The Tampa bay Lightning finally got its last piece of the puzzle signed to a new contract.
The Lightning and forward Nikita Kucherov agreed to a new three-year, $14.3 million deal that has a cap hit of $4,766,666 per season. The two sides couldn’t agree to a new long term deal so the bridge deal was agreed upon instead, and at the end of the three years Kucherov will still be a restricted free agent. Kucherov wasn’t practicing with the team, but he did participate in the World Cup of Hockey last month.
Nikita Kucherov
In 77 games played last season, he had 30 goals and 36 assists for a total of 66 points. That was a career high for him and a team high in points. He was second on the team in goals. Kucherov got some more time, and played a bigger role due to the fact that Steven Stamkos missed time with a blood clot. Kucherov had nine power play goals and four game-winning goals last year while averaging 18:12 of ice time per game. In addition to points, the forward set career highs in goals (30), power play goals (9), power play assists (19), shots (209) and time on ice per game (18:03).
Kucherov has consistently improved throughout his prior three seasons with the Lightning. He was really good last year with the spotlight on him especially during the postseason. In 17 postseason games played, Kucherov had 11 goals, 8 assists, 19 points and averaged 20:08 of ice time per game. In those 17 postseason games, he averaged 1.12 points per game. The 19 postseason points led the way for the Bolts. In 45 playoff games in the past two seasons, he has 42 points and has helped lead the Bolts to a Stanley Cup Final appearance in 2015 and an Eastern Conference Final appearance in 2016.
Kucherov is a great scorer and he can beat opponents easily with his slick moves when playing one-on-one. He is creative and can spot the open man in the offensive zone. The versatile forward can play either the left wing or the right wing. One downside is that he isn’t very big, but he can use his speed and creativity to get away from defenders.There is a chance that he could play in the Lightning’s home opener on Thursday night against the Detroit Red Wings even though he wasn’t skating with the team.
The deal was a good one for the Lightning because they have one of their best players returning to a lineup that doesn’t have much turnover from last season. The biggest reason that the deal worked in Tampa Bay’s favor is because it was cap friendly, and they didn’t have to make a major move to get Kucherov signed. It worked out for both sides because now the contract talks won’t be a distraction during the regular season.
The Toronto Maple Leafs are looking to see results after improving the team in the offseason, and to avoid finishing in last place again.
The Leafs finished last season with a 29-42-11 record to go with 69 points. One of the biggest problems was that they only scored 192 goals on the season while allowing 240, which was the seventh most allowed in the NHL. They finished last in the Eastern Conference, but it was Head Coach Mike Babcock’s first season with the team. Plus, they had a lot of player movement going on with trades and injuries.
The key to an improved season for the Leafs will be for James Van Riemsdyk to remain healthy for a majority of the season. Van Riemsdyk played in 40 games last season while scoring 14 goals, getting 15 assists for 29 total points. If JVR can stay healthy then he has a good shot at getting 25 or more goals this season. He’ll most likely start the season on the top line, which means he’ll be facing better opposition, but he has the speed and strength to get to the front of the net. He has the potential to be one of the better power forwards in the league if he can stay relatively injury free. He’ll be used on the power play, where he should be able to accumulate a decent amount of goals by being in front of the opposing goalie looking for deflections and rebounds.
The goaltending will be the x-factor in determining how much Toronto improves by this season. Andersen was acquired in the offseason via a trade with the Anaheim Ducks, and is expected to be the Leafs’ number one goalie at the start of the season. Enroth signed a one-year deal in free agency and is Andersen’s backup. It will be interesting to see how Andersen does playing behind the Leafs defense as opposed to the Ducks defense. Andersen will see more shots and quality chances this year, so he’ll need to stay focused during the game. Like JVR, staying healthy is a big issue with Andersen. It will not serve the Leafs if he is out for any extended period of time because Enroth just isn’t a starting goalie at the NHL level yet.
Mitch Marner will be the surprise player for the Leafs this year even though he may not even play the full season at the NHL level. He made the roster after having a really good training camp and preseason. He was getting top six minutes and if he continues to play the way he did in the preseason then he could force the Leafs into keeping him for the entire season. Marner can skate and pass the puck. He’s on the smaller side so he’ll have to use his speed and keep his head up to avoid injury. If he can impress and stick around for a full season, he’ll definitely add some more offense to the Leafs balanced lineup.
