Week In Review

With preseason hockey set to kick off shortly, activity has started to pick up around the league.  Here’s an overview of the top stories of the past week.

Pacioretty Sets Extension Deadline: Canadiens captain Max Pacioretty has been at the forefront of the rumor mill in recent months with his eventual departure seeming like a foregone conclusion at this point.  While an extension with Montreal appears to be out of the question, Pacioretty indicated that he won’t negotiate a new deal with any team once the regular season gets underway on October 3rd.  It will certainly be worth watching to see if that deadline helps spur trade talks involving the winger.

Latest On Seattle: While representatives from Seattle’s ownership group (which was just bolstered by new minority investors) will be meeting with the NHL in October, their potential expansion franchise won’t be voted on at that time by the Board of Governors.  It’s not a given that it will be on the agenda for their December meeting either.  Shortly after that came out, it was noted that construction on the prospective arena won’t begin until a franchise is officially granted.  While this isn’t likely to ultimately quash things, it could certainly delay when the team enters the league.  Instead of 2020-21, the most realistic option now appears to be that they will start in 2021-22 at the earliest.

Jets Lock Up Wheeler: Winnipeg entered the summer with several core players entering the final year of their respective contracts and it was only a matter of time before they started to address that.  They got the ball rolling by signing winger Blake Wheeler to a five-year, $41.25MM extension ($8.25MM AAV).  That represents a significant raise on his current deal which carries a $5.6MM cap charge.  While the deal locks up Wheeler through his age-37 season which is a little risky, the captain has very quietly been one of the more productive players in the league in recent years; only four players have more points than Wheeler does over the past three seasons.

Kelly Retires, Rejoins Senators: Long-time checking center Chris Kelly split last season between the AHL, the NHL, and Canada’s Olympic team, has called it a career at the age of 37.  The veteran played in 845 career NHL games over parts of 14 seasons, collecting 291 points along the way.  His post-playing days have already started as he has signed on with Ottawa as a player development coach.  The bulk of Kelly’s playing career game with the Senators after being drafted by the team back in 1999.

Seguin Extension Talks: After previously declaring his disappointment with the fact he has yet to sign a contract extension, talks have picked up in recent days between center Tyler Seguin and the Stars.  GM Jim Nill expressed that he’s hopeful a deal can be reached in time for the start of the season.  If they can’t come to terms, Seguin projects to be the top unrestricted free agent forward in July and could follow a process quite similar to the one that John Tavares went through this summer.  It will be interesting to see if Jamie Benn’s $9.5MM AAV represents an internal cap on an offer to Seguin or if they’re willing to pass that mark to get the 26-year-old locked up.

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This past week represented what is likely to be the calm before the storm as activity around the league should pick up with training camps on the horizon.  Despite there, there was still some notable news around the hockey world over the past seven days.

Oilers Ink Jerabek: With Andrej Sekera out long-term due to a torn Achilles tendon, Edmonton wasted little time adding to their defensive depth on the left side as they signed Jakub Jerabek to a one-year, $1MM contract.  The 27-year-old just finished his first season in North America and split the year between the AHL, Montreal, and Washington.  He played a very limited role with the Caps in their Stanley Cup run as he suited up just twice in the postseason.  Jerabek won’t be able to take on a 20-minute role in Edmonton but his ability to move the puck should be an asset to their back end.

Enstrom Heads Home: Defenseman Toby Enstrom was one of the more intriguing defensemen remaining on the open market.  Instead of joining another NHL team, the veteran chose to head home, signing a one-year deal with MODO of the Swedish Allsvenskan, a second-division team.  In doing so, the 33-year-old returns to the program he played with for parts of eight seasons before crossing the pond to head to the NHL.  If this is the end of the road in the NHL for Enstrom, he’d finish with 308 points in 719 games between the Thrashers and Jets.  However, given the demand for mobility on the back end, it’s certainly possible that he’ll attract some more interest next summer if he has a good showing in Sweden.

