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Dustin Brown

Los Angeles Could Be Trading Partner For Vegas

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The Vegas Golden Knights have been open with the fact that they expect to acquire more picks as the NHL Entry Draft approaches, and Pierre LeBrun of TSN previously reported that he’d heard talk of a first-round pick in the discussions. Today on TSN radio, Gord Miller expanded on that idea by saying that Los Angeles is a likely partner for the Golden Knights. The Kings would send Dustin Brown to Vegas along with a first-round pick just to rid themselves of his contract. Dustin Brown

While it likely is just speculation from Miller, the idea that Brown is a perfect candidate for banishment to Vegas is not new. The Kings have two huge problems on their roster with Brown and Marian Gaborik, who combine for $10.75MM per year for the next four seasons. They both are obviously on the downside of their careers, with Gaborik only scoring 21 points this season. The Kings tried to move him at the deadline, but couldn’t find a palatable deal. Brown has some leverage on this front as his partial no-trade clause allows a deal to only eight teams that he specifies, making it even harder to move him.

Buyouts are options for the Kings, but with Gaborik rehabbing from surgery GM Rob Blake has already announced he won’t use that option with the 34-year old sniper. Obviously they’d rather move Brown out in a trade than a buyout but a first-round pick is a hefty price to pay especially when it comes at #11 this season. The Kings want to compete next season, and moving Brown or Gaborik would help their offseason, but they need to keep an eye on the future as well and make sure that it doesn’t cost too much to fix the mistakes of the previous regime.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images

Pacific Notes: Sekera, Kings, Stoner, Vatanen, Montour

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After an up-and-down first season in Edmonton, Oilers defenseman Andrej Sekera has played a significant role in their turnaround this year, suggests Jim Matheson of the Edmonton Journal.  Signed to a six year, $33MM contract in the summer of 2015, he was asked to carry too much of the load last season but with the additions of Adam Larsson and Kris Russell this past offseason, their ‘by-committee’ approach to the back end is working a lot better.  While Sekera isn’t a prototypical number one defender, head coach Todd McLellan doesn’t hesitate to call him Edmonton’s best:

“He’s our No. 1. He’s playing his game in our system and when players do that they don’t over-extend themselves. He’s healthy and a year in and he understands what the organization is about. He has more experience with our team, not just experience in the league. He knows language and situations better. He’s playing to his strengths in our structure.”

On top of the extra familiarity with this being his second season with the team, Sekera’s offensive game has taken a step forward as of late.  He has 12 points in his last 13 games and is more than halfway towards besting his 2015-16 point total (30).

While most top teams have a franchise blueliner, the Oilers are trying to buck the trend and succeed with a group that’s greater than the sum of its parts.  With Edmonton sitting second in the division coming out of the holiday break, it’s safe to say that their blueline strategy is working so far.

More from the Pacific:

  • In an effort to try to spark their offense, the Kings are reuniting a veteran trio that played a key role in their Stanley Cup victory back in 2014, notes Helene Elliott of the LA Times. Head coach Darryl Sutter has put Marian Gaborik alongside Anze Kopitar and Dustin Brown in what could be called a line of underachievers.  The trio has combined for just eight goals so far this season over 73 games, not the type of production Los Angeles was expecting from three players that cost over $20MM on the salary cap, accounting for more than half their total spending on forwards as their roster currently stands.
  • Anaheim defenseman Clayton Stoner underwent surgery on December 21st and will miss four to six weeks, Ducks coach Randy Carlyle told reporters, including Elliott Teaford of the Southern California News Group (Twitter link). Curtis Zupke of the LA Times adds via Twitter that the procedure was performed around the abdominal area.  Stoner has been out of the lineup since mid-November and has played in just 14 games this season, recording three points (1-2-3) while adding 35 hits.  The 31 year old cleared waivers (in large part due to his $3.25MM cap hit) back in early October but remained with the big club.
  • The Ducks announced that they have recalled defenseman Brandon Montour from their AHL affiliate in San Diego. He has been added because fellow blueliner Sami Vatanen has the flu and did not travel with the team to Calgary today.  Montour has 21 points in 25 minor league games this season and leads the AHL in shots on goal with 113.

