Another Draft Weekend Come and Gone

Well, if you were watching the trades roll in from the weekend, you would have thought that this was a pretty good draft weekend, even without the kids finally getting their NHL team assigned to them.  It was very interesting in that way and teams certainly came up trumps with new deals and they will have their day in the Sun, when the Pool Projections posts come out in mid-August.

What about those kids though?  Auston Matthews going to Toronto, Patrik Laine heading to Winnipeg, Pierre-Luc Dubois snapped up by Columbus or Jesse Puljujarvi sneaking into Edmonton... all projected well and three out of the four are expected to crack their NHL lineup right away.

It's hard to say for sure, because every team, manager and/or coach is different and how they will want to develop these talents will be a decision made through the combination of those above.  It will all start in a couple of weeks, when development camps start to open and we start to hear more from those in charge.

Still, from what we've seen, it does look all but certain that Matthews, Laine and Puljujarvi have a decent shot at making their clubs.  How many of these kids are going to make the big leagues next season in total?  That is really tough to say, but if the experts are any indication, it probably won't be very many.

From last year's generational draft, we saw eight players play at least one game, with Jack Eichel leading the way in games, goals and points, thanks in part to Connor McDavid's broken collarbone, but that's not really up for debate here.  The other major impact player from last year's draft was the 5th overall selection, defenseman Noah Hanifin of the Hurricanes, he played 79 games and picked up 22 points.

78 players drafted in the 2015 entry draft are signed and ready to go, but with the 2016 draft class now in colours, the competition grows much stronger.

The 2014 draft class is also missing a number of notable names from active NHL duty, especially from the opening round.  Michael Dal Colle of the Islanders (5th overall), Haydn Fleury of the Hurricanes (7th), Brendan Perlini of the Coyotes (12th), Jakub Vrana of the Capitals (13th), Julius Honka of the Stars (14th) and eight more 1st rounders still missing.

There is plenty of excitement with the entry draft, because it is great to have that glimmer of hope that one of these players will be able to help our club and potentially help our hockey pool teams to some greatness in a season.  Do make sure you're doing your homework though, not everyone is a lock to make it, even a couple years down the road.

Fringe Deals (Jun 25)

The first trade of the day, came in the 2nd round of the draft, where the Arizona Coyotes took on a former 1st round pick of the Tampa Bay Lightning, defenseman Anthony DeAngelo, offering up their 2nd round pick (37th overall) for his services.

DeAngelo, 20, has slid all the way on his entry-level deal, still with three years left on it, mostly because he wasn't going to crack the blueline the Lightning had already set up for themselves.  The Coyotes were obviously comfortable with giving him a crack, as their blueline is in need of some help right away.

During the 3rd round of the draft today, the Penguins dealt forward Beau Bennett to the Devils for the 77th overall pick in the round, where the Pens selected defenseman Connor Hall.

Bennett was a very deep depth player for the Penguins in the 2016 season, having lost his position in the depth chart to some of the AHL talent that came up and he is also a very familiar face to Devils GM Ray Shero, who added Bennett to his Penguins roster originally.

The 24-year old forward is set to become a restricted free agent next week.

Speaking of moving some prospects that couldn't quite bust through on their original draft team, the Dallas Stars shifted goalie Jack Campbell, a restricted free agent next week, to the Los Angeles Kings for defenseman Nick Ebert, who is on the last year of his entry-level deal.

Campbell, 24, is very close to being an NHL goalie and in Los Angeles, the Kings have an opening to fight for behind Jonathan Quick, so Campbell will certainly get a shot at a back-up role to start the season.  He has some real upside, but the Stars and their goaltending situation was not going to help him out.

Ebert, 22, is a former 7th round pick in 2012, but has been hanging around the Kings' AHL team for quite some time and might actually have a shot at some NHL time before too long.  The Stars are a team that currently lack established depth, so he should welcome a chance in training camp here.

A couple more prospects that couldn't quite make it were moved, shortly after the draft concluded on Saturday, as the Columbus Blue Jackets sent forward Kerby Rychel to the Toronto Maple Leafs for defenseman Scott Harrington and a conditional draft pick.