Karlsson Talks Pick Up: After things had gone quiet for a while regarding Senators defenseman Erik Karlsson, trade talks have picked up in recent days with a particular emphasis on the Western Conference.  Vancouver was briefly believed to be involved but GM Jim Benning quickly shot that down.  Karlsson himself also denied reports that he wouldn’t be willing to sign an extension in a Canadian city.  The Senators gave permission to prospective suitors to talk to Karlsson’s representatives about the parameters of an extension last month

Couturier Out Four Weeks: Flyers center Sean Couturier sustained a knee injury during a summer tournament that will keep him off the ice for roughly a month.  As a result, he will likely be held out of their lineup in the early part of the preseason but he should be fully recovered in time for the start of the regular season in October.  The 25-year-old is coming off of a career year that saw him collect 76 points in 82 games while averaging 21:36 per game, the third-most among all NHL forwards.

Chara Could Play Past 2018-19: While some have wondered if Zdeno Chara could be entering the final year of his career, that doesn’t appear to be the case.  Bruins head coach Bruce Cassidy indicated that his veteran blueliner “wants to have his legacy run a lot longer than just one more year,” suggesting that the 41-year-old isn’t planning on hanging up his skates after the upcoming season.  Chara isn’t the top pairing player he once was but he still logged nearly 23 minutes a night in 2017-18 which helped him earn a one-year, $5MM deal for 2018-19 that could reach as high as $6.75MM with performance bonuses.

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With training camps now just a month away, the pressure will start to pick up slightly to get new contracts done.  We saw a few of those deals inked this past week which highlight the top stories.

Three Years For Kase: Ducks winger Ondrej Kase was one of their more pleasant surprises in 2017-18.  After being largely a role player in his rookie campaign, he emerged as a quality secondary scorer as he scored 20 goals, tied for the second most on the team.  Anaheim rewarded him for his efforts, signing the 22-year-old to a three-year, $7.8MM contract.  The deal pays an even $2.6MM in each of the three seasons which means that figure will also represent his qualifying offer when it expires.  The Ducks still have some work to do in restricted free agency as winger Nick Ritchie is also in need of a new deal.

Sekera Out Indefinitely: After missing a big chunk of last season due to his recovery from a torn ACL, the Oilers were counting on a big year in 2018-19 from defenseman Andrej Sekera.  Unfortunately for them, that won’t be the case as he sustained a torn Achilles tendon during offseason training and has undergone surgery.  While the team is listing him simply as out indefinitely at this point, this will cost him a significant portion of the upcoming season.  As Edmonton’s top-paid blueliner, he will be tough to replace while this also places a bit more pressure on getting a deal done with restricted free agent defenseman Darnell Nurse.

Ellis Locked Up: Earlier this summer, Predators GM David Poile called locking up defenseman Ryan Ellis to a long-term extension their top priority.  They were able to get that accomplished on Tuesday as the two sides agreed to an eight-year, $50MM extension that will kick in for the 2019-20 season.  Notably, the deal does not contain any no-trade protection.  While he missed nearly half of last year due to knee surgery, he still managed to put up 32 points in just 44 games; his 0.73 points per game average was a career-best.  With the signing, Nashville’s big four on the back end are all locked up through 2019-20 while three of them are signed through 2021-22 meaning that their defense corps will continue to be the backbone of their team for a while yet.

Boeser, Canucks To Discuss Extension: Although he has just one full NHL season under his belt, Canucks winger Brock Boeser is entering the final year of his entry-level deal and is eligible to sign an extension at any time.  The two sides had preliminary talks last month and will meet again next week to see if they can make some progress on a new deal.  Some notable players have signed in the $6MM range coming off their entry-level contracts and it’s reasonable to expect that Boeser should check in somewhere around that area as well even though he has less of a track record than most players coming off of the second year of their rookie pact.

Laine In No Rush To Sign Extension: While the Canucks will be talking to their top youngster about a new deal, that may not be the case for the Jets and winger Patrik Laine.  In an interview, the 20-year-old acknowledged that he’s in no rush to get a deal done and that he’s open to signing this summer or waiting until next offseason.  He did, however, indicate that his preference is to get a long-term pact done with Winnipeg.  Laine has scored 80 goals in his first two rookie seasons (the second most in the league) and he should have a case that he’s worth the eight-year, $80MM extension that Buffalo handed center Jack Eichel (the second overall pick in 2015) last summer.

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While the activity around the league has slowed down as we’re well into the summer, there was still some notable news in recent days.  Here’s a rundown of the top stories from the past week.

