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Winnipeg Jets Sign Austin Poganski

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The Winnipeg Jets have added some more forward depth, signing Austin Poganski to a one-year, two-way contract. The deal will carry a salary of $750K at the NHL level. Poganski qualified for Group VI unrestricted free agency this season after spending the early part of his professional career with the St. Louis Blues.

The 25-year-old Poganski played five games for the Blues this season, spending nearly the entire year on the taxi squad. In 2019-20, he had 30 points in 56 games for the San Antonio Rampage of the AHL, but isn’t expected to be much of an offensive presence at the NHL level. Instead, if he wants to play at the highest level,  the powerful skater is going to have to carve out a role as a bottom-six energy player.

There is room for that in Winnipeg, where they have just nine forwards signed to one-way contracts after today’s moves. The team currently has a few spots at the bottom of the roster open for competition, and though some younger, higher-profile prospects may be destined to fill them, a player like Poganski could potentially slot in as a 13th or 14th forward to open the year. If not, and he’s ticketed for the minor leagues, he’ll have to clear waivers to get there.

Jets Sign Riley Nash

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The Jets have added some veteran depth down the middle as they announced that they’ve signed Riley Nash to a one-year contract.  The one-way deal is worth the league minimum salary of $750K.

Nash split last season between the Blue Jackets and Maple Leafs.  He suited up in 37 regular season games – all with Columbus – picking up just two goals and five assists while winning 49.7% of his faceoffs and averaging 12:46 per game.  It looked like his season had come to an end in early April after suffering a knee injury.  However, Toronto flipped a 2022 seventh-rounder to acquire him, transferring him to LTIR in the process to expand their LTIR pool.  He was able to return for the playoffs although he only suited up in two of their seven games in their first-round loss to Montreal.

The Jets saw several veteran role players head elsewhere in free agency with Trevor Lewis going to Calgary, Nate Thompson signing in Philadelphia, and Mathieu Perreault inking a deal in Montreal and Nash will serve as a replacement for Thompson and should anchor their fourth line.  With 578 career NHL games under his belt, he’ll serve as a veteran penalty killer and will allow David Gustafsson to have a bit more time with AHL Manitoba before making the jump to the NHL on a full-time basis.

Sportsnet’s Ken Wiebe was the first to report that Nash was signing with the Jets.

Jets Re-Sign Eric Comrie

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The Jets have agreed to terms with one of their pending unrestricted free agents as they announced that they’ve re-signed goaltender Eric Comrie to a one-year contract.  The one-way deal will pay him the league minimum of $750K.

The 26-year-old has certainly bounced around over the past two seasons.  Between October of 2019 and mid-February of this year, he was claimed off waivers four times and traded once.  Despite that, he played all of four NHL games in that stretch.  While several teams wanted him, they preferred him solely as an insurance policy over someone that could be a regular backup goaltender.

Two of those waiver claims came this year and between that and the taxi squad, Comrie was limited to just five total appearances – one with New Jersey and four with AHL Manitoba where he posted a 1.23 GAA and a .947 SV%, numbers that were much better than his AHL career averages of 2.82 and .911, respectively.

Comrie has just five career NHL games under his belt but could very well be slotted in as Winnipeg’s backup goaltender behind Connor Hellebuyck next season.  Laurent Brossoit is set to test the open market tomorrow while the recent acquisitions of Nate Schmidt and Brenden Dillon have cut into their cap space while they still have several restricted free agents to re-sign headed up by Neal Pionk.  One way to save money is to have a cheap backup goalie which could work in Comrie’s favor.  Otherwise, Comrie will at least have a one-way deal under his belt before seeing if he’ll bounce around the league again or make it back to the minors with the Moose.

TSN’s Darren Dreger was the first to report that Comrie had re-signed.

Jets Acquire Nate Schmidt

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While it was believed that Nate Schmidt wasn’t keen on being traded to the Jets, he had a change of heart as on Tuesday, he waived his no-trade clause to be traded to Winnipeg with the Canucks receiving the Jets’ third-round pick in 2022 in return.  Both teams have announced the trade.

Schmidt was acquired from Vegas last fall early in free agency with the Golden Knights needing to free up cap space to facilitate the signing of Alex Pietrangelo.  The return in that deal was a 2022 third-round selection which means Vancouver was basically able to get a free year out of Schmidt when the two moves are combined.

