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Morning Notes: Boll, Olczyk, Cohen

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It’s the end of a career for Jared Boll, who Aaron Portzline of The Athletic reports has hung up his skates for the last time. Boll retires after a career as one of the league’s most prolific fighters, dropping the mitts 171 times in the NHL over a 579 game career. Boll put up 226 penalty minutes as a rookie in 2007-08, after being selected in the fourth round of the 2005 draft by the Columbus Blue Jackets.

Ending his career with the Anaheim Ducks, Boll will retire with 66 NHL points, 1,298 penalty minutes and more than a few bruises. As the league moves further and further away from fighting, and reduces the number of true enforcers playing in the NHL, there just wasn’t a place for the 32-year old any longer. It’s safe to say the fans in Columbus will look back fondly on his tenure, even if the game has moved on.

  • Rick Olczyk has moved on from the Carolina Hurricanes according to Aaron Ward, who reports the long-time executive will be joining the Toronto Maple Leafs in some capacity. Olczyk has been the Hurricanes’ assistant GM for several years, but with the firing of Ron Francis and takeover by Don Waddell, there may have been a mutual parting. It’s not clear what role the former Edmonton Oilers executive would take on in Toronto, as the team already has two assistant general managers in Brandon Pridham and Laurence Gilman. There had been plenty of rumors around a potential fit for Francis in Toronto due to his Sault Ste. Marie connections with GM Kyle Dubas, and perhaps he recommended Olczyk for certain responsibilities.
  • The Arizona Coyotes have promoted Ahron Cohen to President and CEO according to Craig Morgan of AZ Sports, replacing Steve Patterson who had been named CEO just last year. Cohen at that time was named COO after serving as general counsel, but will now take over the business operations of the team. Cohen was clear that he’ll do everything he can to turn around the Coyotes franchise and bring sustained success to the city when he told Morgan “I’m married to this job. This is my passion. I love this team and I love the opportunity we have to build something special in Arizona.”

Arizona Coyotes Re-Sign Dakota Mermis

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There won’t be any salary arbitration drama with the Arizona Coyotes this summer, as the team has locked up their one arbitration-eligible player. The team announced that they have signed defenseman Dakota Mermis to a one-year, two-way contract. Salary terms have not yet been disclosed.

A two-way contract for Mermis is a nice achievement for GM John Chayka. Not only has Chayka himself spoken highly of the young defender, but Arizona Sports’ Craig Morgan recently called Mermis a legitimate candidate for the No. 7 spare defenseman role for the ’Yotes. An undrafted free agent out of the OHL’s London Knights, Mermis has boosted his stock through his first three pro seasons and seems poised for an NHL career.

Mermis, 24, played in nine games with Arizona last season. He was held scoreless in limited minutes, but did make his mark defensively. After a 19-point campaign with the AHL’s Tuscon Roadrunners that was followed up by an impressive postseason performance, Mermis is likely to push for playtime with the Coyotes next season. However, the two-way nature of his contract will allow Arizona to stash him in the minors if need be.

Arizona Coyotes Re-Sign Brad Richardson

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It seemed as though there was no room for Brad Richardson on the Arizona Coyotes after they traded for Marcus Kruger and Alex Galchenyuk, but the team has nevertheless signed the veteran center to a two-year contract according to Craig Morgan of AZ Sports. The deal will carry an average annual value of $1.25MM.

Richardson, 33, is well liked in Arizona for his willingness to do whatever it takes on the ice and played a strong bottom-six center role for the team last season. With the expectation that young Dylan Strome makes the team full-time, there may need to be a switch for Richardson to the wing this season, something that shouldn’t really reduce his effectiveness as a checking option and penalty killer. He will still likely be asked to take a ton of faceoffs as he did a year ago, easily posting the best winning percentage among Arizona forwards at 52.1%. That’s actually slightly below his career average, and a number that even Kruger—also known for his defensive abilities—has failed to reach on many occasions.

For $1.25MM this deal presents very little risk for the Coyotes, who add a quality NHL player for a little more than what can be buried in the minor leagues. Though Arizona rarely flirts with the salary cap ceiling, they can certainly afford to pay one of their veteran leaders a little less than $1.5MM for the next couple of seasons. If Richardson could ever post another season like his 2015-16, in which he scored 11 goals and 31 points, his contract would look like an incredible bargain.