Six Years For Dvorak: The Coyotes typically don’t hand out too many long-term contracts but they made an exception with youngster Christian Dvorak as they inked the center to a six-year, $26.7MM contract.  The 22-year-old followed up a strong rookie season with a very similar sophomore campaign as he collected 15 goals and 22 assists in 37 games.  Giving someone with those types of numbers a $4.45MM AAV has raised some eyebrows but it’s clear that GM John Chayka believes that Dvorak has another level to his game and that the asking price would have higher if they waited until after next season to get a deal done.

Tkachuk To Forego Remaining NCAA Eligibility: Brady Tkachuk had set a deadline to make a decision about whether he would sign with Ottawa or return for his sophomore year at Boston College.  The fourth overall pick has opted to sign with the Sens which eliminates his remaining college eligibility.  The question now becomes where the winger will play in 2018-19.  While he could potentially play regularly with the Senators, they could also opt to assign him to their AHL affiliate in Belleville or to the London Knights of the OHL who have his junior rights.

Wild To Wait On Staal Extension: While several teams are looking to lock up their prominent potential unrestricted free agents a year early, Minnesota will be taking a different approach when it comes to center Eric Staal.  The team plans to shelve any thought of a new deal until the season gets underway where new GM Paul Fenton can evaluate if he’s still going to be part of their plans moving forward while also hedging against a regression from his 42-goal, 76-point 2017-18 campaign.  Staal has been a major bargain on his current contract which pays $3.5MM per year, well below market value for someone producing like a top pivot.

Larkin Locked Up: Detroit got their top remaining restricted free agent locked up by signing center Dylan Larkin to a five-year, $30.5MM contract.  The deal gets their top point getter from last season signed at a good rate but the term is a little curious as it only buys out one season of UFA eligibility.  Larkin will be eligible to hit the open market at 27 which should have him well-positioned for an even bigger deal at that time.  For the time being, the Red Wings now project to be about $3.2MM over the salary cap but that could be alleviated and then some if center Henrik Zetterberg is unable to play next season.  GM Ken Holland acknowledged that their captain has been dealing with continued back problems which makes his status uncertain for October.  If he winds up on LTIR along with Johan Franzen, Detroit will wind up being well under the cap to start 2018-19.

Mikita Passes Away: Long-time Blackhawk and Hall of Fame winger Stan Mikita passed away at the age of 78.  He ranks 14th all-time in scoring with 1,467 career points in 1,397 career games and won a pair of Hart Trophies as well as a  Stanley Cup title back in 1961.  He still holds several records in Chicago including assists, points, games played, and plus/minus while sitting second in goals.  Mikita’s presence is still being felt today as he was one of the first to use a curved blade on his stick, something that is now commonplace today.

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While there was one arbitration hearing, several more players reached deals to avoid arbitration.  Those moves highlight the top stories of the past week.

Five Years For Zucker: After avoiding arbitration with defenseman Mathew Dumba last week, Minnesota did so once again this past week, this time with winger Jason Zucker.  Following a career season that saw the 26-year-old record 64 points, the two sides agreed on a five-year, $27.5MM contract, one that carries a ten-team no-trade list in the final four years of the deal.  The pact makes Zucker the third highest-paid forward in terms of cap hit on Minnesota behind only wingers Zach Parise and Mikael Granlund.

Linden Out In Vancouver: In a somewhat surprising move, Trevor Linden stepped down as President of Hockey Operations for the Canucks.  He had been in that role since 2014 and the team had only made the playoffs once in that span.  However, the team has amassed a quality group of core prospects to build around so while they appear to be in a rebuild, brighter days are certainly on the horizon.  GM Jim Benning will now report directly to ownership and Linden’s role will not be replaced so it will be interesting to see if the team decides to change course in the coming months.

Washington Locks Up Wilson: One of the surprise non-filers for salary arbitration was Capitals winger Tom Wilson.  Instead of looking at short-term pacts, the focus was a long-term deal and they found one that both Wilson and the team liked as he inked a six-year, $31MM contract.  The deal has raised a lot of eyebrows given Wilson’s lack of offensive production prior to 2017-18 not to mention his reputation around the league and with the Department of Player Safety.  If Wilson can continue to help Washington’s top line, they should be okay with this contract but if his role diminishes, this could be a contract that they’ll come to regret before too long.