The offense should be an improved area of the Leafs’ game since the lines are pretty balanced and have a scoring threat on each one. Matthews will contribute some goals and points since he’s not afraid to go to the net and should see some power play time. A healthy JVR and Leo Komarov will also help in the goal tallies. The Leafs have a good mix of veterans and young kids up front, who have the ability to put the puck in the net so there should be a noted increase in the number of goals the team scores this season.
The defense will be a concern heading into the season, a result of some youth and inexperience on the blue line. Connor Carrick, Martin Marincin and Nikita Zaitsev have played a combined 203 NHL games. The biggest concern is the lack of a true number one pairing. Morgan Rielly has shown that he has the potential to be a top two defenseman, but who will be his defensive partner? The defense will give up its fair share of opportunities to the opposition so the goalies need to be ready.
The special teams, specifically the power play, should be better this season. The addition of Matthews, a healthy JVR, Rielly at the point and William Nylander should help the team get some more goals while on the man advantage. They need to limit the number of shorthanded goals allowed as they gave up eight last year, which was fifth most in the league. The ability of the defense to move the puck should also help. Toronto needs to stay out of the penalty box this year, and when playing shorthanded Andersen and Enroth may be forced to be the best player on the ice.
The Leafs won’t finish last this season, but they will miss out on the postseason again. The goaltending will be the ultimate difference in how big of a difference an improvement the team shows.
The Leafs will start the season on the road against the Ottawa Senators. The Senators have a new Head Coach in Guy Boucher, which means there will be some changes in the Senators style of play from last season. Ottawa proved that they can put the puck in the net last year by scoring 230 goals, which was the ninth most in the league. The problem for the Senators last year was keeping the puck out of its own net as they gave up 241 goals, which was the fifth most in the league. The young kids proved last season that they can score, and the additions of Derick Brassard and Chris Kelly should help to balance out the lines even more.
The question marks for the Senators are their weak defense corps and their goaltending. The defense corps will be relying a lot on Dion Phaneuf and Erik Karlsson, who are expected to play a lot of minutes. Beyond those two veterans the Senators’ defensive corps is thin so they will allow a lot of shots and chances, which is where Craig Anderson comes into the picture. Anderson needs to have a bounce back year and make the routine saves for this team. The Senators will be looking to win the home opener so this won’t be an easy game for the Leafs.
Toronto needs to be smart with the puck and not turn it over in its own zone because the Senators have some forwards that can capitalize on turnovers and mental mistakes. If the Leafs can get the first goal then they’d take the home crowd out of the game right away. The Maple Leafs need to establish the forecheck early and take advantage of the weak defensive corps of the Senators, if they want to pull out the win. Finally, Toronto needs to get some pucks toward Anderson and test him early and often especially with traffic in front of the net.
The Maple Leafs home opener is Saturday night against division rival Boston Bruins. The Bruins fell apart down the stretch last year and missed the playoffs. There was talk about possibly changing coaches, but that didn’t happen. Claude Julien will look to get the Bruins back into the postseason this year. Boston needed to upgrade the defense and really couldn’t get anything done there in the offseason. The Bruins still have a balanced lineup and have added David Backes, Dominic Moore and Riley Nash up front. They should be able to put the puck in the net, but Tuukka Rask will need to have a better season than he did last year.
The Bruins still have the dynamic duo of Brad Marchand and Patrice Bergeron, who have great chemistry and can both rack up some points. If the Leafs want to win the game or keep it close then they’ll need to find a way to keep those two off the score sheet. They’ll also need to put pressure on the defense and force turnovers in the offensive zone. Toronto should get some traffic in front of Rask and test him early and often to see if they can get an early goal or two.
The Philadelphia Flyers are already dealing with the loss of defenseman Michael Del Zotto after he suffered an injury in preseason, but now they will also be without the services of defenseman Radko Gudas for the first six game of the season.
Gudas was suspended six games by the NHL Department of Player Safety for interference against Boston Bruins forward Austin Czarnik during a preseason game Saturday night.
