Top Prospect Signings (May 3)

The New York Rangers announced some exciting news, as they have signed a couple of top prospects in their system, coming over from Russia.  Most notably, their 2018 1st round draft pick, forward Vitali Kravtsov inked his 3-year entry-level deal and then 2014 4th round pick, goalie Igor Shesterkin got his 2-year entry-level deal.

As a 19-year old, Kravtsov played in his 2nd full season in the KHL, suiting up with Traktor Chelyabinsk and this season he posted 8 goals and 21 points in 50 games, but really made his mark with his international service, 6 points in seven games at the World Juniors for Russia this past holiday season.

The 23-year old goalie has been posting some great numbers in the KHL, going 24-5 with St. Petersburg SKA with a 1.11 GAA and .953 save percentage in the 2019 regular season.  There will certainly be a lot of eyes on him in training camp, as the Rangers may be looking to pass the torch before too long in their crease.

It will be interesting to see if either or both of these guys can crack the Rangers' roster out of camp next fall, so they'll be a couple of players to keep an eye on.

Top Prospect Signings (May 2)

The Detroit Red Wings signed 2018 1st round pick Joe Veleno on Wednesday after completing a very successful season with the Drummondville Voltigeurs in the QMJHL in 2019, where he scored 104 points in 59 games and he also represented Canada at the World Juniors this year as well, picking up a couple of assists in five games played.  The Red Wings are trying to quickly overhaul their roster with some more youth, after a solid spring of signing NCAA talent as well.

If his size is any indication, 6'1" and 191 pounds, his offensive game could possibly translate fairly quickly into the pro game and that's the sort of thing that the Red Wings are looking for with this signing.  The 19-year old still has eligibility for the juniors next year, as he was an exceptional status player, joining the major junior ranks at an early age.

The Edmonton Oilers also put pen to paper with a 2018 draft pick, a 2nd rounder in forward Ryan McLeod, who split time with Mississauga and Saginaw in the OHL this season, finishing off a playoff run with the Spirit this week.  The Oilers signed the 40th overall pick to an NHL deal and sent him directly to their AHL affiliate for their playoff run, hoping that he can help provide a bit of a boost to their Calder Cup hopes.

McLeod had 62 points in 63 games in the OHL regular season, as well as 12 points in 17 playoff games and he'll bring his big frame, 6'2" and 206 pounds, to the AHL club in Bakersfield and could be a good depth player for their run, looking to crack the NHL next season.

Top Prospect Signings (Apr 19)

This past week, the Dallas Stars locked up one of their top prospects for the start of next season, 2016 1st round draft pick Riley Tufte. Tufte and the Stars agreed upon a 3-year entry-level deal, which will start next season and work the rookie maximum cap hit of $925,000, but doesn't have a great deal, in terms of performance bonuses, according to CapFriendly.

Tufte just finished his 3rd season with the University of Minnesota-Duluth, where he didn't put up any staggering numbers, but he does have a staggering body size, 6'5" and 190 pounds, so he should be able to jump right into the league at 21 years old and probably pick up a solid bottom six role to start.  It will be interesting to see how he fits into the Stars' scheme next season.

The Vegas Golden Knights finally lured Russian forward Nikita Gusev over to North America, as he had been playing in the KHL since he was drafted by the Tampa Bay Lightning back in 2012.  Gusev was dealt to the Golden Knights prior to the expansion draft, as part of a deal that would see the Golden Knights play ball and claim the right player in the draft.  Nevertheless, Gusev has joined the Golden Knights for the playoff run, signing a deal that goes through to the remainder of the playoffs and he will be a restricted free agent come July 1st.

The plan for Gusev is to possibly dress in a playoff game, but at the very least, have him acclimate himself in the North American rinks ahead of joining the team next season.  This past season, he posted 82 points in 62 games with St. Petersburg in the KHL and the last time we saw him on this blog page, he was part of the Russian team at the Olympics and was selected in the pool we had there.  He will be an interesting figure next season, possibly good for a late round pick.

Top Prospect Signings (Apr 14)

One day after falling just short of a national championship at the NCAA Frozen Four, University of Massachusetts standout defenseman Cale Makar has indeed signed with the Colorado Avalanche.  The 4th overall pick in the 2017 entry draft has really made some waves at the college level and the international level, playing for Canada, and he will be looked upon as a cornerstone player for the Avalanche for a long, long time.