Skjei Signs: The Rangers have been a busy team this summer locking up their restricted free agents and knocked another one off the list on Saturday, signing defenseman Brady Skjei to a six-year, $31.5MM contract.  The 24-year-old played a big role with New York last season and with the departure of Ryan McDonagh back at the trade deadline, it’s quite likely that he will be asked to take on an even more significant role for 2018-19 and beyond.  Expect to hear more from the Rangers in the coming days with hearings on the horizon for centers Kevin Hayes and Ryan Spooner.

More Defensemen Deals: Skjei was hardly the only blueliner to sign a new deal.  Veteran Dan Hamhuis is going back to where it all began after he inked a two-year, $2.5MM deal with Nashville to stabilize their third pairing.  Meanwhile, Brooks Orpik’s time away from Washington didn’t last too long as he rejoined the Capitals on a one-year, $1MM pact with an extra $500K in games played bonuses.  On the restricted free agent side, Joel Edmundson avoided arbitration with a one-year, $3MM deal with St. Louis while the Ducks and Brandon Montour settled on a two-year, $6.775MM pact.

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With arbitration hearings kicking off this past week, there was an uptick in re-signings across the league.  Several of those headline the top stories from the past seven days.

Lindholm Locked Up: The Flames inked one of the two players they acquired from Carolina back at the draft, signing forward Elias Lindholm to a six-year, $29.1MM contract.  The 23-year-old has put up between 39 and 45 points in each of the last four seasons while largely playing down the middle with the Hurricanes.  There is a chance that Lindholm starts next season on the right wing on the top line alongside Johnny Gaudreau and Sean Monahan which means he could be in line for a sizable boost in production.

Holding Pattern For Skinner, Pacioretty: Two of the more prominent wingers available on the trade market are Carolina’s Jeff Skinner and Montreal’s Max Pacioretty.  However, while both have been available for a while, it doesn’t appear as if progress is being made in discussions involving either of them.  With both being known to be on the block, other teams can wait things out in the hopes that one of the Hurricanes or Canadiens will eventually lower their asking price.  It’s worth noting that Skinner has a no-move clause while Pacioretty doesn’t have any formal trade protection but there’s a good chance that a team interested in acquiring him will want him to agree to a long-term deal which gives him a bit of leverage as well.

Extension For Henrique: The Ducks clearly liked what they saw from center Adam Henrique after acquiring him midseason from New Jersey as they locked him up on a five-year, $29.125MM contract extension that will kick in for the 2019-20 season.  The deal also contains a ten-team no-trade list and represents a small raise on the $5.5MM in salary he’s set to earn this coming season.  He made an immediate impact with Anaheim as even though he didn’t suit up for them until December, he tied for second on the team in goals with 20 last season.  With Ryan Kesler’s playing future in some question, it became that much more important for them to get Henrique locked up and give them some insurance at that position which they now have.

Panarin Sets Deadline: Although Blue Jackets GM Jarmo Kekalainen met with winger Artemi Panarin and his representation earlier in the week, no progress on a new deal was made.  That was then followed up by Panarin setting a deadline of September 13th for any ‘business matters’ which can certainly be interpreted to mean contract discussions.  It has been suggested that Panarin is hesitant to sign a max-term contract to stay in Columbus which has only fueled speculation that could be on the move once again.  This declaration from his camp could ultimately affect those discussions if whoever is interested in acquiring him also wants to try to work out a contract extension.

Deals For Defensemen: A pair of notable blueliners were set to go to arbitration but one settled in advance as Wild rearguard Mathew Dumba inked a five-year, $30MM contract.  He was coming off of a career year and with him and Ryan Suter both locked up long-term, Minnesota has their top pairing intact for the foreseeable future.  Meanwhile, Winnipeg and defender Jacob Trouba weren’t able to agree to terms and wound up going to a hearing with the arbitrator awarding a one-year, $5.5MM deal.  He will be eligible for restricted free agency once again next summer.

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Mid-July typically isn’t the busiest on the NHL calendar but there was quite a bit of notable news over the past seven days.  Unfortunately, not all of it was good with former NHL netminder Ray Emery passing away at the age of 35 on Sunday.  Here are five other big stories from the past week.

Kucherov Signs Long-Term: For the second time this month, the Lightning wasted little time signing a key player to a long-term extension.  This time it was their top scorer in Nikita Kucherov getting locked up as he inked an eight-year, $76MM contract, making him the eighth highest-paid forward in the league for 2019-20 when the deal kicks in.  The contract also contains a no-move clause beginning in 2020-21, the first season that he is eligible for one.  Tampa Bay now has nearly $66MM tied up in just a dozen players for 2019-20 so they will likely have to do some salary cap manoeuvering between now and then.