Unfortunately, that free season wasn’t a great one for the 30-year-old.  While he fit in quite well in Vegas, that wasn’t the case in Vancouver as Schmidt struggled for most of the year.  His offensive production was cut in half from the previous year from 31 to 15 points despite playing in nearly the same number of games and that was hardly the return they were expecting from someone that carries a $5.95MM cap hit.  Those struggles likely played a role in Vancouver swinging a deal for Oliver Ekman-Larsson over the weekend, a move that sealed Schmidt’s fate as being someone that was about to be on the move again.

Meanwhile, Winnipeg makes their second notable defensive addition in as many days after acquiring Brenden Dillon from Washington on Monday.  The Jets were hit hard two years ago with several blueliners leaving for no return in Ben Chiarot and Tyler Myers (free agency), the injury and subsequent retirement of Dustin Byfuglien, while Jacob Trouba was traded to the Rangers in a deal that netted Neal Pionk, a move that has worked out well for them thus far.  Even so, the only defensive addition of note prior to these two moves was Dylan DeMelo so there was work that needed to be done.

This addition, coupled with Dillon’s pickup, gives Winnipeg much more depth on the back end as the two could possibly form their second pairing behind Pionk and Josh Morrissey for next season while pushing DeMelo down to the third pairing.  All of a sudden, a position that was their biggest weakness looks a lot stronger.

With these moves – Winnipeg is picking up the full contract for Schmidt per Pierre LeBrun of TSN and The Athletic (Twitter link) – that should be it for additions on their back end.  GM Kevin Cheveldayoff will have a little over $7MM in cap room remaining (excluding Bryan Little’s LTIR-bound contract which carries a $5.291MM AAV) with Pionk, Logan Stanley, and Andrew Copp needing new contracts.  They’ll need to dip into that LTIR pool to get those deals done.

Meanwhile, Vancouver has freed up $9.75MM in cap room today with this swap and the Braden Holtby buyout.  The Canucks still have Elias Pettersson and Quinn Hughes among those in need of new contracts but they’ll have roughly $25MM in cap room, giving them enough flexibility to try to make another big splash over the coming days.

TSN’s Darren Dreger was the first to report that Schmidt had agreed to the trade. PuckPedia was the first to report that Winnipeg’s pick, not their other selection from Columbus (previously acquired) was going to Vancouver.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.  Cap and contract information courtesy of CapFriendly.

Brenden Dillon Dealt To Winnipeg Jets

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TSN’s Darren Dreger is reporting that the Washington Capitals have dealt defenseman Brenden Dillon to the Winnipeg Jets in exchange for second-round picks in 2022 and 2023.

Dillon enters the Jets lineup immediately as one of their better and most experienced defensemen. A veteran of over 650 NHL contests, Dillon arrives in Winnipeg via Washington, who signed him to a deal with a $3.9MM cap hit at two years remaining.  With this trade, it appears that Winnipeg may finally be getting Josh Morrissey some relief on the back-end. Dillon has experience playing 19 to 20 minutes a night and could play on either the top or second pairing in Manitoba. If it’s any help to Morrissey, it’ll be appreciated. Since Morrissey’s been entrusted with added responsibility after the departure of Dustin Byfuglien, his defensive play has really struggled. Some additional defensive help and some easier matchups may make Morrissey a more effective asset. Regardless of that, they’re still getting an excellent defensive defenseman in Dillon, who’s done well against good, but not great competition over the past few seasons.

It does raise one question, as there’s now just one spot remaining on Winnipeg’s left side. Which one of Ville Heinola or Logan Stanley won’t be cracking next year’s lineup, and could there be an additional deal that moves one of them out? It’s a good problem to have for the Jets, who now look in much better shape defensively than last season.

For Washington, the clearing of Dillon’s $3.9MM cap hit is crucial to their success this offseason. With captain Alex Ovechkin likely commanding a double-digit deal, questions about Washington’s ability to continue to build a contender have loomed large due to the flat salary cap. With Dillon’s departure, it opens the door for Michal Kempny to reclaim a spot in the lineup after he missed the entirety of 2020-21 with injury. If Kempny is at 100%, he’s shown the ability to be a capable top-four defenseman in the past and could be the perfect in-house replacement for Dillon.

All salary cap figures courtesy of CapFriendly

Winnipeg Jets Re-Sign Paul Stastny

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Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman is reporting that the Winnipeg Jets have re-signed forward Paul Stastny. It’s a one-year deal that carries a $3.75MM cap hit.

