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Jordan Schroeder

Columbus Blue Jackets Sign Jordan Schroeder

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The Columbus Blue Jackets have signed their newest acquisition, inking Jordan Schroeder to a two-year deal. The contract will be two-way in 2017-18 while transitioning to a one-way deal in 2018-19. Schroeder was acquired this weekned in exchange for Dante Salituro after it was clear he would not receive a qualifying offer from the Minnesota Wild. The deal will pay Schroeder the minimum of $650K at the NHL level in both seasons.

Schroeder, 26, had 13 points 37 games for the Wild last season but was likely going to cost the Wild too much in an arbitration settlement. Because it was clear the two sides weren’t going to find common ground, he was dealt to Columbus where he can start fresh. It’s not clear if he’ll get an opportunity in the NHL with Columbus right away, but he has the offensive chops to contribute even if he does come in undersized.

At the very least, he provides a nice depth option for Columbus who will be looking for center help this offseason. While they’re expected to let Sam Gagner head to free agency, Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet recently linked them to Joe Thornton as a potential short-term option. Either way, Schroeder will be able to help fill out the depth chart down the middle or join a Cleveland squad looking to get back to the Calder Cup final.

Free Agent Focus: Columbus Blue Jackets

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The free agent period is now less than a week away from opening up.  Several prominent players are set to hit the open market and many teams have key restricted free agents to re-sign.  Here is a breakdown of the Columbus Blue Jackets’ free agent situation.

Key Restricted Free Agents: Alexander Wennberg. The team’s former first-round pick from 2014 looks like he’s paying dividends in his third full season in the league. The 22-year-old center stepped onto the team’s first line and had a breakout year, putting up 13 goals and 46 assists. While the Blue Jackets are not sure whether pass-first center is a first-line center, he is undoubtedly high in their plans for the future. At $1.4MM this past year, expect the young center to demand quite a pay raise.

F Josh Anderson. The 23-year-old winger is at the top of the list of restricted free agents that Columbus needs to lock up. The team went out of their way to make sure they didn’t lose the former fourth-round pick in 2012 to the Vegas Golden Knights and now must pay up to a player who had a breakout season with 17 goals and 12 assists last year, yet averaged just 12 minutes of ice time per game. Anderson made just $894,167 a year ago and should be in line for a modest raise.

Other RFA’s: G Oscar Dansk, F Jordan Schroeder, D Oleg Yevenko.

Key Unrestricted Free Agents: Sam Gagner. The 27-year-old forward signed with the Blue Jackets last year on a one-year “show me” contract and did just that, putting up one of his best seasons ever with 18 goals and 32 assists for 50 points. Now, if the Blue Jackets want to keep him, they will have to pay for him. The problem is that with such a mediocre group of free agents on the market this year, Gagner will find himself heavily in demand by other NHL teams and is in line for a big pay day.

Other UFA’s: D Marc-Andre Bergeron, F Brett Gallant, F Lauri Korpikoski, D Kyle Quincey, D Jaime Sifers, D Ryan Stanton, F T.J. Tynan.

Projected Cap Space: The team is in decent shape with just a $64.7MM cap hit that goes towards 21 players, giving them approximately $10.3MM to work with (per Cap Friendly) during the offseason, but that does not include locking up either Wennberg or Anderson, which will likely whittle away any significant space to sign a quality free agent.

Columbus Trades Dante Salituro For Jordan Schroeder

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In a much less interesting deal, the Blue Jackets have also traded Dante Salituro to the Minnesota Wild for Jordan Schroeder. Schroeder had recently been told he would not be qualified by the Wild, which would have made him an unrestricted free agent on July 1st.

Schroeder, 26, was a first-round pick of the Canucks in 2009 but has never made much of an impact at the NHL level. Splitting his last few years between the Minnesota and Iowa Wild, he’s scored just 40 points in his 144 career NHL games. There is talent there to be sure, but at his age there is little chance he becomes an impact center in for the Blue Jackets. He’s a restricted free agent, and would need to be qualified by 4pm on June 26th or become an unrestricted free agent this summer. Though the Wild were not prepared to issue one because of his arbitration eligibility, it would follow that the Blue Jackets will.