Czarnik was going for the puck along the boards and he turned to make a play, but Gudas came from the side and hit him up high as he was turning away from the boards. The puck was long gone before Gudas made the hit so he was given a two minute minor for interference on the play. Czarnik was injured on the hit and didn’t return for the rest of the game. Gudas is considered a repeat offender and will forfeit $245,121.96 of his salary to the Players’ Emergency Assistance Fund.
The length of the suspension shouldn’t have been a surprise to the Flyers or Gudas, since he had waived his right to an in-person hearing, which generally means the suspension will be five games or more. The Flyers will already be without top line winger, Brayden Schenn, due to a three game suspension for an illegal hit in a game during last year’s playoff series against the Washington Capitals.
Gudas was suspended last season for three games after an illegal check to the head of Mika Zibanejad, who was playing for the Ottawa Senators, but has since been traded to the New York Rangers. The Flyers’ Head Coach Dave Hakstol and General Manager Ron Hextall each had something to say to the defenseman about his high, late hits. The talks seemed to work because Gudas was a different defenseman in the second half of last year and even contributed some on the offensive side of the puck. He was still playing hard and hitting, but he made sure his hits were legal and not up high. He earned himself a new four-year deal worth $3.85 million per season with his decent second half.
Then came the preseason and he seemed to have regressed back to his old ways. This wasn’t the first questionable hit of the preseason for Gudas. The other hit came against Rangers forward Jimmy Vesey. Vesey was skating to the puck in the corner and was away from the boards when Gudas caught him from behind and sent him into the boards. Gudas was assessed a five minute major for boarding, a five minute major for fighting and a game misconduct. The only reason he wasn’t suspended for that hit was because Vesey returned to the game, and the NHL Department of Player Safety deemed that Vesey put himself in a vulnerable position by turning into the hit.
It seems as though Brandon Manning will be filling in for Gudas during his suspension. Hopefully, Manning has a good showing during those six games and forces the Flyers to keep him in the lineup. If Gudas doesn’t want to listen to his coach or general manager, and keeps putting his team in a bad spot then he deserves to be the healthy scratch.
The full NHL Department of Player Safety analysis and decision can be see here:
As the puck dropped on the game between the Belfast Giants and the Braehead Clan on Saturday at the SSE Arena Belfast, it was a must-win night for the Clan if they had hopes of having a chance to vie for the Challenge Cup. The Giants would have none of it.
The first period saw a strong Giants team taking control of the ice that resulted in both Blair Riley and Chris Higgins getting on the board. Meanwhile Stephen Murphy was standing strong between the pipes, making sure to deny any opportunities that the Clan might have thought they had. As the period came to an end, not only were the Giants up by two goals, but they had outshot Braehead 16-4.
Riley’s goal, notched just 3:36 into the first, was assisted by Matt Towe and Jonathan Boxhill. Towe began his season with the Giants on a temporary contract, but became a permanent member of the team for the season when he signed a one-year deal that was announced on October 1, 2016. His hard work and stellar play had earned him that contract, and his continued drive was evident on Saturday. Roughly six and a half minutes later, Higgins would double the Giants lead.
Mark Garside (Photo: Darren Kidd / Press Eye)
As the teams returned to the ice for the middle frame, it appeared that the Clan had the jump on the Giants, which was punctuated by Matt Beca’s goal 2:29 into the period, assisted by Scott Pitt and Corey Cowick, cutting the Giants’ lead in half. It wasn’t until the latter half of the period that the Giants got back into their groove, no doubt encouraged by Michael Forney’s goal at 9:39, assisted by Higgins. Mark Garside—who was back playing a forward position, after spending the back end of last season as a defenseman—would give the Giants a three-goal lead just 6:42 later assisted by Jim Vandemeer and Jeff Mason.
Garside’s goal was a thing of beauty. After receiving the pass, he managed to get it under the stick of the Clan’s defenseman, and took it around the back of the net, raising it off his stick to go bar down.
Chris Boxhill & Craig Peacock (Photo: Darren Kidd / Press Eye)
It was perhaps this goal that got under the skin of former Giant, Craig Peacock, who took a two-handed slash at Giants player/coach Derick Walser. Before Walser could react, Boxhill was in and had dropped the gloves with Peacock. While Peacock made a couple of good connections on Boxhill, it was Boxhill who got the take down. When the penalties were all meted out, Peacock would get five minutes for the slash, five minutes for fighting and a game misconduct. Boxhill got five for fighting, two for instigating, which also earned him an automatic 10-minute misconduct.