Stastny, now 35 years of age, will look to spend his second-straight full season in a Winnipeg uniform with a bit more offensive success. The four-time 60-point scorer has had a rougher go of it in recent years with injury catching up to him and has seen his ice time reduced as well. He’s posted back-to-back seasons under 40 points for the first time in his career, but he’s still a capable top-six talent who brings veteran leadership.

It’s certainly an efficient gamble on a one-year deal for the Jets and GM Kevin Cheveldayoff. While Stastny’s finishing ability isn’t what it used to be, he’s still one of the best offensive chance generators in the league. He could do well playing with a talent like Blake Wheeler or Pierre-Luc Dubois, both big-name players who struggled offensively in Winnipeg last season. Stastny also still brings one of the better complete games in the league, maintaining his role as an above-average defensive center with penalty-killing capabilities.

It remains to be seen whether this one-year pact could be Stastny’s last go of it in the league, but what’s for certain is that he’s taking a team-friendly deal. Taking a pay cut of almost $3MM to stay with the team, they’ll likely use the added space to make an addition to the defense corps in front of goalie Connor Hellebuyck. A more well-rounded team could bring great success to the Jets this season as they still look to capture their first Stanley Cup in franchise history.

2021 NHL Draft Selections By Team

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Today concluded the 2021 NHL Draft, the first edition with 32 teams in the running. Some teams selected just three times (sorry, Toronto), while Don Waddell and the Carolina Hurricanes selected an NHL-record 13 times for a seven-round draft. After all the chaos of last night and today, catch up here on who your team selected and when.

Anaheim Ducks
Round 1, Pick 3: F Mason McTavish
Round 2, Pick 34: D Olen Zellweger
Round 3, Pick 66: F Sasha Pastujov
Round 3, Pick 76 (from CHI via MTL): D Tyson Hinds
Round 4, Pick 98: F Josh Lopina
Round 5, Pick 130: F Sean Tschigerl
Round 5, Pick 148 (from EDM via OTT): G Gage Alexander
Round 6, Pick 162: F Kyle Kukkonen

Arizona Coyotes
Round 1, Pick 9 (from VAN): F Dylan Guenther
Round 2, Pick 37 (from CBJ via OTT): F Josh Doan
Round 2, Pick 43: F Ilya Fedotov
Round 2, Pick 60 (from COL via NYI): D Janis Jerome Moser
Round 4, Pick 107: D Emil Martinsen Lilleberg
Round 4, Pick 122 (from PIT): G Rasmus Korhonen
Round 5, Pick 139: F Manix Landry
Round 6, Pick 171: D Cal Thomas
Round 7, Pick 223 (from MTL via CHI): F Sam Lipkin

Boston Bruins
Round 1, Pick 21: F Fabian Lysell
Round 3, Pick 85: F Brett Harrison
Round 4, Pick 117: G Philip Svedeback
Round 5, Pick 149: F Oskar Jellvik
Round 6, Pick 181: D Ryan Mast
Round 7, Pick 213: F Andre Gasseau
Round 7, Pick 217 (from TOR): D Ty Gallagher

Buffalo Sabres
Round 1, Pick 1: D Owen Power
Round 1, Pick 14 (from PHI): F Isak Rosen
Round 2, Pick 33: F Prokhor Poltapov
Round 2, Pick 53 (from BOS): F Alexander Kisakov
Round 3, Pick 88 (from FLA): F Stiven Sardarian
Round 3, Pick 95 (from MTL): F Josh Bloom
Round 4, Pick 97: F Olivier Nadeau
Round 5, Pick 159 (from MTL): F Viljami Marjala
Round 6, Pick 161: F William von Barnekow Lofberg
Round 6, Pick 188 (from COL): D Nikita Novikov
Round 7, Pick 193: F Tyson Kozak

Calgary Flames
Round 1, Pick 13: F Matthew Coronato
Round 2, Pick 45: F William Stromgren
Round 3, Pick 77: F Cole Huckins
Round 4, Pick 89 (from TOR via LAK): D Cameron Whynot
Round 5, Pick 141: D Cole Jordan
Round 6, Pick 168 (from LAK): F Jack Beck
Round 6, Pick 173: F Lucas Ciona
Round 7, Pick 205: G Arsenii Sergeev