Rychel, still with two years left on his entry-level deal and a former 1st round pick, should finally get a good shake in the Toronto organization, but at what capacity, is still to be determined.

Harrington has been moved around a bit already in his NHL career and is currently a restricted free agent-to-be, starting next week.  The Jackets have some depth at defense already, so it might be a tough slog for him to make it into this lineup as well.

Fringe Signing (Jun 25)

The Los Angeles Kings announced that they signed depth forward Trevor Lewis, an impending unrestricted free agent, to a new 4-year, $8 million contract extension, likely in hopes that he can improve his production, starting in the 2017 season.

Last season, Lewis was good for 8 goals and 16 points in 75 games with the club, but that was well below the pool worthy rankings in the end.  The multi-year deal is a good sign that the club has big plans for the 29-year old, even if it is only in a bottom six role.

Rangers Add Holden From Colorado

To New York	Pos	Age	GP	G/W	P	Years	Cap
Nick Holden	D	29	82	6	22	2	$1.65 mil
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To Colorado	Pos	Age	GP	G/W	P	Years	Cap
2017 4th Round Draft Pick

Nick Holden, a pool worthy defenseman in the 2016 season, was dealt from the Colorado Avalanche to the New York Rangers this afternoon, for a mid-round pick in next year's draft.

Holden had a very respectable 2016 season, chipping in when he could and did make an appearance in last year's hockey pool, so this deal does come as a bit of a surprise, given how much went back for him.  The Avalanche are not in cap trouble, rather they are still below the floor with their projected roster, but they may have wanted to make sure they had the extra space for re-signing Tyson Barrie and to still be a big player in the free agency market, when it opens up next weekend.

The Rangers will add a steady defender, who was able to play in every game last season and should provide a reasonable pairing with just about anyone else on the Rangers' projected blueline.  The blueshirts are not very deep at the back and surely needed some help and this was a more than reasonable cost for getting someone who could step onto the active roster at puck drop in October.

The Rangers are likely going to remain busy in this off-season, so it is really hard to say what this team will look like and what they are expected to do offensively.  Projecting an increase in production for Holden may be a bit presumptuous at this point.

Panthers Deal Kulikov Up to Buffalo

To Buffalo	Pos	Age	GP	G/W	P	Years	Cap
Dmitry Kulikov	D	25	74	1	17	1	$4.333 mil
2016 2nd Round Draft Pick (33rd - Rasmus Asplund)
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To Florida	Pos	Age	GP	G/W	P	Years	Cap
Mark Pysyk	D	24	55	1	11	1	$1.125 mil
2016 2nd Round Draft Pick (38th - Adam Mascherin)
2016 3rd Round Draft Pick (89th)

The Florida Panthers are not screwing around in this off-season, they certainly mean business.

With improvements already done to their blueline, the Panthers continued to revamp the defense by making a swap with the Buffalo Sabres, grabbing a little more potential and a little less cap hit in the process.  The Panthers sent Dmitry Kulikov up to Buffalo and took back Mark Pysyk, while also swapping 2nd round picks (the Sabres improving theirs) and Florida gets an extra pick in return.  Quite the jumbled deal.

As much as the Panthers were dropping some established skill in this deal, they are also doing a great job managing their cap space and potentially managing the minutes on their blueline.  Pysyk should turn out to be a very well-rounded defenseman that will wait his turn, where Kulikov was groomed to be a big minute guy with offensive talents.  With Aaron Ekblad preparing to sign a long-term deal and Keith Yandle already signing his, Florida needed to make a little bit of room and find a guy who can worth within these parameters.  Pysyk could be a very good fit here.

In Buffalo, Kulikov is going to be a key piece of this restructuring, which could see the team make another move up the standings in 2017.  He joins a blueline that already has Rasmus Ristolainen, Zach Bogosian and Cody Franson, so there is some upswing talent here in Florida already, albeit some that may not be known for its play in their own end.  We'll cross that bridge later.  For now, this is turning out to look like one impressive core group on paper.