The offensive defenseman put up some very good numbers in his two seasons at UMass-Amherst and won the Hobey Baker Award, which was handed out just before this weekend. 

The Avalanche are currently playing the Flames in the opening round of the playoffs and Makar is eligible to slot into the lineup, if the team does feel like he's ready to go and will make an impact.  The only caveat to this is that he will become eligible for the expansion draft and would be a player that the Avalanche would have to protect at the draft, if he does play in these playoffs.

Nevertheless, for us poolies, he'll be a marked man to go reasonably high in the draft next fall, if his reputation means anything.

Recent Contract Extensions (Mar 30)

The Arizona Coyotes were certainly happy with the early returns from forward Nick Schmaltz after they acquired him from the Chicago Blackhawks this season, as he posted 14 points in 17 games after the trade and helped give the team a bit of a boost in-season and they were in the hunt for a playoff spot into February and March.  Unfortunately, Schmaltz hasn't seen any action since the end of December, due to injury, but there was certainly a lift of spirits when he arrived.

On Saturday morning, the club announced that they signed the 23-year old forward to a new 7-year extension, reportedly worth $40.95 million, which works out to be a $5.85 million cap hit per season.  If he can continue to post the same scoring rate as he did before his injury, this could work out to be a very good deal.

We'll have a lot more on the Coyotes cap situation when the season concludes and we get into the Pool Outlook posts, but I don't think they have much to worry about at the moment.

Top Prospect Signings (Mar 29)

It's a busy time for all of these college prospects getting locked up and the Colorado Avalanche have joined the fun, locking up one of their top prospects, a 2017 1st round selection, the 28th overall pick by the Senators, forward Shane Bowers.  Bowers was acquired by the Avalanche in the deal that sent Matt Duchene to Ottawa.  The 19-year old centre already has some pretty good size and reportedly impressed at the Avalanche's prospect camp last summer and now that he has decided to turn pro, he will look to make his mark on a team that is still trying to cement its place in the playoff hunt every year.

Bowers only had okay numbers at Boston University in his NCAA career and he did represent Canada at the World Juniors this past holiday season, so there is some upside to his game.  It will be very interesting to see where he fits in.

Top Prospect Signings (Mar 28)

Kind of dropped the ball on a couple of key top prospect signings, starting with the Nashville Predators signing 2016 1st round draft pick Dante Fabbro to his entry-level deal yesterday. The 20-year old defenseman finished his college season with Boston University this week and decided to forego another season at the NCAA level to go pro and get some time in with the Predators. Fabbro has been a productive offensive blueliner at the college level, represented Canada at the World Juniors and could be a guy to help eat up some minutes at the pro level. It doesn't look like he'll be the greatest offensive threat, but he could be a reasonable add at a Waiver Draft in the hockey pool, if push came to shove and his full rookie campaign next season goes well.

The New York Islanders also pulled from the college ranks, getting forward Oliver Wahlstrom to commit out of college really early, as the 2018 1st round pick said that he was ready to join the pro ranks and he'll get some time in at the AHL level this season and he might make a quality push for a roster spot on an Islanders team that will reward some hard work.  Wahlstrom is coming out of Boston College this season, where he had 19 points in 36 games, but the Islanders are pretty high on this 18-year old, convincing him to turn pro and sign his deal right away this spring.  He's already got some size, but he will likely need some time to develop, but it's certainly going in the right direction for him.

Recent Contract Extensions (Mar 23)

Boston Bruins defenseman Zdeno Chara just turned 42 on the 18th and he got a belated birthday present from his club, a new 1-year contract extension on Saturday morning.  The deal will pay him a base salary of $2 million and he'll also have $1.75 million in incentive bonuses, including games played, making the playoffs and winning the Cup. 

The towering defender hasn't been all that impressive in the hockey pool this season, 11 points in 55 games, 151st among all defensemen in scoring, but Benson has stuck with him this year, so he'll get a nod on the blog.  As powerful as he is, the scoring numbers are down, but he'll still defend, which makes him very valuable to the Bruins.  It looks like a solid signing, moving forward.

Top Prospect Signings (Mar 10)

The Vancouver Canucks got a late season gift to their season, as they will be looking to debut their 1st round pick from this past summer, defenseman Quinn Hughes, as he has finished his college season with the Michigan Wolverines and he has signed his entry-level deal, making things official with the club on Tuesday, after his physical. 