Pacific Division Notes: Brown, Gaborik, Bieksa

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Former Los Angeles Kings team captain Dustin Brown was scratched from this afternoon’s road contest in Boston. According to Jon Rosen of L.A. Kings Insider, Brown is battling an upper-body injury and is listed as day-to-day.

Brown, who was stripped of the captaincy and replaced by Anze Kopitar this last summer, has had a moderate bounce-back campaign after the worst season of his career in 2015-16. Through 30 games Brown has contributed 14 points to the Kings attack and he’s already halfway to his points total from last year when he tallied 28 in 82 games. He is a five-time 20-goal scorer and netted 18 in the strike-shortened 2012-13 season.

With the expansion lurking around the corner, it’s been wondered whether the Vegas Golden Knights would gamble and take Brown, who is almost assuredly going to be left exposed by the Kings. While he is still capable of playing a physical role on a team’s third-line and obviously would provide the new franchise with veteran leadship, Brown has another five seasons left on his pact with an AAV of $5.875MM. Some have suggested the price tag would simply be too high for Vegas but if the Kings were willing to retain salary then it’s at least feasible the two sides could work out a trade following the expansion draft.

Elsewhere in the Pacific Division on this Sunday:

  • Rosen also pointed out that it appeared right wing Marian Gaborik would be a healthy scratch today for the Kings based on what he saw at this morning’s warm-ups. That premise was confirmed by Helene Elliott of the Los Angeles Times (Twitter link). Gaborik, who has been prone to injuries throughout his career, has missed all but nine games this season after hurting his foot while representing Team Europe in the recent World Cup of Hockey. He has potted just a single goal to go along with three helpers in those nine appearances and it could be that Kings head coach Darryl Sutter is growing impatient waiting for the Slovakian sniper to find his offensive game. Gaboriak is averaging just 14:28 of ice time per game, a rate that is 3 1/2 minutes below his career average. Like Brown, Gaborik is in the midst of an expensive, long-term contract that has four seasons remaining beyond 2016-17, and comes with a cap charge of $4.875MM.
  • Kevin Bieksa has spent the vast majority of his 11-year career as a reliable, two-way top-four blue liner. Now in his second season with Anaheim, the 35-year-old Bieksa is averaging less than 20 minutes of ice time per game for the first time since his 39-game debut campaign in 2005-06 while with Vancouver. As Eric Stephens of The Orange County Register writes, Bieksa is not only adjusting to a lesser role but he is adapting his playing style to mask the fact he is no longer a player in his prime. Ducks head coach Randy Carlyle has encouraged the veteran blue liner to embrace the adjustments: “I think every player has to become somewhat of a chameleon,” Carlyle said. “You have to change with the game and what’s going on with it. I coached Kevin Bieksa when he was in his first year pro out of college. He was not a player, I can tell you, that many people would have believed was going to be an NHL prospect. He worked and he committed. “His personality is one that he’s a striver. And he’s done that and he’s done very well. He’s had a great career. … There’s never ever been a doubt that this guy’s not going to try. He’s going to give you everything he’s got.” As Stephens noted, Bieksa has played less than 15 minutes in each of the team’s last two contests and is skating on the third-pair. Bieksa understands the situation he is in, and as always is willing to whatever it takes to help his team: “To be a good teammate, sometimes you have to take a role that maybe you don’t like,” he said. “But if that’s what they think is in the best interests of the team, you take it, accept it and you do the best that you can.” With a plethora of NHL-caliber defenders in the organization and little cap space available to upgrade the roster elsewhere at the deadline, there have been some suggestions the team could look to move Bieksa, who has one year left at $4MM, to create added flexibility. He does possess a NMC, which adds a further layer of complexity to making a deal beyond his salary and age, however.