Hossa Traded: While his playing days are finished, winger Marian Hossa has seen his NHL rights get traded from Chicago to Arizona in a seven-player deal.  As compensation for taking on the contract, the Coyotes most notably picked up young forward Vincent Hinostroza while veteran center Marcus Kruger was the highlight of the return going to the Blackhawks.  Chicago now has freed up some salary cap flexibility as Hossa carries a $5.25MM cap charge for three more years on his heavily frontloaded deal so many believe they have another move on the way.  Meanwhile, the Coyotes add an intriguing player in Hinostroza and will only be responsible for paying $200K of Hossa’s $1MM in salary in each season with insurance picking up the remaining 80%.

Hellebuyck Signs Six-Year Deal: Winnipeg is going to be a busy team in the next few weeks as they still have several players to re-sign.  That list is now one player shorter after they put pen to paper on a six-year, $37MM contract with goaltender Connor Hellebuyck.  The 25-year-old is coming off the best season of his brief NHL career; he led the league in both games played (67) and wins (44) last season while helping lead the Jets to the Western Conference Final.  Hellebuyck will have a new backup playing behind him next year with the departures of Steve Mason (trade to Montreal and subsequent buyout) and Michael Hutchinson (signed with Florida).  Laurent Brossoit, who cleared waivers midseason, will now back him up and given his limited NHL track record, there’s a decent chance that Hellebuyck will be among the league leaders in playing time once again.

Canadiens Won’t Pursue A Pacioretty Extension: Montreal winger Max Pacioretty has been part of trade speculation for a while now and that picked up even more following a report that said that the captain has been told that the team will not be signing him to a new deal and that they intend to trade him as soon as possible.  The 29-year-old has one year left on his contract with a $4.5MM cap hit and is believed to be looking for a significant raise on his next deal after being one of the more consistent goal scorers in the league heading into last season.  However, he’s coming off of a fairly quiet 2017-18 campaign that saw him score just 17 times in 64 games which certainly doesn’t help his leverage for a new deal and Montreal’s leverage in trade discussions.

Vegas Locks Up Fleury: Last month, Golden Knights goalie Marc-Andre Fleury made it known that his preference was to stay with Vegas for the rest of his career.  That goal has come one step closer to becoming a reality as he signed a three-year, $21MM extension that is set to commence in 2019-20.  Fleury had a very strong first season in the desert as he posted new career marks in goals-against-average (2.24) and save percentage (.927), numbers that he duplicated in the Golden Knights’ improbable run to the Stanley Cup Final.  If Vegas gets even close to that type of play from Fleury over the life of this new deal, they’ll be in good shape between the pipes for a while.

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The first full week of free agency didn’t yield as many surprises and headlines as July 1st did but there was still plenty of news around the league.  Here are the top stories from the past seven days.

San Jose Extensions: After not being able to sign John Tavares, the Sharks quickly turned their focus towards bringing back one of their own unrestricted free agents in Joe Thornton as they signed him to a one-year, $5MM contract.  The 39-year-old last played in January before suffering a knee injury that required surgery but when he played last season, he was fairly productive with 36 points in 47 games.  Meanwhile, winger Tomas Hertl agreed to a four-year, $22.5MM deal to stick around.  The 24-year-old set a new career high in goals last season with 22 while tying his best point output with 46.

Karlsson Saga: As expected, the Senators offered defenseman Erik Karlsson a contract extension as soon as they were eligible.  Not surprisingly, the offer was rejected and the team has now turned their focus towards trading him.  Early on, Dallas emerged as a potential frontrunner but later in the week, Tampa Bay became the leading candidate for his services.  However, given their salary cap situation, they need a third team to help facilitate a deal.  While there was some early speculation that the Rangers and even the Devils could be candidates to do so, talks appear to have stalled for the time being.  Given everything that has transpired over the past week though, this isn’t going to be the last we hear of trade talk involving Karlsson this summer.

Arbitration Filings: Thursday marked the deadline for player-elected salary arbitration and there were quite a few more takers than usual.  After 30 filed last year, 44 filed this time around.  (No teams opted to take their players to arbitration during the window that expired on Friday.)  Headliners on that list include Golden Knights center William Karlsson, Jets goalie Connor Hellebuyck plus defenseman Jacob Trouba, as well as Senators winger Mark Stone.  Of the 44, five have already agreed to new deals and many more will so in advance of the hearings which are scheduled to run from July 20th through August 4th.