In Salituro, the Wild get back a lottery ticket for a player they were willing to let walk. The 20-year old undrafted forward is very undersized, but has shown some high-level skill throughout his amateur career. In 12 professional games this year, he scored just three points but could make an impact at the AHL level at some point.

Aaron Portzline of the Columbus Dispatch was first to report the deal.

Minnesota Issues Qualifying Offers To Restricted Free Agents

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According to Michael Russo of the Star Tribune, the Minnesota Wild have tendered qualifying offers to (amounts pulled from CapFriendly’s QO calculator):

The team has also decided not to qualify Guillaume Gelinas, Alex Gudbranson, and Brady Brassart, and is still deciding on Jordan Schroeder. It is likely that the team also qualified Christian Folin, but it is still unclear if the team has made a decision on Steve Michalek, Kurtis Gabriel, Zack Mitchell and Zach Palmquist, all of whom are also restricted free agents this summer.

Those free agents not issued an offer will become unrestricted free agents, while the Wild will retain the exclusive negotiating rights on the others even if they should turn down the offer. Both Reilly and Olofsson are still eligible for two-way offers, which they may accept. The other more established RFAs will in all likelihood turn them down and enter negotiations or the arbitration process.

The reason the team is still undecided when it comes to Schroeder, despite his 13 points in 37 games and pedigree as a first-round pick, is likely because he is eligible for arbitration. With Minnesota set to be very tight to the cap next season, they may not be able to afford the arbitration settlement for the 26-year old and could instead cut him lose or trade him in the coming days.

All teams must submit qualifying offers by 4pm on June 26th, or else lose their exclusive negotiating rights to that player. Last year, many players including Brandon Pirri and Beau Bennett did not receive offers by the deadline and became UFAs able to sign anywhere in the league.

Learning From The Sedins

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The Vancouver Canucks are a team that is floundering to find a path forward. After nearly a decade of remarkable regular seasons and a painfully close Cup run in 2011, the Canucks are solidly in the rebuilding phase of their franchise. They start the 2017-18 off-season with the 5th overall pick and many decent, if unremarkable, options at the slot to help further that process. (An impact center is always a welcome piece.) The organization has struggled mightily to move on past the era of Daniel Sedin and Henrik Sedin, both of whom were consistently in the upper echelon of point-getters every season in their primes. Now 36 years-old, each player’s production has taken a nosedive. And the team hasn’t been able to draft difference makers up front to fill the void, despite this day being long anticipated.

Although wisdom is not often recognized as such until a later date, there was a sizable portion of the Canuck fanbase who had hope to move the Sedin twins just a few seasons ago. As soon as they missed the post-season in 2013-14 the writing was on the wall for the franchise. The move should have been made that season, or perhaps even the year prior. That season saw a massive decline in the twins’ production which has never fully recovered – Henrik down to 0.71 points per game from 0.93, and Daniel down to 0.64 PPG from 0.85.

The Sedins will undoubtedly have their numbers retired by the Vancouver organization and have given great years of hockey to the city. They may even be considered for the Hockey Hall of Fame, but without a Stanley Cup to their credit that will be a difficult sell. Regardless of all that, their value to the team as assets was ignored in favor of the long-shot hope that the Canucks could compete once more with their core players. Former GM Mike Gillis had an up-and-down tenure, but utterly failed to move on past aging players and his drafting didn’t help. With five 1st-round picks in his tenure, only 2013’s Bo Horvat amounted to an offensive threat for the franchise. Brendan Gaunce, Nicklas Jensen, Jordan Schroeder, and Cody Hodgson are all busts relative to their potential. Worse, their late round picks were even less successful, amounting to no notable NHLers at all. Jim Benning hasn’t exactly inspired either since taking over management duties.

Trading the Sedins would have been a phenomenally difficult undertaking, especially considering their desire to play together. But the potential return would have been substantial from any team able to fit them in (at a reduced rate). Now the hour is far too late, and the Sedins have only one season remaining on their contracts. At this point, it seems sensible to merely re-sign them and let them finish their days in British Columbia. But the opportunity squandered to recover some value from declining marquee names will haunt the franchise for years to come. That failure should serve as a warning to teams around the league that prolonging the rebuilding phase can have dire consequences.