Hughes was the second defenseman taken in the draft, behind the top pick in the draft, Rasmus Dahlin, which meant that the Canucks were pretty high on him at the draft.  Hughes led the Wolverines in scoring this past season, but it was an early exit out of the playoffs for his side and that means an early debut for his pro career.  There are lots of implications about his contract status and games played, but that's for the math nerds to keep in mind, all we need to know is that he'll carry a cap hit of $916k through all three seasons of his deal, which starts right away.

Recent Contract Extensions (Mar 9)

Getting out of the dumpster fire that was the Ottawa Senators organization has already proven to be the best thing that has happened to Mark Stone, as his new home in Vegas has welcomed him with open arms and an open chequebook. This week, he finally put pen to paper on a brand new contract extension, which will work out to be an 8-year deal, worth $76 million... a $9.5 million cap hit per season.

This deal will give him a full no-movement clause for the entire eight seasons and it is signing bonus-heavy, which means there is plenty of guaranteed money in it, even if the league was to somehow find a work stoppage.

In 64 games between Ottawa and Vegas, Stone has posted 28 goals and 64 points, good enough for 38th in pool scoring this season.

By my count, the Golden Knights are now working themselves back into a bit of a salary cap corner, even with a projected cap ceiling of $83 million.  We'll explore that more, when we get to the off-season outlook posts.

Recent Contract Extensions (Mar 2)

I haven't really been keeping up on the recent contract extensions, but with a little bit of time, I'll try and find some of the key ones that we won't have to worry about this summer.  The Anaheim Ducks signed forward Jakob Silfverberg to a new 5-year, $26.25 million deal on Friday, taking advantage of the current salary cap rules for off-season signings and cap tagging, which is long-winded and somewhat complicated.

Silfverberg hasn't exactly been great in this 2019 season, to date, scoring only 16 goals and 24 points in 56 games, but he has been hampered by injury, so the Ducks are doing well to take that into account for the next five seasons.  He was scheduled to become an unrestricted free agent on July 1st.

At the trade deadline, the Minnesota Wild locked up Eric Staal for another couple of seasons, since he had expressed a lot of interest to stick around and keep producing for the Wild. He signed a 2-year, $6.5 million deal, keeping his cap number very reasonable moving forward. The 34-year old has been very reliable for the Wild this season, posting 43 points in 63 games to this point in the season.  The Wild will certainly keep a good veteran presence around for another couple years and he will likely add to their competitiveness in those seasons.

Maybe a guy you may have missed throughout the season, but has put up some pool worthy numbers this season, only to be picked up in the Waiver Draft, has been Frank Vatrano of the Panthers. Just before the trade deadline, he signed a 3-year extension, saving himself from becoming a restricted free agent, earning him a grand total of $7.6 million.  Vatrano has 33 points in 62 games this season and ranks 184th overall in pool scoring today, which is well within the ranks and should be draft worthy next season.

Vegas Doubles Down on Stone

		2019 Season				July 1, 2019
To Vegas	Pos	GP	G/W	Points	Cap	Years	Cap
Mark Stone	F	59	28	62	$7.35m	8	$9.5m
Tobias Lindberg	F	0	0	0	$650k	0	RFA
----
To Ottawa	Pos	GP	G/W	Points	Cap	Years	Cap
Oscar Lindberg	F	35	4	12	$1.7m	0	UFA
Erik Brannstrom	D	0	0	0	$894k	2	$894k
2020 2nd Round Draft Pick

The biggest fish in the market, Mark Stone... it sounded like the Senators were looking for something big for their big unrestricted free agent-to-be and as we drew closer and closer to the actual deadline, it was looking like the Senators were possibly going to hang on to him, hoping to re-sign him before the July 1st open market release.  No, that wasn't the case at all, as the Vegas Golden Knights did come through with a striking offer, which included blue chip defenseman prospect Erik Brannstrom and a 2nd round pick in 2020, which was certainly enticing enough for the Sens brass to pull the trigger.

In Stone, the Golden Knights get another established scoring forward, which adds to a stable of fairly impressive forwards as it is, even if they took a while to get going this season.  Stone's scoring rate makes him the top scoring forward on the team, not quite the best hockey pool scorer, still 10 points behind Marc-Andre Fleury, and he should provide a big boost to an already potent lineup. 