Snapshots: Kings, Hunlack, Bogosian

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In his latest column, ESPN Insider Pierre LeBrun takes a look at the Los Angeles Kings roster and suggest strategies for the upcoming expansion draft. LeBrun boils the issue down to two names: Brayden McNabb and Dustin Brown. If the team wishes to protect McNabb, they’ll have to go the “eight skaters” option, since Drew Doughty, Jake Muzzin and Alec Martinez will undoubtedly need protection. If they do, they put at risk some of their big names up front, including former captain Dustin Brown. While Brown is coming off the worst year of his career, he’s turned it around a bit this season and may be an interesting option for the Vegas team to bring in a veteran forward who could immediately become their first captain.

On the other hand, if they choose to leave McNabb exposed he may not necessarily be the selection since he only has one year remaining before becoming a highly sought after free agent in 2018. At 27, the shutdown defender would have teams lining up to bring him into the fold, and he’ll be looking for a substantial raise from the $1.8MM he’ll make next season.  For the Kings, just like every other team, the expansion draft will be a game of chicken with George McPhee and the Vegas front office.

  • In Toronto, a nickname has surfaced for the veteran third pairing of Matt Hunwick and Roman Polak; “Hunlack”, as many fans refer to the duo has been chided incessantly by the analytics community for their constant struggle with possession metrics. While the two rank terribly in terms of Corsi and Fenwick, head coach Mike Babcock dismisses the notion that they’re unplayable. When asked by Chris Johnston of Sportsnet what makes up a good game for them, Babcock replied “There’s a bunch of ways to look at the game. So Corsi’s one, maybe. But who turns the video on and rewinds to see if those shots actually hit the net or not? Because our math and theirs don’t add up. So what I do is I say: ’Did the puck go in or did they get scoring chances against?'” While the metrics available to the public don’t necessarily share Babcock’s assesment of the pairing, he does seem to imply that the Maple Leafs’ internal numbers don’t match up exactly.  Perhaps even though ’Hunlack’ doesn’t generate shots like Toronto’s other pairings, they can be effective in other ways – or maybe it’s just talking them up for the trade deadline.
  • For Buffalo, their season-long struggle with injuries is starting to see an end. After Jack Eichel has rejoined the team and shown why he shouldn’t be forgotten as last season’s second-overall pick, the team got more good news today. Zach Bogosian, out since the beginning of November with a knee injury, took full part in today’s practice and should be back before long. Now they just have to figure out a way to motivate Zemgus Girgensons and Evander Kane, both of whom will skate on the fourth line tonight against the Los Angeles Kings.

Custance’s Latest: Teams Hurt By Cap Recapture Rules

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In the salary cap era, there is nothing worse than a bloated contract, especially one susceptible to the cap recapture rules. ESPN’s Craig Custance listed a number of teams who suffer from such a fate, and explains as such:

For some teams, that pain has arrived. And it could be worse than originally projected because of cap recapture rules since put in place in the new CBA to punish teams if the player retires early or the contract is traded.

“Teams that did those contracts essentially embarrassed Gary [Bettman]. We found a way to circumvent the CBA legally,” said one executive. “He was incensed, and said ’I’m going to get you back.’ Which he did.”

Now because of decisions made years ago, in the name of winning it all or rewarding players who helped make it happen, there are a group of teams that have legacy costs built into their current salary cap structure.

Two teams who managed to stay in good shape contract wise–while contending– are the Boston Bruins and Pittsburgh Penguins, with the Pens not having any legacy costs. But the teams below, according to Custance, are the ones who suffered from the wrath of Bettman.

  • Los Angeles Kings

Dustin Brown, Marian Gaborik, and Matt Greene are the contracts that have the Kings on the hook for awhile. Along with Mike Richards’ cap recapture hit of $1.32MM, the Kings have a legacy cost of $8.545MM. Though they won two Stanley Cups since 2012, the cost may have hurt them in terms of losing Milan Lucic and Justin Williams due to a lack of cap room.

  • Chicago Blackhawks

Sure, they’ve won three Cups since 2010, but the Marian Hossa deal will eventually be a “real headache” since it still has four years left. Further, Custance writes that the Hawks could be in for real trouble by the 2019-20 season when the core of the Hawks, namely Jonathan Toews, Patrick Kane, Brent Seabrook, and Corey Crawford are all into their 30’s and saddling the payroll with a combined $40MM.