During the third period Higgins would get his second of the night, assisted by Forney and Riley. For Higgins it was obvious that he was definitely dialed in for the full 60 minutes. His dangles showed the skill that the Boston University alumni possesses. And it was not surprising that he was named the Man of the Match.
The Giants are on their way to Sheffield, where they will take on the Steelers on Sunday in a very important game for them in league play. They won’t return home to SSE Arena until October 21st for a double header playing host to the Coventry Blaze Friday, October 21st, and Saturday, October 22nd.
One of the biggest takeaways from the Boston Bruins final preseason game, as they hosted the Philadelphia Flyers, was that the goalies made some important saves when their teammates had some miscommunications. They did such a good job of it that the game had to go to overtime before a goal was registered. And it was a goal worthy of being an OT winner. David Backes managed to get a second attempt past the Flyer’s d-man who was right on him and onto the stick of Ryan Spooner, who had a solid shot off the post and in.
What may have looked a lot like a mistake free game, because it remained scoreless, was not. The players knew the mistakes and Brad Marchand, who was in his second preseason game after his impressive performance at the World Cup of Hockey, wasn’t shy about stating that.
For Backes, it was his first time before the home crowd, and he had some solid hits, one of which resulted in him having to drop the gloves when Sean Couturier wanted him to pay for the hit.
Backes and Spooner played on the right and left wings of the David Krejci line. And Spooner made a point of sharing how pleased he was to be playing with Backes.
“He’s been in the league for, I want to say 13 or 14 years now. So, he knows a lot and I like to ask him a lot of questions about where I should go and all that kind of stuff,” Spooner said. “Especially since I’m new to the wing. So, I just try to talk to him and he’s been extremely helpful. It’s been good.”
Spooner was sent down to the Providence Bruins during the 2014-15 season to get some experience on the wing, but last season he played more of a center role. However, it looks like this year he will find himself on the wing. It appears that his communication with Backes has given him a confidence that he previously lacked when in that position.
Backes shared his views on what he needs to do with his new linemates, especially Spooner, and his comments speak to his NHL experience and show what a strong player he will be in the locker room as well as on the ice.
Krug and Backes (before he played for the Bs)
“Yeah, I think we are communicating well and with [Krejci] too, learning a new linemate, learning new teammates and perhaps new positions for us to get use to and all those things kind of roll into an equation where we need to talk more, talk every time we get off the ice and what you’re thinking, where can I go, where can I help you out?” he described. “[Spooner’s] got the asset of speed and some great skills, I can use my size and Krejci’s creativity and great ability to distribute the puck, we just need to all get on the same page and read off each other and when we do that we have certain moments of brilliance where it looks like everything is clicking but then there’s a shift or two where we get bogged down or we all seem to be just looking at each other, trying to figure out who is going where and the more we can win with that and get more of the former than the latter, I think we are going to be better off and contribute to more wins for our team.”
This communication on the bench has been noticed by head coach Claude Julien, and he also pointed out the leadership that Backes brings to the team.
“Well you know we knew what we were getting here. He’s been great on the ice but he’s also been great off the ice,” Julien said. “I hear him on the bench, making sure that even with his linemates that he’s talking to them all the time and letting them know what is expected. [Spooner] is more or less a centerman so he’s been helping him on the wing and trying to get his ear to listen to his questions and trying to get better as a winger.”
The one unacceptable event in the game was the slightly late and slightly high hit by Radko Gudas on Austin Czarnik that resulted in Czarnik heading down the tunnel. At the time of publication no additional information was known as to Czarnik’s condition. Having a young player who has been so strong during camp and in his preseason games to be taken out like that begs the question of if the NHL is going to tighten up on such hits. The NHL has been said to be reviewing the hit.
“Obviously we saw the shoulder to the head and you know [Gudas] just seems to have a knack of getting himself in trouble every game,” Julien said after the game. “I didn’t like the hit personally. I thought it was a little bit late and the shoulder to the head. So it’s disappointing, here’s a player that’s having a good camp, really playing well and then he ends up the last few minutes with a hit like that.”