Weber Out Long-Term: It hasn’t been a great summer for Montreal in terms of bolstering their NHL team and they got some more bad news when it comes to top defenseman Shea Weber.  A scheduled cleanup of his knee wound up resulting in surgery to repair his torn meniscus, one that carries a five-to-six month recovery timeline.  That means that their back end, which struggled mightily without him last season, will be asked to shoulder the load for the first couple of months next season.  Weber joins wingers Andrew Shaw (knee) and Paul Byron (shoulder) as regulars that are not expected to be available when the regular season kicks off in October.

Hurricanes Add Defense: Carolina’s back end has been a strength for them in recent years but it’s undergoing a notable transformation.  After adding Dougie Hamilton at the draft as part of a deal that saw Noah Hanifin go to Calgary, they then added UFA Calvin de Haan on a four-year, $18.2MM contract.  He should slide in well on their second pairing and take Hanifin’s old role.  There’s a decent chance that the transformation isn’t complete either as Justin Faulk continues to be involved in trade speculation.  With Brett Pesce and Hamilton both ahead of him on the depth chart, Faulk and his $4.83MM cap hit may be deemed too pricey for the third pairing.

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While there weren’t as many big moves around the league, it was still quite the busy week.  On top of the announcement of the NHL Awards, the salary cap getting set at $79.5MM, and 217 prospects being drafted, there were still several other notable stories around the league over the past seven days.

1) Kovalchuk To Kings: While the contract can’t officially be signed until July 1st, the first major domino of the free agent market has already fallen as the Kings have agreed to terms on a three-year, $18.75MM contract with winger Ilya Kovalchuk.  The 35-year-old was one of the top goal scorers in the NHL before he departed for the KHL five years ago.  He has been quite productive during that stretch and clearly, the Kings believe that he will be able to produce at a high level in his return.  It’s worth noting that this contract will not absolve the Devils of any of the salary cap recapture penalties that they incurred when he ‘retired’ back in 2013; they will continue to carry an annual $250K penalty through the 2024-25 season.

2) Hoffman Traded, Then Dealt Again: With some behind the scenes making it a guarantee that the Senators would move winger Mike Hoffman, the deal came to fruition when he was dealt to the Sharks along with minor league defender Cody Donaghey and a 2020 fifth-round pick for winger Mikkel Boedker, prospect blueliner Julius Bergman, and a 2020 sixth-rounder.  In Boedker, the Sens pick up a speedy winger that they hope can fill a middle-six role for the next couple of seasons.

However, Hoffman’s journey didn’t end there.  San Jose then flipped him to the Panthers along with their seventh-rounder from this weekend’s draft in exchange for a trio of draft picks – Florida’s fourth- and fifth-rounders from this past weekend plus their 2019 second-round pick.  From San Jose’s perspective, they wind up clearing out Boedker’s $4MM for the next two years while adding some draft picks; they’re going to be factors either in free agency or the trade market over the next week or two.  As for Florida, Hoffman should fit in nicely on their second line and makes an already decent attack that much deeper.

3) Flames, Hurricanes Make Five-Player Trade: There wasn’t a whole lot of player movement at the draft but there was one deal of significance.  The Hurricanes, who have been looking to shake up their roster all offseason, dealt defenseman Noah Hanifin and center Elias Lindholm (both pending restricted free agents) to Calgary in exchange for defender Dougie Hamilton, winger Micheal Ferland, and the rights to prospect blueliner Adam Fox.  The Flames hope that Lindholm will be a better fit in their top-six than Ferland who is more better suited to be a bottom-six player while Carolina is counting on Hamilton, a more offensive-minded defender to make a bigger contribution than Hanifin over the next few years.

4) Trotz Leaves Capitals, Joins Islanders: Barry Trotz’s contract situation with the Capitals was a storyline for most of the year.  He was entering the final year of his deal with no extension on the horizon.  It turns out that winning the Stanley Cup gave him an automatic two-year, $3.6MM extension.  At the time his initial deal was done, that was closer to market value for coaches but with the recent explosion in coaching salaries, that’s no longer the case.  Unable to come to terms with the Caps on a revised deal, Trotz decided to resign.