Red Wings Drop Datsyuk's Contract, Coyotes Move Up

To Arizona	Pos	Age	GP	G/W	P	Years	Cap
Pavel Datsyuk	F	37	66	16	49	1	$7.5 mil
2016 1st Round Draft Pick (16th - Jacob Chychrun)
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To Detroit	Pos	Age	GP	G/W	P	Years	Cap
Joe Vitale	F	30	1	0	0	1	$1.117 mil
2016 1st Round Draft Pick (20th - Dennis Cholowski)
2016 2nd Round Draft Pick (53rd)

The drama that was the looming cap hit for Pavel Datsyuk has come to an end and to no one's surprise, it was the Arizona Coyotes who were able to take that cap hit on and move up in the draft in the process.

The Red Wings didn't really want to give up too much for a team to take on their burden, where there were rumours of them having to deal some of their key roster players to get the job done.  Well, this didn't end up being the case, as they were able to swap 1st round picks, acquire another pick and a depth player instead.  Not a bad job, really.

The Coyotes were high on the free-falling Jacob Chychrun, who was slated to be a much-higher draft pick last Summer, so when the opportunity presented itself, the new GM for the team jumped on it and did the deal.

The immediate hockey pool impact is next to nothing, but with the Red Wings clearing out over $6.4 million in cap space for next season, they immediately become big players in the free agency market, which starts their sneak-a-peek tomorrow.

Flames Nab a Number One in Elliott

To Calgary	Pos	Age	GP	G/W	P	Years	Cap
Brian Elliott	G	31	42	23	54	1	$2.5 mil
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To St. Louis	Pos	Age	GP	G/W	P	Years	Cap
2016 2nd Round Draft Pick (35th)
Conditional 2018 3rd Round Draft Pick

It was no secret that the Calgary Flames were shopping hard for a starting goalie this weekend and the comments were made that they were not going to leave this weekend in Buffalo without one in tow.

Mission accomplished.

The Flames took advantage of a goaltending glutton in St. Louis, acquiring Brian Elliott from the Blues for a 2nd round pick in this year's draft and another 2018 pick, if Elliott was to sign an extension with the club, which he can do officially after July 1st.

Elliott was caught in a tough situation in St. Louis, playing alongside Jake Allen, who the team had already tabbed as the number one goalie of the future, but the veteran had to come up big, when their future number one star was injured heading into the playoffs and couldn't make the starts.  Elliott shone his way into the Conference Finals, where they eventually lost to San Jose, but none of the blame could fall on Elliott, who played exceptionally well.

The Flames are well-endowed in draft picks this year, so giving up one of their 2nd round picks wasn't a struggle for Elliott and in the 31-year old, they will get a scrappy goaltender, who will come to work every night.  He also comes to town with a very reasonable cap hit and if the Flames were to extend him before the season started, they would be very likely to keep that cap number low for a few more seasons.

With the move made, the Flames currently have a projected roster of 15 players at a cap cost of $50.7 million, which is still below the cap floor for the coming season.  Of course, the Flames still have some big signings to make this Summer, re-signing the likes of Johnny Gaudreau and Sean Monahan, before we really get down to brass tax.

Blackhawks Shift Shaw to the Habs

To Montreal	Pos	Age	GP	G/W	P	Years	Cap
Andrew Shaw	F	24	78	14	34	0	RFA
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To Chicago	Pos	Age	GP	G/W	P	Years	Cap
2016 2nd Round Draft Pick (39th)
2016 2nd Round Draft Pick (45th - MIN)

There was a fair amount of chatter out in the public domain about Andrew Shaw being a potential piece to move for the Blackhawks this Summer, as they try and retool underneath a salary cap ceiling that didn't see very much of a raise this year.

Once the Canadiens were able to move some salary out, see the previous deal with Lars Eller heading to Washington, the Habs all kinds of bargaining power with the future restricted free agent, looking to give him a deal, worthy of his potential contributions to the team moving forward.

The addition of Shaw, once signed, should give the Canadiens another player that does a decent job of combining skill and grit, being a difficult player to play against.  I think given the make-up of the Canadiens before his acquisition, I think the team will be able to find some quality minutes for him and his responsibility will grow and his production should grow with it.

The 24-year old is coming off of a deal that had a $2 million cap hit and I would imagine that his cap hit moving forward will hover around the $3.5 million range, given his experience and championship ring, not to mention the team's commitment to bringing him into the fold.