The Bruins have Sunday off and then will get back to practice on Monday. Their first three games of the regular season are on the road, starting with the Columbus Blue Jackets on Thursday, October 13.
The Boston University Terriers finished up the last of their two exhibition games with another impressive win. However, as head coach David Quinn expressed on Saturday and again after Thursday’s game, the team still has work to do.
Patrick Harper
Their first game, last Saturday, was against the Prince Edward Island Panthers, a member of the Atlantic University Sport, a governing body that includes many of the Canadian university teams that took on Hockey East universities last weekend as part of the preseason. Though the Terriers and Panthers spent a large portion of the game in non-even play—a result of the incredible number of penalties called on both teams—it didn’t stop the Terriers from trouncing them 10-2. Freshman forward, Patrick Harper scored an astounding five goals during that game, on six shots on goal—two even strength, two power play and a short handed. He added two assists for seven points on the night which earned him Warrior of the Week honors as announced on Monday, October 3rd.
With all the whistles that stopped play, and the many variations of special teams—some of which hadn’t even been practiced yet, as Coach Quinn joked after—it was somewhat difficult to get a sense of if there was any chemistry beginning to take shape among the line combinations.
Thursday night’s game was an equally high scoring affair for the Terriers as they hosted USA Hockey’s National Team Development Program Under-18 team, whom they beat 8-2. And once again Harper showed his skill. He got a hat trick with two even strength and one power play goal and added an assist on the evening for four points. While he had more goals than his line mate Bobo Carpenter, who had two on the evening, Carpenter added three assists for a five-point game.
Penalties in the game against the NTDP were not nearly as many, for either team, as Saturday’s game saw. In the first period, the Terriers took just one penalty, an interference call on Boston Bruins prospect Charlie McAvoy. The penalty was unnecessary, and could speak to something to watch with McAvoy going into the regular season. The Terriers were up 3-0, and while it is possible that McAvoy’s intentional unavoidance of the NTDP player was in retaliation for something that happened previously on the ice, such a penalty was a selfish one on McAvoy’s part. During the game against Prince Edward Island, he went up to one of the Panthers players during the third period and took a moment to whack him on the back of his leg, where there is no padding, though fortunately he did not get whistled for that one.
Head Coach David Quinn
Coach Quinn has mentioned that for both of these exhibition games he has dressed a young squad. He had nine freshmen on the bench: one goalie, two defensemen, and six forwards. Of course, when three of those freshmen, along with a returning sophomore, get drafted in the first round of this past summer’s NHL Draft and another of them goes in the second round of the same draft, that speaks to the level of talent that is at his disposal. However it’s not something that he’s going to let them get too high on. Quinn does a good job of reminding them that there is a lot of work that goes into being a good hockey club—though after these two exhibition games, it wouldn’t be surprising to see the players indulge in a brief moment of ego.
Of those freshmen who were drafted in the first two rounds, none of them was the unstoppable goal-scoring machine with the last name of Harper. He wasn’t chosen until the fifth round—when the Nashville Predators snagged him—but you certainly wouldn’t know it from his play. And it is clear that he has definitely found chemistry with Carpenter and their center Jakob Forsbacka Karlsson—himself just a sophomore who was taken in the second round of the 2015 draft by the Boston Bruins.
The real first test for this team though will come as the puck drops in Hamilton, New York on Saturday when the Terriers visit the Colgate University Raiders in the first game of the regular season. However, picking up 18 goals in two games definitely gives the Terriers a boost to their confidence that unlikely will have them coming out of the tunnel at the Class of 1965 Arena with some determination and conviction.
The NHL will drop the puck on the regular season on Wednesday, October 12. There will be many surprises and disappointments in the long season, but here are five bold predictions for the upcoming season.
1.) P.K SUBBAN HAS CAREER YEAR WITH PREDATORS
The Nashville Predators acquired defenseman P.K. Subban from the Montreal Canadiens in exchange for defenseman Shea Weber. This isn’t the boldest prediction of the bunch, but he has a chance to rack up some points in the Predators system. If Peter Laviolette and the Predators let Subban be himself then he’ll definitely have some success in Smashville. Subban can skate and can rush the puck up the ice so when he’s on the ice it’s like having a fourth forward out there. He has a good shot, and will have his chances to grab some points on the power play.
