The Arizona Coyotes have signed Troy Stecher to a one-year, $1.2MM contract, according to Rick Dhaliwal of CHEK TV. Craig Morgan of PHNX Sports actually notes that it is worth $1.25MM, but the team has not announced the deal yet. The Fourth Period’s David Pagnotta also reports that the team is signing defenseman Josh Brown to a two-year contract. Morgan also notes the team is working on a contract with Nick Bjugstad. Bjugstad’s deal is one-year, $900K.
More to come…
The Los Angeles Kings have been shopping for a defenseman and were linked to a number of major targets. However, with the likes of Hampus Lindholm, Ben Chiarot, and Mark Giordano now off the table and Jakob Chychrun looking increasingly unlikely to be dealt before the deadline, L.A. has decided to go bargain hunting. The Detroit Red Wings have announced that they have traded defenseman Troy Stecher to the Kings in exchange for a 2022 seventh-round pick. Los Angeles has confirmed the deal as well.
Now, adding Stecher does not remove the Kings from making further deadline additions on the back end, particularly when it comes to long-term pieces like Chychrun. Though just 27 years old and still carrying some name recognition from when he was an up-and-coming blue liner with the Vancouver Canucks, Stecher is merely a rental depth option for the Kings. Stecher has only played in 16 games with Detroit this season, with two points and a career-low 15:08 averaget time on ice. He is now longer the player he was once expected to become and is just an extra option on defense in L.A., hence the low cost of a last-round pick.
With that being said, defensive depth is still highly valuable to the Kings. The club has been inundated with injuries of late, with top-four defenders Drew Doughty, Matt Roy, and Michael Anderson all sidelined, not to mention Sean Walker out for the year. The team has been fortunate enough to get Alex Edler back in the lineup after a long-term absence, but they still have five rookie or sophomore defensemen on the roster right now. Stecher brings some much-needed experience and veteran ability to the team to help with this short-term injury bug and could play himself into a regular role even once the team is back at full strength. Stecher and Edler are familiar having played together in Vancouver and it will be interesting to see if they are paired once again in L.A. and if that could be a stable, successful partnership.
The Panthers will have some reinforcements up front for their first game after the All-Star break. Team reporter Jameson Olive relays that wingers Patric Hornqvist and Maxim Mamin plus center Noel Acciari should all be ready to suit up on Wednesday against Carolina. Hornqvist has been out for close to a month with an upper-body injury while Mamin has missed close to three weeks with an undisclosed injury. As for Acciari, he hasn’t played with Florida all season due to a pectoral injury suffered back in the preseason that required surgery although he did get in a couple of games on a conditioning stint last week. The Panthers only have one open roster spot at the moment so they will need to make a couple of moves to activate the trio of forwards off IR.
Elsewhere around the Atlantic:
The Detroit Red Wings have updated a pair of long-term injuries, as both Troy Stecher and Mitchell Stephens will be out through the February Olympic break. Stecher underwent wrist surgery, while Stephens is dealing with a lower-body injury.
Stecher has played just six games so far this season, and he’ll miss another few months as the Olympic break doesn’t end until February 22. The 27-year-old defenseman was such a difference-maker at this year’s World Championship that it appeared as though he might be taking a step forward, but through those six games he averaged fewer than 15 minutes and had just a single point for the rebuilding Red Wings.
Stephens meanwhile had suited up 16 times for Detroit this year, only leaving the lineup after suffering an injury on November 13. The 24-year-old forward hadn’t registered a goal yet, but did have four assists through those games as he filled in as a bottom-six center option.
The Red Wings have come back to earth recently after a nice start to their season, and now sit 8-9-3 on the year. Still extremely young, mounting injuries will only test their depth even further. While they are technically just a few points out of the playoffs, a four-game losing streak and -13 goal differentially certainly don’t have them heading in the right direction.