Eller to the Capitals for Picks

To Washington	Pos	Age	GP	G/W	P	Years	Cap
Lars Eller	F	27	79	13	26	2	$3.5 mil
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To Montreal	Pos	Age	GP	G/W	P	Years	Cap
2016 2nd Round Draft Pick
2017 2nd Round Draft Pick

The Montreal Canadiens were the team that really got the draft off with a bang, of course, that was after the 1st pick overall was selected.  They began the night with a deal that saw forward Lars Eller head to Washington for a couple of picks, one early on Saturday and the other next Summer, both 2nd round selections.

Eller, a crafty veteran, who rounded out the pool worthy rankings for all forwards, finishing 216th in scoring among the group.  He saw some time in the 2016 draft pool and has been a bit of a regular.  The Capitals should be able to find a good spot for him, as he does have some streaky scoring runs through the year, not unlike some of their current roster of players and should provide solid minutes on the second or third line.

The Capitals are filling up their roster, albeit in pencil, with a good number of names in the early part of this off-season, as they now have 16 names on their projected list and still have $13.3 million to spend, before they hit the ceiling.

For the Habs, they clear out a little bit of cap space moving forward, as they were not quite done on the night.  They moved to having about $15 million in space below the ceiling left and they had about seven spots left to fill on a full 23-man roster.  That's not too bad in the cap management department.

Fringe Signings (Jun 24)

As we draw closer and closer to Gary Bettman's welcome to the Entry Draft, let's quickly go over a signing that happened since the last fringe signing post. The Philadelphia Flyers extended the contract of defenseman Radko Gudas on Thursday night, giving him a 4-year deal, reportedly worth $13.4 million.

The 26-year old defender was headed towards restricted free agency and had arbitration rights for the Summer, but now he'll go right into unrestricted free agency, once this deal is done.

In the 2016 season, the Czech defender finished with 5 goals and 14 points in 76 games, but was mainly kept around for his physical presence.  He was the 122nd ranked defender in scoring, which could be useful in a Waiver Draft, when 14 other defensemen got hurt.

Kicking off Friday afternoon was a contract extension for Dallas Stars defenseman Jordie Benn, who was scheduled to go to unrestricted free agency next week. The elder Benn brother signed a 3-year extension, reportedly worth $3.3 million to stay with the club.

Benn picked up 3 goals and 12 points in 64 games in the 2016 season and did make a brief appearance in last season's pool and may be an outside candidate for a Waiver Draft pick-up here as well.  The Stars' current depth at the position is fairly shallow, which would project more minutes on him, but it's still early in the off-season to say for sure.

Amidst all the trade rumours, the Tampa Bay Lightning were taking care of some housekeeping of their own, re-signing forward J.T. Brown to a new 2-year contract, saving him from restricted free agency with arbitration rights.

Brown moved into a full-time role with the Lightning last season, playing in 78 games and picking up 22 points, good enough for 244th among all forwards in scoring.  The 25-year old is moving in the right direction, in terms of career trajectory.  If he can somehow find his way into limited top six minutes in 2017, he would certainly be a good mid-season option in the Waiver Draft.

Buyout Period (Jun 24)

Prior to the opening round of the entry draft, it was reported that the Minnesota Wild informed forward Thomas Vanek of his impending buyout, removing his remaining year on his current contract from the active roster.  With Vanek owning a no-movement clause in his contract, he can avoid the waiver process and go directly to unrestricted free agency.  Just hours before the draft commenced, the buyout occurred and you can add Vanek to the list of available free agents.

The move makes for some considerable savings for Minnesota's cap budget, in the neighbourhood of $5 million for the coming season, as the team's hit for the buyout in 2017 would be $1.5 million, against his $6.5 million cap hit he would have, if he stayed with the club.

Vanek still has some hockey pool value to him, as he finished 126th in forwards scoring last season, picking up 18 goals and 41 points in 74 games with the Wild, but he might not have the same value he once had.  Be sure to consider your options carefully here.