Carolina Hurricanes
Round 2, Pick 40 (from LAK via NSH): D Scott Morrow
Round 2, Pick 44 (from CHI via CBJ): D Aleksi Heimosalmi
Round 2, Pick 51 (from NSH): F Ville Koivunen
Round 3, Pick 83 (from NSH): G Patrik Hamrla
Round 3, Pick 94 (from VGK via DET): D Aidan Hreschuk
Round 4, Pick 109 (from CGY via LAK): F Jackson Blake
Round 5, Pick 136 (from LAK via OTT): F Robert Orr
Round 5, Pick 147 (from NSH): F Justin Robidas
Round 6, Pick 170 (from OTT): D Bryce Montgomery
Round 6, Pick 187: G Nikita Quapp
Round 7, Pick 200 (from LAK): G Yegor Naumov
Round 7, Pick 209 (from STL): C Nikita Guslistov
Round 7, Pick 219: D Joel Nystrom

Chicago Blackhawks
Round 1, Pick 32 (from TBL via CBJ): D Nolan Allan
Round 2, Pick 62 (from VGK): F Colton Dach
Round 3, Pick 91 (from CAR): D Taige Harding
Round 4, Pick 105 (from VAN): D Ethan Del Mastro
Round 4, Pick 108: F Victor Stjernborg
Round 6, Pick 172: F Ilya Safonov
Round 7, Pick 204: D Connor Kelley
Round 7, Pick 216 (from FLA): F Jalen Luypen

Colorado Avalanche
Round 1, Pick 28: F Oskar Olausson
Round 2, Pick 61 (from NYI via NJD): D Sean Behrens
Round 3, Pick 92: F Andrei Buyalsky
Round 7, Pick 220: F Taylor Makar

Columbus Blue Jackets
Round 1, Pick 5: F Kent Johnson
Round 1, Pick 12 (from CHI): F Cole Sillinger
Round 1, Pick 25 (from TOR): D Corson Ceulemans
Round 3, Pick 69: D Stanislav Svozil
Round 4, Pick 101: D Guillaume Richard
Round 5, Pick 132 (from NJD): D Nikolai Makarov
Round 5, Pick 133: F James Malatesta
Round 6, Pick 165: F Ben Boyd
Round 7, Pick 197: F Martin Rysavy

Dallas Stars
Round 1, Pick 23 (from WSH via DET): F Wyatt Johnston
Round 2, Pick 47: F Logan Stankoven
Round 2, Pick 48 (from NYR via DET): D Artem Grushnikov
Round 3, Pick 73 (from VAN): F Ayrton Martino
Round 3, Pick 79: F Justin Ertel
Round 4, Pick 111: F Conner Roulette
Round 5, Pick 138 (from OTT via MTL, DET): D Jack Bar
Round 5, Pick 143: D Jacob Holmes
Round 6, Pick 175: F Francesco Arcuri
Round 7, Pick 207: F Albert Sjoberg

Detroit Red Wings
Round 1, Pick 6: D Simon Edvinsson
Round 1, Pick 15 (from DAL): G Sebastian Cossa
Round 2, Pick 36 (from NJD via VGK): D Shai Buium
Round 3, Pick 70: F Carter Mazur
Round 4, Pick 114 (from WPG via VGK): F Redmond Savage
Round 5, Pick 134: F Liam Dower Nilsson
Round 5, Pick 155 (from CAR via VGK): D Oscar Plandowski
Round 6, Pick 166: F Pasquale Zito

Edmonton Oilers
Round 1, Pick 22 (from MIN): F Xavier Bourgault
Round 3, Pick 90 (from PIT via SJS, MIN): D Luca Munzenberger
Round 4, Pick 116: F Jake Chiasson
Round 6, Pick 180: F Matvei Petrov
Round 6, Pick 186 (from PIT): F Shane Lachance
Round 7, Pick 212: D Maximus Wanner

Florida Panthers
Round 1, Pick 24: F Mackie Samoskevich
Round 2, Pick 56: D Evan Nause
Round 4, Pick 120: D Vladislav Lukashevich
Round 5, Pick 152: G Kirill Gerasimyuk
Round 6, Pick 184: F Jakub Kos
Round 7, Pick 210 (from WPG): D Braden Hache

Los Angeles Kings
Round 1, Pick 8: D Brandt Clarke
Round 2, Pick 42 (from OTT): F Francesco Pinelli
Round 2, Pick 59 (from CAR): F Samuel Helenius
Round 3, Pick 84 (from EDM via CGY): D Kirill Kirsanov