Calgary center Derek Ryan has resumed skating as he works his way back from a thumb injury, reports Postmedia’s Daniel Austin. The veteran has missed the last dozen games due to the issue and was placed on LTIR. Since he has missed the required 10 games and 24 days, he’s eligible to be activated as soon as he’s cleared to return, as long as the Flames can get back into cap compliance. Ryan cleared waivers at the beginning of the season and was likely headed back for the waiver wire again had he not been injured in his tenth game; he had been getting shuffled to and from the taxi squad, being demoted on non-game days to bank cap space. Another placement there will likely be what ultimately signifies his readiness to return.
More injury news from around the league:
After signing Thomas Greiss earlier today, the Red Wings are dipping their toes into the UFA waters again as they announced (Twitter link) the signing of defenseman Troy Stecher to a two-year contract. Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reports (via Twitter) that the deal carries an AAV of $1.7MM. The 26-year-old was non-tendered by Vancouver on Wednesday instead of giving him a $2.325MM qualifying offer with salary arbitration rights.
Stecher is coming off of a quiet season with the Canucks. After being a part of their top four, the addition of Tyler Myers and Chris Tanev staying healthy pushed him into primarily a spot on the third pairing in 2019-20. As a result, his playing time dipped by more than four minutes a game (from 19:55 to 15:21) although he still managed to put up five goals and a dozen assists in 69 games. In 17 postseason appearances, he had two tallies and a helper while logging a little over 16 minutes per game. Those numbers are still good for someone on the third pairing but at his qualifying offer number, it was just a bit too expensive for Vancouver to justify. However, with him and Tanev now gone, there is a hole on Vancouver’s back end that will need to be filled.
Stecher should fit in well with Detroit. Their depth on the right side of their back end is limited with Filip Hronek basically being the only one ahead of him on the right so this should be an opportunity for him to go back to playing in a top-four role. He’ll only be 28 when his deal is up which should give him a chance to hit the open market while still being in the prime of his career. Meanwhile, this may be it for the Red Wings when it comes to the rebuild of their defense. With this addition plus Jon Merrill yesterday and Marc Staal last month, they now have seven NHL blueliners under contracts with a few youngsters that should contend for playing time at some point next season.
Lost in the shuffle on the marathon second day of the draft is that Wednesday also represented the deadline for qualifying offers to be tendered. The flattening of the salary cap increased the concerns about salary arbitration which has certainly affected the quality of players that are now set to hit the open market on Friday. As these players will not be a part of our annual Top-50 UFA Rankings, here’s a rundown of ten notables to keep tabs on over the coming days, listed in alphabetical order.
Andreas Athanasiou (Edmonton)
Back at the trade deadline, the Oilers dealt a pair of second-round picks and Sam Gagner to secure the speedster, one that GM Ken Holland had plenty of familiarity with from his own days with Detroit. While the winger was having a tough season, he’s only a year removed from a 30-goal campaign. In a normal salary cap world, his $3MM qualifier would have been tough to swallow but still would have happened. Instead, he hits the open market with Edmonton not getting much return for those two fairly high picks while becoming an intriguing bounce-back target for some teams. He won’t get paid like a 30-goal scorer but as a third-liner with upside, he’ll land one of the bigger contracts out of this group of players if not the biggest.
Matt Benning (Edmonton)
There was a time that the Oilers hoped that Benning could step into a role on their second pairing but it didn’t come to fruition. However, he has been a serviceable third-pairing player over the past few years but a cap-strapped Oilers team couldn’t justify qualifying him at $1.95MM. Given that he’s a right-handed shot in a market that doesn’t have a lot of them, he should have interest from a few teams.
Nick Cousins (Vegas)
On the surface, a $1MM qualifying offer to a player who had 25 points in 65 games and got into 17 postseason contests doesn’t seem too pricey. But this is a case where the potential for a higher award through arbitration is a risk that Vegas didn’t want to take with Cousins. It’s the second-straight year that the 27-year-old was non-tendered for this reason after Arizona did the same thing a year ago. A versatile depth player, he should be able to land somewhere for around the same contract as he played on this past season.