The real kicker of it all was that Stone was looking for a long-term, big money deal as well, something that Ottawa wasn't going to give him, albeit they were going to give him the term, if they found a reasonable number.  The Golden Knights stepped up and they have already agreed on an extension, in principle, for an 8-year deal, worth $9.5 million per season.  The deal won't be made official for another week, but it's coming.

I'm sure the Senators were hoping for a 1st round pick in any deal that they would get for Stone, but the acquisition of a blue chip kid like Erik Brannstrom is just as sexy, if not more so.  Brannstrom was a stand out at this past year's World Junior Championships for Sweden and has some striking similarities to a former Senators defenseman, which I dare not say his name here.  So, in that, moulding him into something special would be in their best interest and shouldn't be overly difficult.

It's going to be interesting to see what Stone can do in Vegas and I'm sure Wes is chomping at the bit, now having to wait almost a week for one of his star forwards to even get back on the ice.  That has definitely hurt his team's ability to put up points in the last week and a bit, I'm sure the trade chatter didn't help Stone's production when on the ice, so now that it's done, it will be a big relief and a huge excitement to head to the playoffs again.  I'll call this a big gain for Wes' team, which opens play tonight in 5th place, only 3 points ahead of 6th and still 28 points behind 3rd.

Nylander Signs Just In Time

Well, it came down to the very last minute, but the announcement came and all is well in the centre of the universe... for now.

William Nylander and the Toronto Maple Leafs agreed on a 6-year deal, worth $41.4 million in total.  The cap math does get to be a little bit more interesting, as the late signing rules go in the CBA, Nylander's actual cap hit in the 2019 season works out to be $10.2 million, but for the remainder of the deal, it will work out to $6.969 million per season.

For a complete breakdown of how his cap hit for the 2019 season works out, check out CapFriendly's page for this sort of mumbo-jumbo.

Nylander held out as long as he possibly could to get the best deal he possibly could, convinced that his three seasons of fairly consistent scoring was going to be worth a bundle, even for his second contract signed with the team.  Last season, Nylander finished 64th among all forwards in scoring with 20 goals and 61 points in 82 games, so he'll have to bring that kind of scoring rate to the remainder of the season for any sort of positive return on this deal.

The Leafs have already played 26 games and will play again tonight in Minnesota, he'll probably need a week or two to get back up to speed with his teammates, which could cost him upwards of six games, including tonight, missing 32 and leaving 50 on the table.  At his scoring rate last season, that would put him in around 37 points for the remainder of the year.  That should be the target.

Nylander certainly won't save Brenda & Seward's season in the overall standings, already 85 points out of 1st place, but it could get them back into some mini-games for the rest of the year.  Game-winners, they have 8 so far, only 8 behind the leader.  Shootout goals, no goals on one attempt... the leader is 5-for-7.  You never know!

Recent Contract Extensions (Oct 19)

For a guy that only has 84 games of NHL experience, none of those games coming this season, signing a 7-year contract extension seems a bit strange, but there it is. Alex Tuch signed a brand new long-term extension with the Golden Knights on Friday, worth $33.25 million in total, which works out to be a $4.75 million cap hit per season.

Last year was Tuch's first full season in the NHL with the Golden Knights, hardly getting a cup of coffee with his draft team, the Minnesota Wild, since being picked in 2014.  That year was productive, 15 goals and 37 points in 78 games, so there is definitely something to bank on, even though a lower-body injury has kept him on the IR since the start of the season.

The Golden Knights are getting themselves into a curious spot, salary-wise, since I already have them pegged for a $71.4 million cap hit for a full 23-man roster next year and they'll have free agents like William Karlsson, Nate Schmidt, Deryk Engelland and Malcolm Subban to re-sign.

Unlucky Bratt Suffers Fractured Jaw

The New Jersey Devils are in Sweden preparing for their season opener against the Edmonton Oilers, which will be a Saturday afternoon game back home in Canada.  In practice on Thursday, Devils forward Jesper Bratt took a puck in the face, which deflected off a crossbar, fracturing his jaw.  On Friday, the Devils placed the sophomore forward on the Injured Reserve, which means he'll be out at least a week and they turned around and signed forward Drew Stafford, who was with the team on a pro tryout, to a new 1-year deal to fill the space.