  • Detroit Red Wings

General manager Ken Holland anchored the team with a number of long term, and expensive contracts. Custance’s list doesn’t include the new deals that include a 32-year-old Frans Nielsen, Justin Abdelkader, and Darren Helm. Henrik Zetterberg, Niklas Kronwall, Jonathan Ericsson, Jimmy Howard, and Johan Franzen combine for a legacy cost of $9.34MM. Custance believes the Wings could get out of the Howard contract by trade, but Kronwall and Zetterberg’s deals will cripple the Wings for years to come, especially as their play declines. The legacy cost for Detroit: $9.34MM.

  • Vancouver Canucks

The Canucks have a few big contracts, namely the Sedin twins, Alex Burrows, Alexander Edler and Roberto Luongo ($800K retained). Custance notes that while he would take the Sedins on his team any day, their decline is certainly happening.

 

Pacific Division Snapshots: Brown, Strome, Russell

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Dustin Brown spent eight seasons as the captain of the Los Angeles Kings, helping the team to two Stanley Cup championships during that time. He scored 54 points in 2011-12, the fifth consecutive campaign of at least 22 goals and 53 points, but since has seen his performance decline. Brown did tally 18 goals during the strike-shortened 2012-13 season but in the three full seasons since he’s averaged just 0.35 points-per-game. That performance regression in part prompted the Kings to remove the “C” from Brown’s sweater in order to give it to Anze Kopitar.

The Kings did look to move Brown this summer but with six seasons remaining on a contract that calls for an AAV of just shy of $6MM, there wasn’t much interest. Brown was critical of the decision, particularly in how the situation was handled, but the 13-year veteran has handled his business like a pro this season. In fact, as Josh Cooper of Yahoo writes, not having the responsibilities of the position any longer allows Brown to focus on playing hockey and his play has improved this season as a result.

“I’m not taking the game home with me, which in years past was a difficult thing not to do, partly because I … just as a competitor you want to take everything personally. Now I’m kind of detached a little bit from it, which is a good thing. So I get to come to work every day and do my job. It has been much easier to leave it here, which has been much healthier.”

Brown has six points in 20 games, a per-game average of 0.45. That prorates to a full, 82-game total of about 37 points. Brown has been part of an effective third line with Devin Setoguchi and Nic Dowd and for the first time in a long while he says he is enjoying the game:

“This is probably the first time I’ve had fun playing hockey in a couple of years. I know in saying that we play a game for a living. But I always say no matter if you’re playing a game or whatever you’re doing in life if you’re not having fun it’s tough to do.”

Even with the uptick in production it’s unlikely Brown will ever again be worth his cap charge. But the Kings must nonetheless be pleased to see even a moderate improvement from their former captain.

Elsewhere in the Pacific Division:

  • Dylan Strome has tons of skill and plenty of hockey instincts. But Arizona GM John Chayka and team bench boss Dave Tippett believe the one thing holding him back at this point in his young career is a lack of physical maturity, as Craig Morgan of Arizona Sports writes. Strome was recently returned to the Erie Otters of the OHL after a seven game spin at the NHL level. He tallied just a single assist and was a minus-5 while averaging 13:41 of ice time per game. Strome’s struggles represent one of the issues regarding Canadian junior players. His development won’t be helped by returning to the OHL as he’s simply too good for that level. But as we’ve seen, he isn’t physically ready for the challenges of the NHL and he can’t be sent to the AHL to play against other professionals due to the rules in place. However, as Morgan notes, Strome will be eligible to represent Canada at the upcoming Word Juniors, which as Chayka points out, will allow him to serve as a leader on the Canadian squad: “I think that’s important to be in Canada for him,” Chayka said. “He should be a big part of that team; a big part of that leadership group.”
  • Kris Russell has his critics as a player, particularly among the analytical community. Yet the Edmonton Oilers, who signed the veteran defender late in the offseason, are pleased with what he has brought to the table, as Robert Tychkowski of the Edmonton Journal writes. The numbers that matter most to the Oilers is the team’s won-loss record when he is in the lineup versus when he is out. Edmonton is 9 – 3 – 1 with Russell playing and just 2 – 5 – 0 when he does not play. While he isn’t putting up big counting numbers, in the opinion of bench boss Todd McLellan, Russell has helped add stability to a unit that has been below-average over the last several seasons: “I don’t think it’s coincidence. I think he does bring enough stability back there that he has an impact on the outcome of games.” Russell had to wait through the summer before landing a deal with Edmonton but if he continues to impress Oilers management, the team could look to lock up the 10-year vet before he hits the free agency next July.