Snapshots: Doan, Graovac, Hellberg

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Shane Doan will be on all the blooper reels for the next while. The Arizona Coyotes captain is fine after colliding hard with Jakob Chychrun in warm up last night, and missing most of the first period. According to Dave Vest of NHL.com, he team had checked him for a concussion, but ruled that he had just had the wind knocked out of him.

I didn’t know it was him that hit me. I was looking back at [Oliver Ekman-Larsson] and got hit. I had no idea who it was that hit me … I haven’t been hit that hard in a long, long time.

The Coyotes ended up winning a 1-0 game over the Colorado Avalanche in a battle between the worst teams in the NHL. It couldn’t have started in a way more fitting to what was to come, with the next wave of the Coyotes literally checking the old guard out of the way.

  • As expected, the Minnesota Wild have officially recalled Tyler Graovac from Iowa of the AHL. After Michael Russo of the Star Tribune reported yesterday that Martin Hanzal was sick with the flu and wouldn’t be with the team for the next two games, Graovac was the easy call up. As Russo points out, it will be interesting to see if Graovac figures into the lineup immediately for one of Jordan Schroeder or Ryan White or if he’s just there for insurance.
  • The New York Rangers have sent Magnus Hellberg back to the AHL despite not having two healthy goaltenders at the NHL level. With Henrik Lundqvist out two to three weeks, Hellberg is expected to be the backup behind Antti Raanta for the next little while. The Rangers are off until Friday, but so are the Hartford Wolfpack which makes this move very interesting. It may be just a paper transaction to save Hellberg’s NHL salary for a few days, but either way it will be answered later this week when they make a move to bring someone up.

Minor Moves: Varone, Graovac, Shore

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The Ottawa Senators have decided they no longer have a use for Phil Varone, after the news that Kyle Turris should return to the lineup. Monday afternoon they announced that Varone has been re-assigned to the AHL. The 26-year old Varone only received just five minutes of ice time in Saturday’s win over the Colorado Avalanche, and is more useful in the AHL where he currently leads the baby-Sens in points. With 42 points in 51, Varone has continued his minor-league dominance this season, part of a longer trend. In his six seasons of professional hockey, he has scored at least 35 points in each of them with a career high of 61 in 2013-14.

Obviously Varone isn’t in the Senators’ current NHL plans, but perhaps he’ll get a chance somewhere else next season. The former fifth-round pick is an unrestricted agent this summer, and will likely be looking for an opportunity at the highest level.

  • According to Michael Russo of the Star Tribune, the Minnesota Wild are set to recall Tyler Graovac from Iowa. The 23-year old forward was waived a month ago but has spent most of the season in the NHL, playing in 49 games for the Wild. The massive Graovac is an effective bottom-six player who can play center or wing when needed. With Martin Hanzal out with the flu, Graovac is likely just up as insurance for the rest of the road trip. If the team wants a shake up, they could insert him into the fourth-line center spot, currently occupied by Jordan Schroeder.
  • After signing this weekend and clearing waivers today, Drew Shore will indeed make his debut for the Vancouver Canucks tonight against the Boston Bruins. The former second-round pick will compete to prove that he deserves another look in the NHL next season. “I want to show the Canucks I can be part of their future,” Shore said today to the media. The Canucks will also get Mikael Grandlund back into the lineup, skating alongside the Sedins.

Ryan Carter Attempting Return To Wild

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For the first time since April of last year, Ryan Carter will attend an NHL practice. The Star Tribune reports that the former Minnesota Wild forward will skate with his former teammates today and is expected to continue working with the team through the remainder of the month. Carter played for the Wild for the past two years, recording 25 points in 113 games as a regular on the team’s checking line. However, when the Minnesota native hit free agency this summer, he decided he would sign with his hometown team or not at all. Unable to commit to a contract for the 33-year-old, Minnesota invited Carter to camp this fall, but he was released due to issues with a lingering shoulder injury. Carter underwent a procedure on a torn labrum in his right shoulder four months ago, and is just now returning to full strength.

With experience not only playing with much of the current roster, but also with 46 playoff games under his belt, including two last spring, the Wild’s interest in reuniting with Carter makes sense. Although they have been one of the most dominant teams in the NHL this season, Minnesota is not without fault and a gritty veteran is on their wish list this Trade Deadline season. Rather than use up valuable picks and prospects to acquire such a player, they have the option of simply giving Carter a cheap pro-rated deal for the rest of the season. As long as the Wild make the signing official prior to March 1st, Carter will be eligible to play in the postseason.