Minnesota Wild
Round 1, Pick 20 (from EDM): G Jesper Wallstedt
Round 1, Pick 26 (from PIT): D Carson Lambos
Round 2, Pick 54: D Jack Peart
Round 3, Pick 86: F Caedan Bankier
Round 4, Pick 118: D Kyle Masters
Round 4, Pick 127 (from MTL): F Josh Pillar
Round 6, Pick 182: D Nate Benoit

Montreal Canadiens
Round 1, Pick 31: D Logan Mailloux
Round 2, Pick 63: F Riley Kidney
Round 2, Pick 64 (from TBL): F Oliver Kapanen
Round 3, Pick 87 (from WSH via SJS): D Dmitri Kostenko
Round 4, Pick 113 (from STL): D William Trudeau
Round 5, Pick 142 (from PHI): D Daniil Sobolev
Round 5, Pick 150 (from MIN): F Joshua Roy
Round 6, Pick 191: F Xavier Simoneau
Round 7, Pick 214 (from MIN): G Joe Vrbetic

Nashville Predators
Round 1, Pick 19: F Fedor Svechkov
Round 1, Pick 27 (from CAR): F Zachary L’Heureux
Round 3, Pick 72 (from LAK via CAR): D Anton Olsson
Round 4, Pick 115: D Ryan Ufko
Round 4, Pick 124 (from COL via OTT): D Jack Matier
Round 6, Pick 179: F Simon Knak

New Jersey Devils
Round 1, Pick 4: D Luke Hughes
Round 1, Pick 29 (from NYI): F Chase Stillman
Round 3, Pick 68: F Samu Salminen
Round 4, Pick 100: G Jakub Malek
Round 5, Pick 129 (from BUF): D Topias Vilen
Round 6, Pick 164: D Viktor Hurtig
Round 7, Pick 203 (from ARI): F Zakhar Bardakov

New York Islanders
Round 2, Pick 52 (from EDM via DET): F Aatu Raty
Round 3, Pick 93: G Tristan Lennox
Round 4, Pick 125: F Cameron Berg
Round 5, Pick 157: F Eetu Liukas
Round 6, Pick 189: D Aleksi Malinen
Round 7, Pick 221: D Tomas Machu

New York Rangers
Round 1, Pick 16: F Brennan Othmann
Round 3, Pick 65 (from BUF): F Jayden Grubbe
Round 3, Pick 75 (from ARI via NJD, WSH): F Ryder Korczak
Round 4, Pick 104 (from LAK): F Brody Lamb
Round 4, Pick 106 (from OTT): F Kalle Vaisanen
Round 4, Pick 112: G Talyn Boyko
Round 5, Pick 144: F Jaroslav Chmelar
Round 7, Pick 208: D Hank Kempf

Ottawa Senators
Round 1, Pick 10: F Tyler Boucher
Round 2, Pick 39 (from SJS): F Zach Ostapchuk
Round 2, Pick 49 (from STL via BUF, VGK, LAK): D Ben Roger
Round 3, Pick 74: F Oliver Johansson
Round 4, Pick 123 (from CAR): F Carson Latimer
Round 7, Pick 202: D Chandler Romeo

Philadelphia Flyers
Round 2, Pick 46: F Samu Tuomaala
Round 3, Pick 78: G Aleksei Kolosov
Round 4, Pick 110: D Brian Zanetti
Round 5, Pick 158 (from VGK via WSH): D Ty Murchison
Round 6, Pick 174: D Ethan Samson
Round 7, Pick 206: F Owen McLaughlin

Pittsburgh Penguins
Round 2, Pick 58: F Tristan Broz
Round 5, Pick 154: D Isaac Belliveau
Round 7, Pick 194 (from ANA): D Ryan McCleary
Round 7, Pick 215 (from WSH): D Daniel Laatsch
Round 7, Pick 218: F Kirill Tankov

San Jose Sharks
Round 1, Pick 7: F William Eklund
Round 3, Pick 81 (from STL): G Benjamin Gaudreau
Round 4, Pick 103: D Gannon Laroque
Round 4, Pick 121 (from TOR): F Ethan Cardwell
Round 5, Pick 135: D Artem Guryev
Round 5, Pick 156 (from COL): F Max McCue
Round 6, Pick 167: F Liam Gilmartin
Round 6, Pick 177 (from STL): F Theo Jacobsson
Round 7, Pick 199: F/D Evgenii Kashnikov