Devin Setoguchi Close To Deal With Los Angeles

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It looks like Devin Setoguchi will find another chance this season in the NHL. After an excellent camp, Jon Rosen of FOX Sports West reports that the two sides are working out a contract to be signed in time for the start of the season.

After being invited on a professional tryout, Setoguchi has been skating with Anze Kopitar and Dustin Brown and apparently has done enough to deserve a deal. The former San Jose Shark has had a turbulent career thus far, with a battle against alcohol being his biggest challenge. Earlier this year we reported on the tell-all interview that David Pollack of the Hockey News published, which revealed specifics of the forward’s troubled history with addiction.

Now, he’ll look to get a career back on track that was once quite promising. Setoguchi, who is still only 29, scored 31 goals in 2008-09 and looked like a legitimate top line sniper. Since his last 20 goal season in 2010-11, he’s played for six different professional teams including on in Switzerland. He hasn’t been able to stay healthy or effective, but perhaps Darryl Sutter and the Kings can pull some of that goal scoring ability back out of him.

Potential 2016-17 Impact Rookies: Puljujarvi, Kempe, Goldobin, Tkachuk

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It’s rare for players to debut in the NHL and make a significant impact for their teams in the same year they are drafted. In 2015-16, just three players selected in the prior June’s draft – Connor McDavid, Jack Eichel and Noah Hanifin – appeared in more than 18 NHL contests as rookies. However, we could see as many as five 2016 draftees all earn regular shifts with their clubs during the 2016-17 season, two of whom appear in this post.

Jesse Puljujarvi (Edmonton) – Expected to go in the top-three of the draft, Puljujarvi surprisingly dropped to #4 after Columbus elected to take C Pierre-Luc Dubois at #3 instead of the Finnish winger. Edmonton happily grabbed Puljujarvi with their choice and this stroke of good fortune may have played a role in the June 29th trade of Taylor Hall to New Jersey for Adam Larsson. Having Puljujarvi in the fold provided Oilers GM Peter Chiarelli the knowledge he had enough depth on the wings to cash in a player of Hall’s caliber to address their weakness on the blue line.

Puljujarvi combines NHL size at 6-foot-3 and 203 pounds with excellent skating ability. He starred for the Finns helping his home country win the gold medal in the World Junior Championships. He also captured the tourney’s MVP award and finished tops among all participants in both assists (12) and points (17).

The Oilers already have one of the top young superstars in the game in MacDavid and saw 2014 first-round pick Leon Draisaitl bust out with a 51-point campaign in 2016-17. Joining that dangerous duo up front is former top overall selection Ryan Nugent-Hopkins. Edmonton boasts plenty of talented high-end forwards which virtually assures Puljujarvi will have a chance to skate with some good players. Don’t be surprised if he ends up as a Calder Trophy finalist and the leading scorer among all 2016 draftees.

Adrian Kempe (Los Angeles) – After losing forwards Milan Lucic and Kris Versteeg to free agency and with Dustin Brown’s offense regressing to a level where he has no business in the top-nine, the Kings could turn to Kempe to provide additional scoring. Kempe, the team’s first-round choice in 2014, already has 55 games of pro experience in North America after suiting up this past season for the Kings AHL affiliate, the Ontario Reign. The Swedish winger tallied 11 goals and recorded 28 points during the regular season and another four goals and five points in 13 postseason contests.