Coyotes Name Jay Varady Head Coach Of AHL Tucson

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Although the Senators have offered defenseman Erik Karlsson a contract extension as they promised they would, it doesn’t appear like it was well-received.  Larry Brooks of the New York Post reports (Twitter link) that Ottawa has given teams interested in acquiring him permission to discuss a contract extension with the 28-year-old.

Brooks adds that Karlsson is seeking the same contract that Kings blueliner Drew Doughty received at eight years and $88MM.  That appears to be too rich for the Senators and accordingly, it appears that the odds of him playing elsewhere next season have gone up.

More from around the league:

  • Slava Voynov’s path back to the NHL took a step forward today as he was granted an expungement of his domestic abuse conviction, reports Curtis Zupke of the LA Times. This paves the way for him to seek a hearing with Commissioner Gary Bettman about being reinstated into the league.  The Kings still hold Voynov’s rights as he sits on the voluntary retired list following his original contract being terminated.  While all signs point to Los Angeles not wanting to bring him back, they would be allowed to trade his rights if and when he is reinstated.
  • The Bruins have re-signed winger Anton Blidh to a one-year, two-way contract, reports TVA Sports’ Renaud Lavoie (Twitter link). The deal is worth the league minimum $650K at the NHL level.  The 23-year-old suited up once with Boston last season but spent the majority of the year in the minors where he collected 11 goals and 15 assists in 71 games.
  • The Coyotes have filled their head coaching vacancy at the AHL level. The team announced that they have appointed Jay Varady as the new bench boss of the Tucson Roadrunners.  He spent last season as the head coach of OHL Kingston while he had previously filled that same role with Sioux City of the USHL.  Varady takes the place of Mike Van Ryn, who was named an assistant coach with St. Louis back in May.

Kings To Sign Drew Doughty To Eight-Year Extension

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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.

Buffalo Signs Brandon Hickey To Entry-Level Contract

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After acquiring defenseman Brandon Hickey from the Arizona Coyotes last month, the Sabres had until August to sign the Boston University product before he became an unrestricted free agent. Per The Athletic’s John Vogl, Buffalo has gotten a deal done, signing Hickey to a two-year entry-level contract.

The 22-year-old blueliner could have been an unrestricted free agent if he waited until Aug. 1. With the belief that they couldn’t sign him, Arizona sent him along with Mike Sislo to Buffalo for winger Hudson Fasching. Buffalo felt they could ink the four-year college veteran and now they have.

Hickey put up solid numbers at BU as he tallied six goals and 14 points this past season. At 6-foot-2, he provides Buffalo with some size and while he’s a better defensive player, is considered to have the skills to develop into a solid two-way player. He has already played with several Sabres’ players while at Boston University, including Jack Eichel, Evan Rodrigues and Daniel O’Regan.

Hickey likely will start the season with the AHL Rochester Americans and along with some of their other defensive prospects like Lawrence Pilut, Taylor Fedun, Zach Redmond and Matt Tennyson, the team should have quite a few talented pieces in their system.

Oliver Ekman-Larsson Officially Signs Eight-Year Extension

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Though it had been confirmed for some time, the Arizona Coyotes couldn’t officially sign Oliver Ekman-Larsson to an extension until today. Now that they can, they quickly announced the eight-year extension for their star defenseman. The team did not release the financial details, but several reports have it totaling $66MM. The salary will be paid as follows:

  • 2019-20: $8MM
  • 2020-21: $8MM
  • 2021-22: $10.5MM
  • 2022-23: $10.5MM
  • 2023-24: $10.5MM
  • 2024-25: $8MM
  • 2025-26: $5.25MM
  • 2026-27: $5.25MM

After spending a full season listening to trade rumors about Ekman-Larsson as the team wasn’t sure it could sign their superstar defenseman, Arizona managed to lock him up. Part of the reason was the team’s second-half success as the team started winning in the second-half. That sign the team is heading in the right direction was a key reason Ekman-Larsson wanted to return. That doesn’t include all the changes that general manager John Chayka has made, ranging from bringing in veterans like Derek Stepan, Alex Galchenyuk, Michael Grabner and Antti Raanta, not to mention the influx of youth to the team like Clayton Keller, Dylan Strome, Christian Dvorak, Jakob Chychrun, Brendan Perlini. and 2018 first-rounder Barrett Hayton.

The team also brought in veteran countryman Niklas Hjalmarsson in a offseason trade last year, who has mentored the young 26-year-old. Now even Hjalmarsson has re-signed with Arizona for another two years, keeping the two together even longer.