Fringe Signing (Jun 23)

It's a 2-year contract extension for William Karlsson from the Columbus Blue Jackets on Thursday afternoon, which will carry a $1 million cap hit for each season.  "Wild Bill" had a pretty good season with the Blue Jackets, establishing himself as an everyday player, appearing in 81 games last season, scoring 9 goals and 20 points.  He wasn't quite pool worthy with those numbers, but the 23-year old may have gained more than enough experience to really turn his third NHL season into a very good one.  He certainly could make for an interesting sleeper pick late, if you're in a deep draft.

Fringe Deal (Jun 23)

The Florida Panthers continue to be one of the busiest teams leading up to the entry draft, as they used one of their long-time prospects in a deal that brings in a potential back-up goalie, sending forward Rocco Grimaldi to the Colorado Avalanche for Reto Berra on Thursday.

Berra appeared in 14 games with the Avalanche last season, winning five, and now has the lead for the back-up role behind Roberto Luongo, as Al Montoya appears to be heading to free agency next week.  Berra was the 62nd ranked goalie last season and could see adequate time in Florida, playing behind a retooled defense.  With Calvin Pickard ripe for an NHL job, Berra was certainly expendable for a deal.

Grimaldi was a 2nd round pick in 2011, but has only appeared in 27 games for the Panthers in total, unable to break into the lineup on a full-time basis.  With the Avalanche's forward depth somewhat in question, there is certainly some potential for earning a spot in that lineup, assuming he can bring it all together in training camp.

Yandle Lands On His Feet in Florida

It looks like the New York Rangers will get that conditional 4th round draft pick next year after all.  The Florida Panthers announced on Wednesday night, that they have inked defenseman Keith Yandle, who they acquired the rights of in a deal with the Rangers earlier in the week.  That deal was for one pick and a conditional pick, if he had signed... well, the deal is done.

Yandle, 29, signed a 7-year deal, $44.45 million deal on Wednesday, giving him the highest cap hit on the team for the foreseeable future in Sunrise.  This works out to be $6.35 million cap hit per season, which is a top 50 hit in the NHL today, a very sizable number indeed.  Of course, this deal will also include a no-movement clause, which will now play into any expansion draft talks, with Las Vegas on the horizon.

It was a decent 2016 for Yandle in the Big Apple, where he finished 141st overall in pool scoring, 16th among all defensemen, scoring 5 goals and 47 points in all 82 games.  His offensive talents will join the likes of Aaron Ekblad and Dmitry Kulikov to form a fairly dynamic trio.  The assembly of this Panthers team is coming along quite smoothly.

As for the cap, the big hit gets the team out from under the floor, by my projections, which only sits at 16 players right now.  The Panthers have about $13.4 million left in space to use for seven spaces and there are some good entry-level players that could still make the jump up for next season.

We're getting the feeling that the Panthers will have a pretty good push next season.

NHL to Expand to 31 Teams, Next Up: Las Vegas

Well, there's no immediate impact to the hockey pool, but there will be some impact, starting in the 2018 season, when there will be one more roster to choose from.  There will be a new team in Las Vegas, subject to get started in the 2018 season and preparations will get started right away, now that the rubber stamps have been inked and slammed down on the proclamations.

The first benefit to us poolies is that we'll have another starting goalie to choose from on all the rosters, which is truly a good thing for us.  So, the team that begins play won't exactly be climbing the standings too quickly in year number one, but with the way that the expansion draft should work, they won't be too far off and they will have a decent shot at some quality talent in the 2017 entry draft as well.

There are going to be some players that will certainly benefit from some added ice-time, moving to a team that will offer added minutes to their newly-acquired depth.  The impact on other teams around the league won't be too drastic, as the expansion draft will only cost them one player, offering up a new job to a player in their system, which offers more options for us poolies, adding another chance here and there for a diamond in the rough.

It's far too early to speculate how everything will play out, because there will be an entire season for a lot of players to audition for their spots on the protected players list, while those who are not protected will be agonized over, before anything gets done.  Nevertheless, there will be plenty of coverage and guessing and all that crap, as we move through the 2017 season.

Personally, I think these are some exciting times, as the league expands, it certainly does make the hockey pool a little bit more exciting moving forward.  More players allows for more teams in the next few years and maybe a few less complaints about how many goalies we'll take in a given year.