Anthony Duclair (Ottawa)
Despite finding an opportunity to play a bigger role than he had at any other point in his career, it seems as if Duclair may have overplayed his hand in contract talks. After scoring 23 goals this season, he opted to represent himself in contract negotiations against the recommendation of GM Pierre Dorion who indicated that a sizable raise was offered before getting to this point. Still just 25, Duclair becomes a very interesting addition to the open market but having bounced around the league already (he has played for five different teams in six NHL seasons), it’s hard to tell how strong his market may be.
Vinnie Hinostroza (Arizona)
A year ago, it looked like the 26-year-old was set to be a useful part of Arizona’s long-term plans. He was coming off of a career-best 16-23-39 stat line and was pushing for a spot in their top six. Things went sideways this year though as he potted just five goals in 68 games which made a $1.5MM qualifier untenable. Hinostroza could fit on a third line for some teams and should have a fair bit of interest.
Dominik Kahun (Buffalo)
This was one of the more surprising non-tenders of the group. Although Kahun has just two years of NHL experience, he’s arbitration-eligible since he’s 25. He followed up a 37-point rookie campaign with 31 points this pandemic-shortened season (including four in six games with Buffalo after being acquired in a deadline day deal from Pittsburgh) while he also missed time with a concussion and a knee injury. With his point per game average, he played at a 45-point full-season pace. Buffalo GM Kevyn Adams has indicated they are interested in retaining the winger but if he makes it to the open market, he should be one of the most sought-after players from this list.
Mark Jankowski (Calgary)
While he had shown progress in his development over his first two full NHL seasons, things went off the rails in 2019-20. Jankowski scored just five times in 56 games and while he wouldn’t have been able to get much more than his $1.75MM qualifier in arbitration, that was still too high of a price tag for Calgary’s liking. Still just 26, Jankowski now heads to an open market that isn’t exactly loaded in available centers so while a pay cut is likely, he should have no issues finding a new team.
Dominik Simon (Pittsburgh)
A natural center, Simon has spent the majority of his time with Pittsburgh on the wing, playing on all four lines along the way. While not a gifted point producer, he has surpassed 20 points in each of the last two seasons while posting above-average possession numbers. Owed a qualifier of less than $800K, the fear of arbitration sealed Simon’s fate on a cap-strapped Penguins squad.
Troy Stecher (Vancouver)
In 2018-19, Stecher looked to be on the verge of securing a spot in Vancouver’s top four after averaging nearly 20 minutes a night and chipping in with 23 points. But the return of a healthy Chris Tanev and the addition of Tyler Myers helped push the 26-year-old onto the third pairing and a much lower ATOI than usual. A $2.325MM qualifier is a bit high for someone in that role but there should be a few teams that see him as a potential fourth or fifth option which makes him a notable addition to the UFA market.
Lucas Wallmark (Florida)
One of the notable parts of the Vincent Trocheck deal, Wallmark was coming off of a league-minimum salary which means this non-tender was solely arbitration related. The 25-year-old only has two full NHL seasons under his belt, putting up 25 and 23 points in each while posting a faceoff percentage that’s a bit above the 50% mark each time. There is still some upside with Wallmark and with a weak market down the middle, he’ll have no trouble generating interest.
While these players (among the others that were non-tendered) can become unrestricted free agents on Friday, some teams will still be negotiating with their players to try to get them at a lower salary than either their qualifying offer or their expected arbitration salary. Usually, a handful wind up re-signing so at least for some of these players, their fates may not be completely sealed yet.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
The New York Rangers are working on two fronts with Chris Kreider as the trade deadline nears on Monday. The Rangers are negotiating with Kreider and his agent on a potential contract extension, but at the same time, are preparing for the possibility they will have to trade him if a deal can’t be worked out.
Now TSN’s Darren Dreger reports that hopes for a contract extension between the two sides are fading. That could make the trade deadline on Monday even more interesting as it is quite clear that the Rangers will trade him if the two sides cannot get negotiations to shift. The likely sticking point is term as New York doesn’t want to find itself stuck with a major contract headache in a few years and if Kreider, who is likely heading for his last big contract, is looking for a seven or eight-year deal, that could be the sticking point. New York may have some cap room to work with now, but with a number of young players likely needing big raises in the next few years, the team must be careful with asset management.
