Headlines

Go To MLB Trade Rumors
Go To Hoops Rumors

Logan Couture

Jeff Skinner, Buffalo Sabres Agree To Long-Term Extension

at CDT | by 14 Comments

9:27 PM: It is official now and McKenzie was right on the mark with the terms. The Buffalo Sabres have announced an eight-year, $72MM extension with leading goal scorer Jeff Skinner. Skinner’s eight-year term is the NHL maximum and one only the Sabres could have awarded him. His new $9MM AAV is one that only 13 other forwards have topped, including teammate Jack Eichel. The Sabres hope that this investment can keep those two stars playing together on the team’s top line and dominating the competition en route to a return to the postseason.

8:46 PM: It was widely assumed that the Buffalo Sabres and star forward Jeff Skinner would eventually come to terms on a contract extension. After all, both sides benefited from the partnership in year one. Skinner enjoyed one of his best seasons to date, including potting a career-high 40 goals, while the Sabres landed a surefire top-line forward, who finished third on the team in scoring and found chemistry with young centerpieces Jack Eichel and Sam Reinhart. Now, it appears that this speculation is about to pay off. TSN’s venerable insider, Bob McKenzie, reports that Buffalo is closing in on signing Skinner to an eight-year extension, thought to be in the realm of $9MM AAV.

If this $72MM deal comes together, Skinner could wind up in the upper echelon of NHL players when it comes to contract value. P.K. Subban, the only other player in the league with a $9MM cap hit, is currently ranked 16th in the league in AAV. The next players on the list are at $9.5MM, likely outside of the projected ranger for Skinner, but anything between a $9MM and $8.7MM AAV would put Skinner right there with Subban. Among those Subban would pass up include Sidney Crosby, Leon Draisaitl, Steven Stamkos, Claude Giroux, and Logan Couture. Obviously, the salary cap ceiling is increasing and Skinner’s cost is a function of that, but this is still a considerable leap for a player whose last contract was a six-year deal with a $5.75MM AAV with the Carolina Hurricanes.

Whether or not Skinner’s reported new value is a fair representation of his ability is up for debate. What’s not up for debate is that Buffalo can afford to offer this contract and possibly overpaying is better than the alternative. The Sabres are currently ranked 25th in committed salary cap entering the off-season with more than $29MM in space and Skinner is arguably their only priority free agent. Buffalo is a team that desperately want to improve, especially after a hot start was followed by an embarrassing second half and would up in yet another disappointing finish. Letting Skinner walk in free agency would be a nightmare for the team and GM Jason Botterill would rather gamble with his job down the line than almost surely lose it in the present if he failed to retain or somehow substantially replace Skinner. Will the 27-year-old be worth $9MM when he’s 35 years old? Almost certainly not, but that’s the trade-off of every long-term UFA contract. In the short-term this would be a great deal to hold on to a talented player who has been a great fit.

“Last Man In” All-Star Ballot Candidates Announced

at CDT | by 7 Comments

The NHL has already announced the initial ten-man All-Star rosters for each of the four divisions, but new this year is an additional fan ballot to add an eleventh and final member to each squad. The “Last Man In” ballot, an idea invented by Major League Baseball, pits one skater from each team in each division against one another for a chance to participate in All-Star festivities. Fans will decide, with online voting opening tomorrow and lasting until midnight ET on January 10, which of the following players will get the final nod:

Pacific Division

F Leon Draisaitl (EDM)
F Logan Couture (SJS)
F Anze Kopitar (LAK)
F Ryan Getzlaf (ANA)
F Brock Boeser (VAN)
F Jonathan Marchessault (VGK)
D Mark Giordano (CGY)
D Oliver Ekman-Larsson (ARI)

Central Division

F Gabriel Landeskog (COL)
F Zach Parise (MIN)
F Patrik Laine (WPG)
F Tyler Seguin (DAL)
F Vladimir Tarasenko (STL)
F Filip Forsberg (NSH)
F Jonathan Toews (CHI)

Atlantic Division

F Brayden Point (TBL)
F Jeff Skinner (BUF)
F Dylan Larkin (DET)
F Aleksander Barkov (FLA)
F Patrice Bergeron (BOS)
F Mark Stone (OTT)
D Morgan Rielly (TOR)
D Shea Weber (MTL)

Metropolitan Division

F Nicklas Backstrom (WSH)
F Kyle Palmieri (NJD)
F Anders Lee (NYI)
F Jakub Voracek (PHI)
F Teuvo Teravainen (CAR)
F Nick Foligno (CLB)
F Mats Zuccarello (NYR)
D Kris Letang (PIT)