Seattle Kraken
Round 1, Pick 2: F Matthew Beniers
Round 2, Pick 35: D Ryker Evans
Round 3, Pick 67: F Ryan Winterton
Round 4, Pick 99: D Ville Ottavainen
Round 5, Pick 131: F Jacob Melanson
Round 6, Pick 163: G Semyon Vyazovoi
Round 7, Pick 195: F Justin Janicke

St. Louis Blues
Round 1, Pick 17: F Zachary Bolduc
Round 3, Pick 71 (from SJS): F Simon Robertsson
Round 5, Pick 145: D Tyson Galloway
Round 7, Pick 198 (from DET): F Ivan Vorobyov

Tampa Bay Lightning
Round 3, Pick 96: D Roman Schmidt
Round 4, Pick 126 (from VGK via MTL): F Dylan Duke
Round 5, Pick 160: F Cameron MacDonald
Round 6, Pick 192: D Alex Gagne
Round 7, Pick 196 (from NJD): D Daniil Pylenkov
Round 7, Pick 211 (from NSH): F Robert Flinton
Round 7, Pick 224: F Niko Huuhtanen

Toronto Maple Leafs
Round 2, Pick 57: F Matthew Knies
Round 5, Pick 153: F Ty Voit
Round 6, Pick 185: G Vyacheslav Peksa

Vancouver Canucks
Round 2, Pick 41: F Danila Klimovich
Round 5, Pick 137: G Aku Koskenvuo
Round 5, Pick 140 (from CHI): D Jonathan Myrenberg
Round 6, Pick 169: D Hugo Gabrielsson
Round 6, Pick 178 (from WPG): F Connor Lockhart
Round 7, Pick 201: F Lucas Forsell

Vegas Golden Knights
Round 1, Pick 30: F Zach Dean
Round 2, Pick 38 (from DET): D Daniil Chayka
Round 4, Pick 102 (from DET): F Jakub Brabenec
Round 4, Pick 128 (from TBL via DET): F Jakub Demek
Round 6, Pick 190: D Artur Cholach
Round 7, Pick 222: G Carl Lindbom

Washington Capitals
Round 2, Pick 55: D Vincent Iorio
Round 3, Pick 80 (from NYR): D Brent Johnson
Round 4, Pick 119: D Joaquim Lemay
Round 5, Pick 151: F Haakon Hanelt
Round 6, Pick 176 (from NYR): D Dru Krebs
Round 6, Pick 183: G Chase Clark

Winnipeg Jets
Round 1, Pick 18: F Chaz Lucius
Round 2, Pick 50: F Nikita Chibrikov
Round 3, Pick 82: D Dmitri Kuzmin
Round 5, Pick 146: F Dmitri Rashevsky

Canadiens And Jets Among Teams To Show Interest In Rasmus Ristolainen

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Sabres defenseman Rasmus Ristolainen is no stranger to trade speculation as it has seemingly become an annual tradition as of late.  Now, as he’s set to entire the final year of his contract next season before being eligible for unrestricted free agency, that speculation will only intensify.  Pierre LeBrun of TSN and The Athletic reported on the latest Insider Trading segment (video link) that several teams have shown some level of interest in the 26-year-old including the Canadiens and Jets.

Ristolainen saw his production dip sharply in 2020-21, going down to just four goals and 14 assists in 49 games, his lowest output since 2013-14, his rookie campaign.  However, he has four seasons of more than 40 points under his belt (and had a shot at getting there in the pandemic-shortened 2019-20 campaign had it not been for the schedule reduction) and has logged heavy minutes throughout his career.  That makes him one of the more intriguing offensive threats from the back to be available this summer.

Of course, there’s the matter of his defensive zone play.  It hasn’t been particularly sharp for most of his career and while Buffalo has struggled considerably throughout his career which doesn’t help matters, he hasn’t exactly helped their fortunes in that regard.  A change of scenery could help his fortunes which would go a long way towards helping his case on the open market a year from now.

Both Montreal and Winnipeg make sense as landing spots for Ristolainen.  The Canadiens have a big hole to fill on their back end with Shea Weber’s playing future in serious jeopardy while the Jets have been needing to bolster their defense corps for a while now with GM Kevin Cheveldayoff already acknowledging that he’s looking to make a move to accomplish that.

