St. Louis Blues’ rotation next season after the team went out and acquired David Perron, Tyler Bozak, Patrick Maroon as well as the potential return of Robby Fabbri from injury. With the exception of an amazing training camp, Kyrou is likely to start the season with the team’s AHL affiliate. Kyrou, who posted 39 goals and 109 points with the OHL’s Sarnia Sting last season, should be ready contribute soon as injuries at some point will likely allow the team to give Kyrou some time with the NHL club.
- Rick Sadowski of NHL.com writes that Colorado Avalanche defenseman Cale Makar believes he needs more time in college before he is ready to step into the NHL. Makar, the Avalanche’s 2017 first-round pick (fourth overall), struggled out of the gate at the University of Massachussetts – Amherst, but started to pick it up in the second half of the season and improved even more after a stint at the World Junior Championship. “I had very high expectations going into my first NCAA season,” said Makar. “I’m very tough on myself. I think I’m my biggest critic. I want to work on my consistency. I struggled with that a little bit last year.”
Central Notes: Maroon, Predators, Kruger
The St. Louis Blues had one of the best offseasons in the league when they managed to acquire Ryan O’Reilly, Tyler Bozak, David Perron with in the first few days of the start of free agency. The fact they were able to add those players without mortgaging their future prospects, make their offseason that much more successful. However, when the team signed winger Patrick Maroon to a one-year, $1.75MM deal, the team really looked at their offseason as a roaring success.
Maroon, who opted to give up both money and term so he could sign with his home-town Blues, could easily have gotten both elsewhere. Maroon, who made $2MM last year, has scored 44 goals in the past two years, making the 6-foot-3 physical forward an excellent, inexpensive addition. However, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch’s Jeff Gordon writes don’t be surprised if Maroon gets an extension before the 2018-19 season ends. It’s likely the team will give him that deserved money and term when the team’s salary cap situation improves next season.
A lot of that will depend on how Maroon plays next season. The 30-year-old will likely find himself on the team’s third line, which could prove challenging to put up big numbers in. However, with his experience and ability to play along with top-line talent like he did alongside Connor McDavid in Edmonton, Maroon could easily find himself in a top-six role if injuries develop or lines don’t produce like the team hopes.
- In a mailbag segment, the Tennessean’s Adam Vingan writes that he wonders whether the Nashville Predators insistence on not including no-movement clauses is what’s hurting the team from signing top free agents to their team. In fact, the scribe wonders whether the team can keep that policy up when it comes to re-signing defenseman Ryan Ellis. The problem with refusing to include no-movement clauses into contracts is that players will often take less money to stay with the Predators due to the lack of a state tax in Tennessee. However, the issue that many players have is that if the team trades them and the player then doesn’t receive the tax benefits. Only goaltender Pekka Rinne has a no-movement clause.
- Mark Lazerus of The Chicago Sun-Times writes that despite the team lack of success when bringing back former Stanley Cup Champions to their lineup, the acquisition of Marcus Kruger is a minimal risk. The veteran forward, who was acquired in the Marian Hossa deal with the Arizona Coyotes, is in the last year of a three-year, $9.25MM deal in which he will only cost them $2.775MM against the cap. The forward struggled in Carolina last year, posting just six points in 48 games and played some time in the AHL as well. However, it turns out he played most of the season with a sports hernia injury. At just 28 years of age, the team should be thrilled if they can get some quality minutes out of him on the team’s fourth line.
St. Louis Blues Expected To Sign Patrick Maroon
Monday: Despite a source telling Rutherford that Maroon would sign in St. Louis, several teams remain in the mix for the power winger. His agent, Ben Hankinson, told Rutherford last night that the Blues are a “strong option” while Andy Strickland of Fox Sports reports that the Arizona Coyotes and New Jersey Devils had shown interest. Lou Korac of NHL.com though has heard that a one-year deal worth $1.7MM with the Blues has been agreed to, and the two sides will negotiate an extension in January.
Sunday: Just two days ago, The Athletic’s Jeremy Rutherford reported that the St. Louis Blues were interested in local product and one of the top unsigned free agents, Patrick Maroon. Now, Rutherford has confirmed his speculation, writing that the big winger will indeed return home to St. Louis and sign with the Blues. Rutherford hears from a source that this is a done deal that could be announced as early as this afternoon, but no details on the salary or term agreed upon have been revealed as of yet.