Due to the limits on selections by team, both in the initial rosters and the “Last Man In” vote, there are several star players who cannot be saved by fan voting this year. The Toronto Maple Leafs’ Mitch Marner, the No. 6-ranked scorer in the league, highlights the snub group, which also includes Calgary Flames forwards Sean Monahan and Matthew Tkachuk, Pittsburgh Penguins forwards Evgeni Malkin and Phil Kessel, and Minnesota Wild defenseman Ryan Suter. Other odd omissions, not necessarily forced by the format, are Columbus’ Artemi Panarin, Nashville’s Ryan Johansen, and Montreal’s Max Domi and Jeff Petry. However, the new final vote option does largely do a good job of giving each team and their fan base one last chance to get a deserving player into the All-Star game.

Snapshots: Couture, Matthews, Thomas

at CDT | by 4 Comments

The San Jose Sharks entered the 2018-19 season with high expectations after their off-season blockbuster acquisition of Erik Karlsson. One of the best teams in all of sports over the past decade or so never to win a title, the Sharks have been the epitome of consistency, but have been unable to land that elusive Stanley Cup title. With Karlsson in the mix on a roster that is deep and talented in all areas, many felt this could finally be the season than San Jose puts it all together. More than a quarter of the way through the season, those expectations have yet to be met. The Sharks have been a fine team – their 29 points places them second in the Pacific Division – but in no way are they running away with a conference championship. At least one player on the team is fed up with the poor effort: star forward Logan Couture. After a third straight loss last night, Couture told the Canadian Press that things need to change:

“My personal opinion, I don’t think we’re close. We show spurts and signs that we’re capable (of playing with the best in the league) but we haven’t put together an effort against a top-quality team. … We gotta figure it out soon. I’m a believer that it takes time. (But) I’m a believer that it doesn’t take 26 games.”

Couture, who signed a long-term deal this off-season, is the centerpiece of the Sharks’ offense for the foreseeable future. Couture has as much right as anyone on the team to criticize their efforts, seeing as he has done his part so far with 25 points in 26 games. While Couture did not name names, it is easy to point at Karlsson, last year’s big acquisition, Evander Kane, and a lackluster bottom-six as those that need to step up if the Sharks wish to play to their potential. Perhaps Couture being open and honest about the team’s disappointing results that will flip a switch and turn this team into the true contender they should be.

  • It was Auston Matthews and the Toronto Maple Leafs who took down the Sharks last night and the young superstar played very well in his return to the lineup. Even in the midst of the final days of the William Nylander drama, Toronto continues to win and remain focused on the present. But what if their struggles to sign Nylander are just the beginning? The Leafs face quite the cap crunch moving forward and there is concern that a Nylander signing could eventually push out either Matthews or Mitch Marner. Fox Sports’ Andy Strickland relays word from sources around the league that Matthews could be a prime target for an offer sheet this off-season. Although rare, due to their financial cost and draft pick cost, a maximum offer sheet isn’t out of the realm of possibility for a young player of Matthews’ caliber. Strickland asks what the Leafs could possibly do, with so many RFA’s and a defense in need of rebuilding this summer, if a team was to offer Matthews a contract worth $14MM per season? Such a situation seems far-fetched, but may be more grounded in reality than we know. It would be yet another difficult obstacle for the Maple Leafs who are truly having trouble with having so much talent on their roster.
  • The Boston Bruins retired Rick Middleton’s number tonight, making him the eleventh member of an illustrious group of all-time greats. The question now turns to who could be next to join the Bruins’ stars in the rafters? Of their recently retired players, the one who truly sticks out is two-time Vezina Trophy winner and Stanley Cup hero Tim Thomas. Although Thomas’ career was not a long one, he was one of the top goaltenders in the NHL for several years and is arguably the most clutch postseason keeper in NHL history, with the league’s all-time best playoff save percentage. The Athletic’s Fluto Shinzawa asked one of the Bruins’ retired numbers, and the team’s current president, Cam Neely, for his thoughts on Thomas’ case, but he didn’t seem optimistic about the odds. Neely points to longevity as working against Thomas, but did not rule him out completely. “There’s no question, that team in ’11, what it meant to Bruins fans and New England. Timmy, what he did in that playoffs, not just in the finals but all of the series, was pretty impressive”, but Neely added “I don’t want to rule anything out, but you look at some of the guys up there, they have a bigger sample size of what they did throughout their career in Boston.” It seems that Thomas, who was a star in his own right but simply over a short period of time, faces an uphill battle to have his No. 30 retired. Instead, current long-time players Patrice Bergeron and Zdeno Chara are likely next up to be immortalized by the Bruins.