The Edmonton Oilers and new general manager Ken Holland may have decided that Ken Hitchcock won’t be the team’s head coach going forward, but regardless Hitchcock has been a key figure in helping the Oilers find the next head coach, according to Terry Jones of the Edmonton Sun. Holland spoke about the situation, saying:
I’ve known Hitch a long, long time. Certainly as I’m going through the process of whittling a list of potential coaches down, he’ll be one of the people I’ll lean on. He’s coached against some of these people and if he didn’t coach against them, he knows which coaches he can talk to gather information. He’s from the coaching world. He can gather information up quicker than I can gather it up.”
Holland is expecting Hitchcock to gather information on all the coaching candidates considering the veteran coach’s experience over the years. There isn’t a hurry to hire a coach quickly. It looks like Holland is content to gather that information on all the candidates and make a decision later.
The deadline to make qualifying offers to restricted free agents is still more than six weeks away, but the Vancouver Canucks have given one of their impending RFA’s an early heads up. Sportsnet’s Rick Dhaliwal reports that the team has informed defenseman Derrick Pouliot and his representation that they will not qualify him this off-season. As a result, Pouliot will now be an unrestricted free agent this summer, free to sign with any team he likes.
This move is both surprising and unsurprising all at once. On one hand, Pouliot’s name is still associated with youth and upside. On the other, he has never lived up to his expectations and that “youth and upside” may have very well passed him by. The 25-year-old was the 8th overall pick in 2012 by the Pittsburgh Penguins and dominated the junior level with the WHL’s Portland Winterhawks before turning pro. In his first two pro seasons, Pouliot split his time between playing for the Penguins and putting up major numbers with their AHL affiliate and looked to be on the verge of a breakout in Pittsburgh. Instead, the 2016-17 season was a major disappointment; Pouliot was held scoreless in just 11 NHL games and his production dropped off in the minors as well. The Penguins dealt him to the Canucks that off-season in exchange for a mere fourth-round pick and Andrey Pedan, who never played a game in Pittsburgh and has since bolted for the KHL. Pouliot was handed a starting role in Vanouver last year and responded with a strong campaign. He set career highs across the board, recording 22 points in 71 games and playing second-pair minutes. He even showed he could be an adept shot blocker, knocking down 118 shots despite never previously displaying any ability in that area. However, just like in Pittsburgh, when Pouliot seemed primed to take the next step, it was instead a step backward. This year, he played in only 62 games, registered only 12 points, and saw his ice time and defensive responsibility cut back.
Likely contributing to the decision to move on from Pouliot is also the influx of young talent on the blue line in the Canucks’ system. With Pouliot stalling in his development, the team probably figured they would be better off using the roster space elsewhere. Heading into 2019-20, the Canucks will have ample competition for jobs even without Pouliot. Calder hopeful Quinn Hughes will lead a young unit that could include fellow top pick Olli Juolevi, undrafted free agents Mitch Eliot, Brogan Rafferty, and Josh Teves, mainstays Troy Stecher, Chris Tanev, Ben Hutton, and Alex Biega, and AHL standouts Ashton Sautner and Guillaume Brisebois, and that’s not even including unrestricted free agents Alexander Edler and Luke Schenn, both of whom would like to re-sign. There’s too many cooks in the kitchen as there is, so it makes sense that the Canucks have decided to move on from a player they feel was given a fair shot and didn’t make the most of it.
Pouliot isn’t in danger of being dismissed by every other NHL team though. On a Vancouver club that was not very good during his tenure, Pouliot still put up respectable offensive numbers and showed more of his defensive game than he did in Pittsburgh. Still a high-end skater who is only 25, it seems likely that there will be plenty of teams lining up this summer to give Pouliot another chance. This may be the last time that his name value helps him out however, especially after a down year, so look for Pouliot to choose a team where there is both a clear path to ice time, but also enough protection that he can continue to grow and round out his game without being overexposed.