Maroon, 30, is coming off a career year in which he recorded a career-high 43 points in 74 games split between the Edmonton Oilers and New Jersey Devils. In 2016-17, he also recorded a career-high 27 goals and was one of the team’s top scorers in the postseason. If Rick Nash is indeed set on retirement, or at least taking time off from hockey, Maroon was the top available player on PHR’s Top 50 Free Agents list at No. 12.
Despite rumors that Maroon was interested in a return to either Edmonton or New Jersey, the St. Louis native emerged early as a target of the Blues. However, St. Louis has been busy this off-season, signing David Perron, Tyler Bozak, and Chad Johnson, not to mention several of their own restricted free agents, and then trading for Ryan O’Reilly. Accounting for their official moves to date, the Blues have little more than $5MM in cap space and still need to sign RFA defensemen Joel Edmundson and Jordan Schmaltz to new contracts. As such, many felt that the pairing of Maroon and St. Louis was no longer feasible. Yet, Rutherford reports that the Blues put the “full-court press” on Maroon in recent days, including meeting with him in person and having several members of the team call and convince him to join. It seems that GM Doug Armstrong and the Blues’ front office have a plan for working around St. Louis’ cap crunch.
Maroon is currently rehabbing from off-season back surgery, but is expected to be at full strength for the start of the season. A healthy Maroon is a major boost for St. Louis, even after adding several other impact pieces up front. The 6’3″, 225-lb. forward plays a physical game and is strong on the puck, something that the Blues lacked at times last year. He also adds significantly to their depth at left wing and has a finishing ability that should pair well with many play-makers on the Blues’ offense. While the salary terms will further clarify just how good of a signing this is, it stands to reason that Maroon – who made only $2MM per year on his last contract – is not earning so much as to make the Blues’ salary cap situation irreparable, meaning that he could be a great value for the team moving forward.
Snapshots: Hossa, Zadina, Brassard
The Chicago Blackhawks have been quieter than usual this offseason and one reason that has been the case is that while it has some cap room to work with, the team didn’t have enough to make a major splash in free agency. The team had been linked at one time or another to players such as James van Riemsdyk, James Neal and David Perron, but were unable to work out a deal and a lot of that has to do with cap space. With its minor moves made after free agency began when the team inked Chris Kunitz, Cam Ward and Brandon Manning, the team only has just over $2MM to work with.
That’s where the contract of Marian Hossa comes in. His contract of $5.275MM is still stuck on the books for yet another offseason until the team can put it on LTIR to free up the money at the start of the NHL season. That’s what Chicago did last season, using that money to sign defenseman Cody Franson and using it on shuttling AHL talent back and forth all season. However, that didn’t work, according to The Athletic’s Scott Powers.
The general belief was the team wasn’t going to make the same mistake twice and would attempt to deal the bloated contract to a team that needs the contract to get them to the cap floor. However, there haven’t been any takers as teams want an asset in return for them to take on the 39-year-old’s contract, which the Blackhawks don’t want to do. They were burned back in 2016 when they threw in Teuvo Teravainen to Carolina to get the Hurricanes to take Bryan Bickell‘s final year of his contract off their books. Teravainen put up 64 points this season.
One way or another, especially if the team still has plans to make a big offseason move, is to find a way to get Hossa and his contract permanently off their books, even if they have to give up a prospect.
- With questions surrounding where prized 2018 first-rounder Filip Zadina may end up if he doesn’t make the Detroit Red Wings NHL lineup next season has been up for debate as there are rumors that the sixth-overall pick does not have to return to his junior team next season and could be eligible to jump right to the AHL. However, regardless on how the NHL decides that case, NBC Sports James O’Brien writes that it shouldn’t even matter. He writes that the team shouldn’t want Zadina to make the team next season as the team’s main focus should be to garner another high-end lottery pick next season to complete their rebuild. A 25-goal season by the flashy winger, who many had pegged as the No. 3 pick in the draft, could vault the team to that unenviable position of not being good enough to make the playoffs, but not being bad enough to get an elite prospect either. O’Brien hopes that the addition of free agent Thomas Vanek might help force Zadina to get much needed development time in the minors, no matter where he ends up.
- Paul Zeise of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette writes that while he envisions the Pittsburgh Penguins keeping Phil Kessel, who has been rumored to be moved out for much of the offseason, he could see the team move on from trade deadline acquisition Derick Brassard. The team suddenly has five centers and of them all Brassard is the most expendable. He has one year remaining on his deal at $3MM, but struggled to produce once he got to Pittsburgh, especially in the playoffs, posting just four points in 12 playoff games.