However, he wasn’t on the open market for long.  Just days later, he was scooped up by the Islanders, who handed him a five-year deal worth roughly $4MM per season which gives him more than double the amount per season than he’d have received on his Washington deal.  While the hiring didn’t stop top UFA John Tavares from saying he’d meet with teams during this week’s interview period, his addition certainly shouldn’t hurt New York’s chances of keeping him around while giving them some stability behind the bench regardless.

5) Carlson Stays Put: The top defenseman in free agency isn’t going to make it to the open market after all.  While he did get a little bit of interest when the interview period, Capitals defenseman John Carlson focused on getting a contract done in Washington and they did just that, agreeing on an eight-year, $64MM pact.  Just a few days ago, it seemed like they would have difficulty being able to afford to keep him but they were able to include veteran blueliner Brooks Orpik as part of the Philipp Grubauer trade to Colorado to free up the necessary funds.  With Carlson off the market, Detroit’s Mike Green becomes the top offensive blueliner available.

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With the draft now less than a week away and free agency on the horizon, activity has started to pick up around the league.  Here are the top stories from the past week.

Coyotes Agree To Terms With Ekman-Larsson: Arizona’s top player is sticking around for the long haul.  While a new contract can’t be signed until July 1st, the Coyotes have agreed to terms on an eight-year, $66MM extension with defenseman Oliver Ekman-Larsson that will kick in starting in 2019-20.  The soon-to-be 27-year-old has been an anchor on their back end since he joined the league as a 19-year-old back in 2010 and will continue to be there for many years to come.  Assuming the deal is made official as expected next month, that will take one of the big-three potential UFA defensemen off the market (the others being Drew Doughty of the Kings and Erik Karlsson of the Senators).

Capitals Will Explore Trading Grubauer: While the UFA market has several goalies who could handle more than a typical second-string netminder, there isn’t someone who could plausibly step in as a full-time number one.  Teams looking for someone with starting potential will be looking to the Capitals, who revealed that they will look into dealing Philipp Grubauer.  The pending restricted free agent actually took over as the starter for a brief point this past season and even got the nod to start the playoffs.  It’s believed he would welcome an opportunity to take on a number one workload and that’s something that won’t be available in Washington with Braden Holtby signed for two more years and top prospect Ilya Samsonov also under contract.  Grubauer is only a year away from unrestricted free agent eligibility so wherever he winds up, he’ll likely sign a multi-year deal.

Galchenyuk Dealt For Domi: The first notable trade of the offseason was made on Friday with the Canadiens moving winger Alex Galchenyuk to the Coyotes in exchange for winger Max Domi.  Montreal then inked Domi to a two-year, $6.3MM contract.  Both players are natural centers and it appears that Arizona will try Galchenyuk in that role while Domi appears to be earmarked to stay on the wing with the Canadiens as things currently stand.  The move is a swap of a better natural goal scorer (Galchenyuk) for a better playmaker (Domi) which on the surface is a bit perplexing from Montreal’s standpoint as they already struggle to score.

Tavares Focusing On Extension With Islanders: The future of Islanders center John Tavares has been in question for well over a year.  The expectation lately is that he was likely to test the market but that may not be as much of a certainty now following a report that his focus now is re-upping in New York.  The center has long stated that his preference would be to remain with the Isles but given a lot of the off-ice questions, many expected that those would help push him out.  While there is still some uncertainty behind the bench, the well-respected Lou Lamoriello is now in charge while there is hope on the horizon for a new arena down the road which Tavares likely views as positives.  The free agent interview opens up on June 25th which becomes the next important date to watch for as this situation nears a conclusion.

The Hoffman Saga: The Senators have been shopping winger Mike Hoffman dating back to well before the trade deadline with a justifiably-high asking price.  His value now has likely dropped following an off-ice situation regarding his fiancée and comments that were allegedly made by her regarding Erik Karlsson and his wife Melinda.  Hoffman’s agent acknowledged that a change of scenery for his client is pretty much now a must which certainly doesn’t help Pierre Dorion’s leverage in negotiations.  Some around the league believe that Dorion’s reputation may also have been damaged as the asking price was believed to be dropped just before this situation went public.  At any rate, it was looking like Hoffman was a near-guarantee to be moved in the days and weeks to come but that may not be the case anymore.

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