Michael Grabner Signs With Arizona Coyotes

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The Arizona Coyotes have added some speed to their forward group, signing Michael Grabner for three years at an average annual value of $3.35MM.

Arizona, who supposedly was aggressively pursuing James van Riemsdyk, settled for Grabner, who comes with a solid pricetag. Arizona, who had a solid second-half of the season last year is trying to build on their veteran players and adding a successful scoring sniper is a solid addition to their top-six lines. Unfortunately, Grabner is well known to be a streaky player as the veteran has posted a 34-goal season, along with a 27-goal and a 25-goal season, but has also put up nine and 12-goal seasons.

The 30-year-old has bounced around a lot (although he did have a five-year stint with the New York Islanders), but he has become a solid trade commodity. He signed a two-year deal with the Rangers in 2016 and after posting 27 goals in 2016-17 and 25 goals in just 59 games last year, he was a moved to the New Jersey Devils, where he managed to score just two goals in 21 games.

In Arizona, Grabner could find himself fighting for a spot on the team’s No. 1 line alongside former Rangers’ teammate Derek Stepan.

Snapshots: Van Riemsdyk, Komorov, Lehner, Mrazek, Brodziak

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While the free agent market is escalating fast as the window opens tomorrow, the bidding war that surrounds unrestricted free agent center James van Riemsdyk has increased in the last few hours. The Toronto Maple Leafs winger, who tallied a career-high 36 goals last year, is being heavily courted by several teams. TSN’s Frank Seravalli reports (Tweet link) that nothing is close yet and the free agent is still deliberating and hasn’t narrowed down his list beyond a handful of teams.

Regardless, optimism is abound as Arizona Sports 98.7 Sports host John Gambadoro (Tweet link) writes that the Arizona Coyotes are aggressively in the mix for van Riemsdyk and could get an answer as soon as tonight as to where the free agent will sign. AZ Sports Craig Morgan (Tweet link) adds that there is optimism that the Coyotes are a serious contender. The Athletic’s James Mirtle writes (Tweet link) that the Buffalo Sabres are also pushing hard for van Riemsdyk and it looks like the veteran sniper could break the bank with his deal.

  • The Athletic’s Aaron Portzline (Tweet link) writes the Columbus Blue Jackets and the New York Rangers are both interested in unrestricted free agent Leo Komarov. The former Toronto Maple Leafs’ center had a down year as the 31-year-old scored just seven goals and 19 points in 74 games. The veteran instigator is coming off a four-year, $11.8MM deal that he signed back in 2014.
  • With the goaltending market already spinning at high speeds, the Carolina Hurricanes must sort out their goaltending situation quickly, according to Chip Alexander of the News & Observer. With backup Cam Ward expected to sign with the Chicago Blackhawks and the struggles that surrounded starter Scott Darling last year, the team must find someone who can share duties with Darling, especially if he struggles for a second-straight year. Alexander writes the team has shown interest in former starters Robin Lehner and Petr Mrazek, both goalies who were not given qualifying offers earlier this week.
  • Jim Thomas of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch writes that while there are reports that Blues’ unrestricted free agent Kyle Brodziak is close to signing a deal with the Edmonton Oilers, the Blues are still in the mix to re-sign their veteran center. The 34-year-old center played three years in St. Louis and posted his best numbers yet, tallying 10 goals and 33 points.

 

Zac Rinaldo To Sign A Two-Way Deal With Nashville

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The Nashville Predators continue to add depth to their team as Fox Sports Andy Strickland reports that unrestricted forward Zac Rinaldo will sign a two-way deal with the Predators. Terms of a deal have not been announced.

With the team’s significant depth at forward at the NHL level, the two-way deal is significant as the team can have him play with their AHL affiliate, the Milwaukee Admirals and can then be called up to supplement the team’s depth if needed without having to pass the forward through waivers. The physical forward, who played for the Arizona Coyotes last year, re-joins Nashville head coach Peter Laviolette when both were with the Philadelphia Flyers. Rinaldo started with Philadelphia and played five season there before being traded to Boston in 2015.

The 28-year-old forward played in just 53 games with the Coyotes last season, posting five goals and seven points on the season along with 44 penalty minutes, playing the entire season at the NHL level. He is well know for controversial hits, including one last December in which he was suspended six games for punching Colorado defenseman Samuel Girard. He has been suspended five times by the Department of Player Safety over his career.

 

 

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