Last season, Bratt had 35 points in 74 games and was a pleasant surprise for the Devils, who took contributions from all over the map on their return to the playoffs, making him into a good hockey pool candidate for the coming season.

Unfortunately, Jeremy has yet to reap any of the benefits of a young kid trying to make a name for himself, as the Devils have yet to play in this regular season and the 20-year old Swede won't be playing for a little while yet.  Nevertheless, Jeremy's team has gotten off to a good start after two nights, leading the pool outright with 14 points.

Fringe Signings (Sep 27)

The Chicago Blackhawks have agreed to terms with defenseman Brandon Davidson on Thursday morning, giving him a 1-year deal, worth $650,000.  Davidson was in Chicago's training camp on a professional tryout and he played his way onto the team, outplaying some of the younger prospects on the roster and making his way to the 6th or 7th defenseman role.

With injuries to Gustav Forsling and Connor Murphy, the Blackhawks were likely in need of a little bit more experience on the back end to start the season, which led to the Davidson signing.  It will be interesting to see how he fits in, once the injuries heal up, but for now, expect him on the opening night roster.

Theodore Signs, Heads to Camp

And then there was one key restricted free agent left on the market, as the Vegas Golden Knights and defenseman Shea Theodore reached agreement in the late hours of Monday night.  The deal is set to be a 7-year contract extension, worth $36.4 million in total, a $5.2 million cap hit per season.

Theodore, 23, is coming off the final year of his entry-level season, part of the Vegas expansion, where he played 61 games for the club, scoring 6 goals and 29 points, which was good enough for 60th among all defensemen in scoring.  The Golden Knights clearly see him as a cornerstone piece of the franchise and now they have locked him up for the long-term.

With the signing, Theodore is the highest-paid defenseman on the team and if he can play the whole 2019 season, it will be very interesting to see what kind of numbers he can possibly put up.  There is certainly some potential in his game to eclipse the half a point-per game scoring rate, but he has yet to play a full season in the NHL, so expectations are still a bit tempered.  I would be putting him in the 40-point range, close to the 43 points that the Hockey News projects him at this year.

The Golden Knights have managed to wade their way through their first major free agency period pretty well, still leaving themselves a shade under $6 million in salary cap space with their new 23-man roster and they have some positive numbers for the 2020 season, with a 23-man roster already filled out and still have $12 million in space for free agency.

Top Prospect Signings (Sep 24)

The Washington Capitals may have already sent defenseman Alexander Alexeyev back to junior from training camp already, but that doesn't mean they were through showing their appreciation for his hard work in camp this summer/fall.  The Capitals signed their top pick in last year's draft, the 31st overall selection, to his 3-year entry-level deal on Monday, a deal that is expected to slide through into next year, but they now have him locked down within the organization.

The 6'4" Russian defenseman was said to be impressing the Caps brass with his size and ability, but playing on the back end usually means that there will be a couple of years, at least, for the maturity process to take effect and the NHL game eventually rounds out.  He will be one to watch, by all accounts though, so don't forget his name.

Fringe Signings (Sep 24)

Of course, not long after suggesting that a pro tryout could take one of the roster spots that a young player should have earned in camp, the Islanders did sign one of their tryouts on Monday afternoon, agreeing to terms with defenseman Luca Sbisa on a 1-year deal.  The 28-year old played with the Vegas Golden Knights last season, picking up 14 points in 30 games with the club and should be expected to be on the opening night roster for the Islanders next week.  With his scoring rate from last season, I would imagine he'll be very close to a pool worthy defenseman.

Recent Contract Extensions (Sep 23)

Well, not only is Paul Byron healthy and back in the Canadiens lineup, he's feeling very appreciated on Sunday. the team and the player agreed upon a 4-year, $13.6 million contract extension, saving him from unrestricted free agency next summer.  Since being claimed on waivers from the Calgary Flames, he has been a very consistent and important piece of their team, playing at both ends of the ice effectively.  Last season, Byron finished with 20 goals and 35 points in all 82 games, before having off-season shoulder surgery, which gives you a firm indication of what he can do.

I currently have him as a guy who can repeat that performance of 35 points, despite the team regressing in their roster strength.  He should be a guy that just keeps on plugging away and could be a good late round pickup for your pool team.