Pacific Notes: Oilers Defense, Hertl, Desjardins

at CDT | by 2 Comments

The Edmonton Oilers haven’t had much success when it comes to trades in recent years, but the team may be able to plug some of their offensive woes with a trade. The Athletic’s Allan Mitchell (subscription required) writes that the Oilers are actually overloaded in left-handed defensive depth throughout their system and might be able to use that depth as a way to send off for some veteran help at the wing that might allow the team to give extra development time to Jesse Puljujarvi and Kailer Yamamoto, who both were sent down to Bakersfield this afternoon.

Mitchell writes the team is loaded on the left side with two top-four players, including Oscar Klefbom and Darnell Nurse and still have Kris Russell who is playing on the right side. After that, the team has Ethan Bear as well as a host of left-handed defensemen in Bakersfield, including Caleb Jones, Ryan Stanton, William Lagesson, Keegan Lowe and Kevin Gravel. That’s a lot of options for a team, should they consider moving someone like Russell, Lagesson or Jones to add some depth at some point this winter.

  • Curtis Palshenka of the Mercury News reports that San Jose Sharks forward Tomas Hertl, who has missed the last three game with a head injury, is starting to feel better and may be able to return Sunday for their game against the Calgary Flames. He still needs to go through more testing, but remains positive. Hertl has been a key piece to the Sharks’ first line, including Logan Couture and Timo Meier. The 24-year-old is producing a point a game so far this year with five goals and nine assists in 14 games.
  • One change the new Los Angeles Kings head coach Willie Desjardins intends to implement is to cut down shift times. Helene Elliot of the Los Angeles Times writes that the coach intends to cut all shifts by 10 seconds, so that lines are only on the ice for a little over 40 seconds. “If you look at teams’ regular-season shifts and then look at their playoff shifts, their playoff shifts are always shorter,” he said, “and that’s because the intensity of the game goes up. And I think we have to bring our playoff game right now. I think we have to get our shifts shorter and I think that’s something our guys have to buy into, to be successful.” Desjardins also adds that he wants to cut down the ATOI of both Anze Kopitar and Drew Doughty, who both lead the team in ice time at their respective positions.

 

Joe Thornton Expects To Be Back At Full Strength

at CDT | by 1 Comment

One of the most decorated and longest tenured players in the NHL is still at it and feeling confident that he is still capable of playing at a high level. San Jose Sharks star Joe Thornton told The Athletic’s Kevin Kurz that he is feeling good as the 2018-19 season approaches:

I feel good. I know my birth certificate says 39, but I think not playing a full 82 games and playoffs last year, my body feels really, really good and I feel healthy. It’s kind of like a lockout year for myself, you get time to refocus and finally train a little bit and go again. I’m real excited for the year… I think when I’m out there I dictate the play. It doesn’t matter who I play against, I usually dictate the play. I’ve had that criticism for 22 years. I think I’ve kept up pretty good.

Thornton is coming off his second straight season with a major knee injury, having torn the MCL and ACL ligaments in his left knee in 2016-17 and then again in his right knee midway through last season. Thornton tells Kurz that his left knee didn’t feel fully comfortable until November of last year, but that he made better progress with his right knee. While Thornton did miss the final 35 games of the regular season and did not appear in the playoffs, he admits that he was “real close” to getting back into the lineup. As such, he has been able to prepare this summer like any summer, with two healthy knees for the first time in a while.

If truly back at full strength, Thornton could be a season-altering presence for the Sharks. The 39-year-old managed to post 36 points in 47 games last year and part of the campaign he was still dealing with injury. The last time the big center played a full season, he registered 82 points in 82 games in 2015-16. Overall, the future Hall of Famer has 973 points in 961 games since coming over to San Jose all those many years ago. With the likes of Joe Pavelski, Logan Couture and Evander Kane and youngsters Tomas Hertl, Kevin Labanc, and Timo Meier up front, Thornton has plenty of weapons to work with and could find his way back to elite level production. If that happens, it could push the Sharks over the top in their search for an elusive Stanley Cup title.

Salary Cap Deep Dive: San Jose Sharks

at CDT | by 1 Comment

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.