Since Kempe doesn’t turn 20 until later this month and given he didn’t exactly dominate at the AHL level, it wouldn’t be a bad idea if the Kings sent him back to Ontario to start the 2016-17 campaign and get some more seasoning. But with Kyle Clifford (nine points in 56 games) and Brown (28 points in 82 games) currently expected to hold top-nine spots, according to Roster Resource, Los Angeles might decide they need to inject more offense into the lineup and Kempe could be the source of that offense.

Nikolay Goldobin (San Jose) – The Sharks addressed any need they may have had for a scoring line LW by signing Mikkel Boedker as a free agent this summer. With Tomas Hertl and Patrick Marleau also listed as LW’s on the team’s depth chart, it’s likely the highly skilled Goldobin begins the season with the San Jose Barracudas of the AHL to gain more experience. But in the event of injury, Goldobin could be among the team’s first choices for a promotion to the big club.

Goldobin is said to have an excellent shot and release and is a creative offensive player. He can use some work on his defensive game, as do many young players, which is another reason he might find himself in the AHL to start the 2016-17 campaign. But with Marleau entering the final year of his contract, Goldobin is in line to land a job with the Sharks soon enough; perhaps as early as this year.

Matthew Tkachuk (Calgary) – The Flames already possess several skilled young players, but as mentioned in an earlier installment of this series, if they do have an opening it would be for a scoring line LW with size. Hunter Shinkaruk might get the first crack to fill that role though he doesn’t possess the size the Flames would seem to need. If Shinkaruk isn’t ready for regular NHL action, Tkachuk could be an option for Calgary up front.

Tkachuk, the son of former NHL power forward Keith Tkachuk, was drafted by the Flames with the sixth overall selection of the 2016 draft following an impressive 107-point season with the London Knights of the OHL. While his dad was noted for playing a physical game (2,219 PIM in 1,201 NHL games), as well as being a terrific goal scorer, Matthew is more of a complete, two-way player who is also a good skater with high-end offensive instincts. He helped Team USA to a bronze medal at the 2016 WJC U20 tournament, tallying 11 points in seven contests.

Tkachuk might be better off returning to junior to gain more experience. He will certainly have to prove to the Flames that he is truly ready to play at the NHL level but he has the talent and the skill to provide some offense if he earns a role in Calgary.

 

 

Snapshots: Kings, Whitney, Lockout

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Adam Gretz wrote a piece today on Pro Hockey Talk that opines Dustin Brown has endured one of the biggest falls-from-grace in the NHL, and is now under huge pressure to perform for the Los Angeles Kings this season. Brown was once a feared power forward in the league, capable on any shift of contributing with a bone-crushing hit or a beautiful goal. Now, he’s a bottom-sixer who, while still contributing positively to the Kings’ dominant possession game, is vastly under-performing his contract that sits at a $5.875MM AAV. Brown was stripped of the captaincy, which will now belong to Anze Kopitar, the Kings’ superstar centerman.

  • Former NHL star Ray Whitney is at the Olympics for the first time in his career, but it’s not as a hockey player.  The 22-year veteran is caddying for Canadian golfer Graham DeLaet, who shot a -3 in his first round at the tournament. DeLaet was one of the first through the course this morning, and spoke about his caddy: “He’s a great player in his own right. I think it’ll be great to have Ray there, he was telling me he thinks he’d be on four olympic (hockey) teams if he’d been born in any other country.” It’s true, Whitney was a great player; his 1064 points rank him 64th all-time, while his 385 goals put him just outside the top-100.
  • Hannah Stuart of Today’s Slapshot penned an article examining just what might trigger the next NHL lockout. She argues that by signing contracts that protect them from a work-stoppage – those that have exorbitantly large signing bonuses – they’ve essentially ensured that a stoppage will eventually happen, if only to correct this loophole. Both sides (the NHL and NHLPA) can choose to opt out of the current CBA in September of 2019.