Both teams have ample cap space to bring him in as well at his $5.4MM price tag; Montreal can place Weber on LTIR to give themselves some wiggle room while Winnipeg has over $15MM coming off their books plus potential LTIR flexibility with Bryan Little as well.

We’ve seen Ristolainen in trade speculation for a while but with him about to enter the final year of his contract and a UFA market that isn’t exactly loaded with impact blueliners, the timing for a trade is certainly right.  With the NHL Entry Draft just days away and the transactions freeze set to lift on Thursday, there will likely be another frenzy of moves and the Finnish rearguard could very well be among them.

Snapshots: Jets, Tarasenko, Buchnevich

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The Winnipeg Jets will be in the market for defensemen when the trade freeze is lifted in a few days. GM Kevin Cheveldayoff spoke with NHL.com, explaining that the team is looking to improve the back end through trades or free agency, even though they have several young defensemen in the system already. Jordie Benn, Derek Forbort, and Tucker Poolman are all scheduled to become unrestricted free agents this summer.

There’s also the possibility that Dylan DeMelo is selected by the Seattle Kraken, leaving the Jets even more shorthanded. Currently, the team has just DeMelo, Josh Morrissey, Nathan Beaulieu, and Sami Niku under one-way contracts for next season. Logan Stanley and Neal Pionk are both restricted free agents, while Ville Heinola, who could be in line for a full-time role, is still on his entry-level contract. Even if that whole group was brought back, it simply wasn’t good enough to help the Jets really contend for the Stanley Cup, meaning a more substantial change could be in order.

  • The Seattle Kraken are reportedly considering a select-and-trade with St. Louis Blues forward Vladimir Tarasenko, but Andy Strickland of Bally Sports Midwest tweets that it could get even more complicated than that. Strickland suggests a third team could be involved in any Tarasenko trade were the Kraken to choose him. That would open up the door for even more salary retention, potentially giving someone the 29-year-old forward at a bargain. Jeremy Rutherford of The Athletic spoke with the doctor that performed Tarasenko’s most recent shoulder surgery, who explained that it is “rock solid” and suggested the sniper would be at full strength for the start of the 2021-22 season.
  • Strickland also tweets that the Blues have serious interest in New York Rangers forward Pavel Buchnevich, who is an arbitration-eligible restricted free agent this summer for the final time. Buchnevich is now 26, just a year away from UFA status, and appeared on Frank Seravalli of Daily Faceoff’s list of trade targets last week, with the scribe writing that Rangers GM Chris Drury has “engaged in conversation about the possibility of moving” him. With 20 goals and 48 points in 54 games this season, Buchnevich has blossomed into a true top-six option that could potentially replace some of the outgoing firepower in St. Louis. It’s not just Tarasenko that could be leaving the Blues, as Mike Hoffman, Jaden Schwartz and Tyler Bozak are also all pending UFAs.

Manitoba Moose Hire Mark Morrison

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After Pascal Vincent left the Manitoba Moose for the Columbus Blue Jackets the team, and their NHL affiliate the Winnipeg Jets, were on the lookout for a replacement. They’ve found it in Mark Morrison, who will become the next head coach of the Moose after several seasons with the Anaheim Ducks.

Morrison is a familiar face, having served as an assistant with the Jets affiliate when it was in St. John’s and then in Manitoba for two years. His last head coaching job was for the Victoria Salmon Kings, which at the time was the organization’s ECHL affiliate. Though he has spent the last four years as an assistant with the Ducks, there are long ties to Canada for Morrison, who twice represented the country at the World Juniors as a player and suited up many other times for his country internationally.

His time in the NHL spanned all of ten games, but Morrison had a long, successful playing career that included more than a decade with the Fife Flyers, serving as a player-coach up until his retirement in 2005. He’s now back with the Jets, where he’ll be tasked with developing the next wave of talent in the AHL.

Winnipeg had some outstanding young players at the AHL level this season, headlined by top prospect Cole Perfetti. The 19-year-old forward, selected 10th overall in 2020, put up 26 points in 32 games at the minor league level despite being too young to normally even qualify. With the OHL not playing, Perfetti took his opportunity to play with the Moose and ran with it. Unfortunately, unless the league issues exemptions, Perfetti won’t have that same opportunity in 2021-22. Still too young, he’ll either have to make the NHL squad or return to the Saginaw Spirit of the OHL at the start of the season.

The Moose went 18-13-5 this season, meaning there is lots of room for improvement by Morrison. The team will start off the 2021-22 season on October 15.

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