If he truly is back at full strength, Carter would likely present an upgrade to the Wild’s current group of energy liners like Jordan Schroeder, Kurtis Gabriel, and Tyler Graovac. Carter is a veteran of 473 career regular seasons games, during which he has scored 41 goals and added 52 assists. He’s a physical player who knows how to check and win battles along the boards, and he’s also above average at the face-off dot. More than anything, what makes Carter so appealing to Minnesota at this point in the season is his playoff success. The journeyman grinder won a Stanley Cup with the Anaheim Ducks in 2007 and returned to the final in 2012 with the New Jersey, adding five goals for the Devils along the way. A return to the Wild lineup for a local guy who has had to fight his way back into the fold would be quite a story, and will be something to watch for over the next month.

 

Last Minute Reassignments: Bibeau, Froese, Gazdic, Helgeson (Updated)

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UPDATE: (3:30pm): Mike Russo of the Star Tribune tweeted earlier today that the Minnesota Wild have loaned Pat Cannone and Jordan Schroeder to Iowa of the AHL. As Russo points out, the Wild won’t play again until Tuesday thanks to the holiday break while Iowa is slated to host Rockford Monday night. Russo does say that unless Erik Haula or Zach Parise is healthy enough to return Tuesday, the Wild will have to recall a player or two, meaning Cannone and/or Schroeder could be back with Minnesota sooner rather than later. Cannone, who finally made his NHL debut at the age of 30 and after six professional campaigns, was held off the score sheet in three appearances with the Wild.

(1:15pm): While the NHL’s holiday roster freeze officially began at midnight of December 20th, a provision allows teams to reassign or loan waiver-exempt players originally recalled by the parent club after December 11th back to their minor league affiliates. The deadline for those roster transactions passed at 11:59pm on December 23rd (last night). With a majority of AHL teams in action the day after Christmas, a couple of NHL clubs took the opportunity to reassign players to their affiliates with the intent of getting them some game action during the Christmas break.

  • The New Jersey Devils announced via their official Twitter account that they have reassigned rugged forward Luke Gazdic and defenseman Seth Helgeson to Albany of the AHL. Gazdic has appeared in four games with New Jersey, failing to register a point while accumulating seven penalty minutes. In 13 contests for Albany, the 6-foot-4, 225-pound winger has two assists and 19 penalty minutes. Helgeson has seen action in just two games, also failing to record a point. (New Jersey Devils Roster)
  • Goaltender Antoine Bibeau, along with forwards Frederik Gauthier and Byron Froese were loaned by the Toronto Maple Leafs to the AHL Toronto Marlies ahead of last night’s deadline, as reported by Cap Friendly. Meanwhile Jhonas Enroth was recalled from the minors to fill the void as the Leafs backup netminder. Bibeau has appeared in just one game, his NHL debut, this season for Toronto and took the loss in a 3-1 defeat on December 11th against Colorado. Gauthier tallied his first career NHL goal and has added an assist in three games this season for the Leafs while Froese is scoreless in two outings. Enroth was inked by the Leafs this summer to serve as Frederik Andersen’s understudy but failed to win a game in four starts for Toronto and posted a GAA of nearly four. His last appearance for the Leafs came on November 30th in a loss at Calgary. Enroth has seen action in just one contest for the Marlies since his demotion to the AHL. (Toronto Maple Leafs roster)

Minnesota Assigns Bertschy, Schroeder To Iowa

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With a few days off until their next matchup, the Minnesota Wild have assigned Christoph Bertschy and Jordan Schroeder to the Iowa Wild (AHL) on Monday. The Wild will not play until Thursday, when they embark on a three game road trip that will take them through the Eastern Conference. In their announcement they note that both could return for the Thursday night game against the Pittsburgh Penguins.

Bertschy has one point in three games with the NHL club this season after making his debut last year. The former sixth-round pick is a Swiss-born winger who scored 35 points in the AHL last season.

Schroeder brings a much higher pedigree, as he was selected 22nd overall in 2009, though he has found little NHL success in his career. In 109 games, the 26-year old has 27 points but has shown an ability to score at the lower levels. The 5’9″ centerman was signed after the Vancouver Canucks decided not to extend a qualifying offer in 2014.

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