If you're going to try and figure out how things are going to pan out, here is a brief list of the new rules that will be applied to the expansion draft next year, around this time.  I think there will be some work done on one of my other blogs, working on some scenarios, because there will be some points in time where I'll be bored, between now and then.

Fringe Signings (Jun 22)

The St. Louis Blues re-signed forward Scottie Upshall on Wednesday morning, giving him a new 1-year deal, reportedly worth $900,000.

It has been a couple seasons since Upshall was pool worthy, but he was still able to play in 70 games for the Blues in 2016, posting 14 points.  Those aren't quite going to cut it for being picked in the draft, but Upshall will probably continue to hang around, possibly getting a shot around the Waiver Draft.

The signing of Upshall, especially to a very reasonable cap number, is rounding out the St. Louis lineup and giving them a rounded number on how to approach their pending free agents.  I currently have them with six open spots on their roster and $14.2 million to play with.

Job Done in Arizona, Goligoski Signs

The Arizona Coyotes have moved a step closer to becoming a bit more relevant in the Western Conference, convincing Alex Goligoski to put pen to paper on a 5-year deal on Tuesday night.

Goligoski was snapped up by the Coyotes from the Dallas Stars last week, trying to take advantage of their cap crunch by offering a little compensation for the chance to talk to the veteran defender.  The move paid off, as their exclusive negotiation rights kept their eyes on the prize and now they have wrapped him up for a cap hit of $5.475 million per year, just a shade under their premier defender, Oliver Ekman-Larsson.

The 30-year old defender should bring a little bit more offensive flair to the Coyotes' blueline for the new season, as he was the 33rd ranked defenseman in scoring last season, picking up 37 points in all 82 games for the Stars last year.  I wouldn't expect quite those sort of numbers in year one in Arizona, since the Coyotes' offense isn't anything close to what the Stars have, but he should still give a boost to some of their young scorers and a definite shot in the arm on the power play.

As for cap numbers, the new cap floor number is $54 million and Arizona still has some work to do to fill up that space.  I would say that this team currently has 10 locks on their roster, they are holding onto Chris Pronger's remaining year on his deal and they still have $16.1 million left to even get to the floor at the moment.  Goligoski's cap hit is certainly a welcome one to their books and their roster, there's no doubt.

2016-2017 Salary Cap Number Announced

On Tuesday night, the NHL announced one of the biggest pieces to the overall puzzle for next season, the salary cap payroll range! Huzzah!

Well, thanks to the clause owned by the Players Association, we'll see a slight lift in the cap ceiling this season, as it will go from $71.4 million to $73 million, which will also lift the floor up to $54 million.

Some reports were suggesting that if the players didn't use their growth factor clause, the cap would have dropped, likely below $70 million for the coming season and that would have put a serious dent in free agency for the coming season.

There are still a good number of teams that have their projected rosters below the salary cap floor, but the Summer has only gotten started.  Once July 1st hits, we'll see plenty of deals for players that will take those teams back into the budget window and there shouldn't be much for complaints.

Teams that are going to be hurt still, after this announcement, will be those with active bonus overages and potential overages for the coming season.  The increase wasn't very much and those bonuses will be tough to swallow in this tough time we're living in.

Nevertheless, we move forward!  Onward and upward...

Lecavalier Officially Files His Paperwork

Vincent Lecavalier, a member of Stuart's 2008 1st place team in the hockey pool, has officially called it quits, as per his agreement, when the Kings offered to trade for his services from the Flyers this season.

Lecavalier, the 1st overall pick in 1998's entry draft, enjoyed a very productive NHL career, which spanned 1,212 regular season games and 75 playoff games between Tampa Bay, Philadelphia and Los Angeles, where he scored 421 regular season goals and 949 points, 26 playoff goals and 56 points, a Stanley Cup and a Rocket Richard Trophy in his case.

Unfortunately, his overall value in the hockey pools has dropped over the years, which coincides with his perceived value by NHL teams, which showed a decline in ice-time and a decline in scoring.  Those sort of elements will greatly reduce your usefulness in the pool.

Lecavalier did make an appearance in the 2016 regular season hockey pool, after his arrival in Los Angeles, he did have a quick resurgence in the scoring department, picking up 10 goals and 17 points in 42 games, leading up to the playoffs, but his playoff run was ended in five games.