San Jose Sharks

Current Cap Hit: $75,119,584 (under the $79.5MM Upper Limit)

Entry-Level Contracts

F Dylan Gambrell (one year, $925K)
F Timo Meier (one year, $894K)
F Maxim Letunov (one year, $833K)
F Kevin Labanc (one year, $718K)

Potential Bonuses

Meier: $850K
Gambrell: $425K
Labanc: $183K

Total: $1.46MM

The team has gotten great play from their youth in the last couple of years as several players have taken that next step and become regular contributors to the Sharks’ lineup. Meier may be one of the best as the 21-year-old broke out with a 21-goal season last year. The ninth-overall pick in the 2015 draft looks ready to continue a top-six role and perhaps become a key contributor there for many more years. Meier is also playing for a big payday, so if he can take that next step and develop into a 30-goal winger, he would be heading in the right direction.

Gambrell only managed to appear in three games for the playoff-bound Sharks after he signed out of the University of Denver. The 22-year-old center is likely to force his way into a forward role in the bottom-six after he posted three straight 40-point seasons in college. Labanc, who had struggled with consistency in previous years with San Jose, finally broke into a full-time role with San Jose and produced 11 goals and 40 points. He could be primed for an even bigger year, just in time as his entry-level deal will run out.

One Year Remaining, Non-Entry-Level

F Joe Pavelski ($6MM, UFA)
F Joe Thornton ($5MM, UFA)
F Joonas Donskoi ($1.9MM, UFA)
F Marcus Sorensen ($700K, UFA)
F Barclay Goodrow ($650K, RFA)
D Joakim Ryan ($650K, RFA)
D Tim Heed ($650K, UFA)

Much of the Sharks success in the next few years will come down to the play of Thornton and Pavelski, two players that have helped carry the team during their years of success. Both players are on their final year of their deal. Thornton signed a one-year deal and only time will tell whether he will continue that career at age 39. Despite suffering a torn MCL in January, he still posted solid numbers, scoring 13 goals and 36 points in 47 games. His days of posting 80 points are likely over, but if he can prove he can still produce, he could be back for several more one-year deals. Pavelski is another matter. The 34-year-old is starting to decline, but likely wants to ink one last long-term deal. While it makes sense that both sides will eventually come to an agreement, much is depending on the success that Pavelski has this season as well.

Donskoi shows improvement as well, posting a career-high 14 goals last season. His play improved to the point that he got some playing time on the first line as he generates shots as the team attempted 53.73 percent of five-on-five shots, while the team shot just 49 percent without him on the ice.Read more

San Jose Sharks Promote Tim Burke To Assistant GM

at CDT | by 2 Comments

The San Jose Sharks announced changes to their front office today with several moves coming in their scouting department. Highlighting these changes was the promotion of Tim Burke to Assistant General Manager. Burke joins long-time Assistant GM Joe Will working under GM Doug Wilson. It is a well-earned recognition for Burke, who has spent the past 20 years with the franchise.

Burke had previously served as the team’s Director of Scouting prior to his new promotion. As the Sharks pointed out in their press release, the team has owned the lowest average draft slot in the league over the past 15 years, but Burke and his staff have managed to uncover gems like Joe Pavelski, Logan Couture, and Marc-Edouard Vlasic. Burke’s primary responsibility will continue to be evaluating amateur talent and orchestrating the draft for the Sharks, but he will also take a larger role in the evaluation of professional talent at all levels as well.

Replacing Burke as Director of Scouting is none other than Doug Wilson Jr., the GM’s son. Wilson Jr. is entering his seventh season with the team, most recently as the Sharks’ Director of Hockey Operations, and will continue his previous duties relating to the NHL Draft. Working with Burke, Wilson Jr. will hope to continue San Jose’s success of finding strong players in both the draft and undrafted free agency.

San Jose Sharks Sign Tomas Hertl To Four-Year Extension

at CDT | by 1 Comment

After just locking up veteran Joe Thornton only a few minutes ago, the San Jose Sharks followed that up by announcing they have signed restricted free agent Tomas Hertl to a four-year contract extension. The Athletic’s Kevin Kurz writes the deal is worth $5.625MM per year.

Hertl has been plagued with knee injuries throughout his career, but put together his best season ever last year when he tallied 22 goals and 26 points. They are similar numbers to his 2015-16 campaign, but knee injuries persisted the season after when he was forced to undergo surgery after re-injuring his knee during the Stanley Cup Finals that year, which forced him to miss all but 33 games that year. One reason for his success this season was due to a positional change. The 24-year-old moved from center position to the wing alongside Logan Couture, which made a big difference to the success of the team’s top line.