Free Agent Profile: Brandon Pirri

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Now that Shane Doan is officially off the market – although no one really expected the veteran winger to leave the desert – there are few options remaining for teams looking to add offense to their lineups. Yesterday we profiled five of the top forwards remaining in free agency that could conceivably fit the bill. One of those players, Brandon Pirri, noticably stuck out on that list due to his relative youth compared to his unemployed peers.

It’s not usually surprising that aging veterans whose best seasons are clearly in the rear view mirror might linger on the market well into the summer. In fact, many will either be forced to accept training camp invites or face the prospect of retirement. However, it’s exceedingly rare for one of the league’s most prolific goal scorers – based on rate stats – and who is still just 25-years-old, to be waiting for his next contract into the middle of July.

Pirri tallied 14 goals and 29 points last year in 61 games, splitting the season between Florida and Anaheim. The Ducks had acquired the 6-foot, 183-pound forward from the Panthers at the trade deadline in exchange for a sixth-round draft choice. The year prior, Pirri netted 22 goals in 61 contests, albeit with an amazingly low 2 assists, for the Panthers.

Over the last three seasons, Pirri has averaged 0.95 goals for every 60 minutes of ice time he sees at five-on-five play. That rate places him 30th in the NHL among all forwards who have suited up for a minimum of 120 games during that span. In terms of even-strength goal scoring prowess, Pirri is certainly among the best in the game.

Based on overall point-production, however, Pirri ranks just 203rd over the past three seasons in points-per-hour, due in large part to his 2014-15 tally of just two helpers. That ranking would seem to place him outside of a top-six role when it comes to offensive contributions.

Goal scoring is typically sought after and usually rewarded in free agency. Pirri’s continued presence on the open market is a bit of a mystery. It’s possible teams are scared off due to his low assists total from two seasons ago. Though it should be noted, if we remove that outlier from his career numbers, Pirri actually has two more assists than goals scored in his career and typically teams don’t pay as much attention to extreme statistical outliers.

Whatever the reason, it seems clear teams are hesitant about employing Pirri. He’s suited up for three NHL clubs over the last three campaigns and despite quality offensive numbers at the time of the trade, the Ducks obtained him from Florida for the lowly cost of a sixth-round draft pick. After the season, Anaheim elected not to qualify Pirri, a move that may have struck some as a bit surprising. He was eligible for arbitration and goals tend to be given extra weight when arbitrators decide on a player’s salary. It’s possible the Ducks wanted to avoid that process altogether. Nonetheless Pirri is free to sign with any team willing to give him a chance to show off his goal scoring acumen.

Potential Fits

New Jersey – The Devils finished last in the NHL in scoring this past season but have already added top-line LW Taylor Hall to the mix and expect their best returning offensive player, Mike Cammalleri, to be healthy at the outset of the upcoming campaign. A look at the club’s depth chart, courtesy of our partner site, Roster Resource, indicates the Devils have plenty of forward options so their interest in Pirri would likely be tepid at best.

Edmonton – Even though the Oilers have filled the hole they created when shipping the aforementioned Hall to Jersey by signing Milan Lucic, they could still use an upgrade over Mark Letestu at the third-line pivot position. Edmonton finished 25th in scoring and didn’t necessarily improve in that department by swapping out Hall for Lucic.

Columbus – If the Blue Jackets are ever able to offload winger Scott Hartnell they could be in the market for another goal scorer. But it’s possible the team would rather reinvest any savings from a Hartnell move into their defense as they have a number of quality forward prospects ready to make the jump to Columbus.

Los Angeles – Currently the Kings list Dwight King, Kyle Clifford and Dustin Brown as top-nine wingers. King’s career best in the goal socring department is 15 while Clifford has never tallied more than seven in any single season. Meanwhile, Brown’s days as a productive player capable of adequately manning a top-nine role may well be over. On a cheap contract the Kings could make sense for Pirri.

Expected Contract

Considering Anaheim passed on qualifying Pirri at just more than $1MM annually and given how late in the free agent season it is now, it’s not likely Pirri is going to find a deal representing much of a raise over the $925K he earned this past season. As such, a team like the Kings might be a terrific fit for Pirri on a one-year, make good deal at right around $1MM.

 

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