Hertl, a first-round pick back in 2012, has started to show leadership abilites and that showed in the playoffs when he posted nine points in 10 games and was a steady force against the Golden Knights in the second round of the playoffs.

Sharks Agree To Eight-Year Extension With Logan Couture

at CDT | by 5 Comments

July 1: The Sharks have now made the deal official and confirmed the aforementioned terms.

June 30: The extension is worth $64MM over the eight years, report David Pagnotta of The Fourth Period (Twitter link) and Josh Dubow of the Associated Press.

June 27: The Sharks are closing in on an eight-year contract extension with forward Logan Couture, Pierre LeBrun of TSN and The Athletic reports (video link).  No financial terms are available at this time but he notes that the contract could be made official on Sunday, the first day that he’s eligible to sign the extension.

Signing players to early extensions is something GM Doug Wilson has done in the past.  Last summer, he inked defenseman Marc-Edouard Vlasic (eight years) and goaltender Martin Jones (six years) as soon as they were eligible to.

Couture has spent his entire career with the Sharks who drafted him in the first round (ninth overall) back in 2007.  He became a regular with the team three years later and has never looked back as he has emerged into a reliable two-way forward that has been fairly consistent offensively, averaging between 0.69 and 0.83 points per game over the last eight years.

The 29-year-old is coming off of one of his best seasons as he set a new career high in goals (34) which will certainly help his negotiating leverage.  He’s set to earn $6MM for 2018-19 and it’s quite likely that this new deal will exceed that amount.

As the contract won’t kick in until 2019-20, it won’t have any immediate bearing on their pursuit of soon-to-be UFA center John Tavares or any other players they’d look to add this summer.

Assuming this gets finalized as expected, it will be interesting to see how quickly Wilson and the Sharks turn their focus to center Joe Pavelski.  He’s also set to enter the final year of his contract next season and is eligible to sign a new contract as early as Sunday.  The 33-year-old has also spent his entire career in San Jose and is coming off another strong campaign where he posted 66 points in 82 games.  However, if they are able to land Tavares or another prominent addition up front, they may not have the long-term cap room to keep him around.  Accordingly, while the Sharks have acted quickly on extensions as of late, one for Pavelski may have to wait a little while yet.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Kings To Sign Drew Doughty To Eight-Year Extension

at CDT | by 7 Comments

July 1: The Kings have officially announced the contract, signing Doughty to an eight-year, $88MM contract extension. The deal will kick in for the 2018-19 season, and make Doughty the highest-paid defenseman in the league, barring an even bigger extension being signed before then.

June 29: A major impending free agent is about to be off the market, but it’s not a member of the 2018 class, but the 2019 class. When July 1st arrives and players with expiring contracts after next season are first eligible to sign extensions, Los Angeles defenseman Drew Doughty is expected to re-sign with the Kings. TSN Insider Pierre LeBrun reports that the two sides put the finishing touches on a max eight-year extension today that will be officially signed on Sunday. No financial terms have been disclosed.

The Kings are undoubtedly one of the teams that benefited the most from the massive salary cap spike this off-season. That added flexibility allowed L.A. to add much-needed scoring in the form of Ilya Kovalchuk without losing the breathing room needed to retain Doughty. For a time, many speculated that Doughty would test free agency next summer, but over the past few months the Norris Trophy-winner has made it clear that he would prefer to stay with the Kings. The team’s acquisition of Kovalchuk and continued search for talent this off-season was likely the very last boost of confidence that Doughty needed to re-up in L.A.

Doughty now joins fellow defenseman Oliver Ekman-Larsson of the Arizona Coyotes and center Logan Couture of the San Jose Sharks as potential superstar free agents who will instead sign on with their current teams as soon as possible. Doughty is the biggest name so far and, if previous reports prove true, will soon be the highest paid defenseman in hockey. Doughty has gone on the record as saying that he would like to be paid more than Nashville Predators blue liner P.K. Subban, who is currently the highest-paid defenseman in the league at $9MM AAV. LeBrun’s TSN colleague Darren Dreger is among many speculating that deal will land in the realm of $11MM per year over the eight years, which would make him the new top dog among defenders and the second-highest paid player in the league – at least until Erik Karlsson signs his next contract.

Pro Hockey Rumors is not affiliated with National Hockey League, NHL or NHL.com

scroll to top