He isn’t afraid to shoot the puck, so if he can manage to get some shots through with traffic in front of the net, he’ll get some points that way too. Subban is also willing mix it up and throw his weight around. The defenseman might not have as big of a load defensively, which will also help his offensive game.
2.) AUSTON MATTHEWS DOESN’T WIN ROOKIE OF THE YEAR.
The Toronto Maple Leafs drafted center Auston Matthews with the first overall pick in the 2016 NHL Entry Draft. Matthews is the favorite to win rookie of the year, but a rookie will come from the field to win the award. Last season, Connor McDavid was the clear favorite to win the award but he got hurt and that opened the door for Artemi Panarin and Shayne Gostisbehere. Matthews will get plenty of opportunities with the Leafs and will most likely be playing top six forward minutes. He also should find his way onto the power play unit.
Arizona also has some youth that can score in Max Domi and Anthony Duclair. They will be able to roll out more than one line that has a scoring threat on it and have some depth up front. The blue line won’t be the strongest in the NHL, but it is improved from last season. The defense should allow less goals per game than it did last season. The biggest question will be the goaltending–specifically Mike Smith. The defense has improved enough to cut down on some chances that may have been given up last season.
4.) DALLAS STARS DON’T MAKE THE POSTSEASON
The Stars definitely have the ability to put the puck in the net, and the depth up front to roll more than one line that can score. Jamie Benn and Tyler Sequin will hopefully be healthy to start the season and remain healthy throughout, since they are an integral part of the Stars’ offense. Dallas lost a few guys up front, but will be returning with much the same lineup and the addition of Jiri Hudler.
The biggest lineup change will be seen on the blue line. Dallas lost three of its defenseman to free agency in the offseason. Jason Demers signed with the Florida Panthers, Kris Russell still remains a free agent, and Alex Goligoski was traded to the Coyotes. The Stars did sign veteran defenseman Dan Hamhuis to a two-year deal, but most of the roster spots will be filled with young defensive prospects. The defense will be a question mark this year since there will be a few rookies on the blue line.
The biggest question mark though will be the goaltending duo of Kari Lehtonen and Antti Neimi. They had their ups and downs last season–especially in the postseason–and will be one of the main reasons that the Stars won’t make the playoffs.
5.) RFAs NIKITA KUCHEROV/JOHNNY GAUDREAU/JACOB TROUBA DON’T PLAY THIS SEASON
This may be the boldest of the five predictions. Kucherov, Gaudreau and Trouba are a handful of players that aren’t signed yet, despite the season being just around the corner. Kucherov, Gaudreau and Trouba are all holdouts at training camp and preseason. Trouba actually requested a trade from the Winnipeg Jets. The teams and the players are far apart in completing deals but have been trying to come up with new contracts that both sides feel comfortable with.
The teams and players have until December 1 to get a deal done or any restricted free agent not signed by that date will have to sit out the rest of the season.
The Arizona Coyotes improved its team by bringing in some veteran players in the offseason to add to its core of youngsters.
Their offseason began by acquiring the rights to veteran defenseman Alex Goligoski from the Dallas Stars in exchange for a 2016 fifth round draft pick. Arizona had exclusive rights to the defenseman for a few days, and managed to get a deal done. On June 22, the two sides came to an agreement on a new five-year, $27,375,000 deal with a cap hit of $5,475,000 per season. Goligoski will bring a veteran presence and strong leadership to the blue line.
On the first day of the 2016 NHL Entry Draft, the Coyotes acquired the contract of Pavel Datsyuk from the Detroit Red Wings in exchange for Joe Vitale and draft picks. Datsyuk will likely never play with Arizona since he is retired from the NHL and signed a deal to play in the KHL, the Russian professional league. They also acquired young defenseman Anthony DeAngelo from the Tampa Bay Lightning in exchange for a 2016 second round draft pick. DeAngelo wasn’t going anywhere in the Lightning organization, but he’ll have a shot to make an impact in the Yotes organization.
On day two of the draft, General Manager John Chayka re-signed goalie Louis Domingue to a two-year, $2.1 million contract. Domingue will likely start the season as the backup to Mike Smith, but will certainly have his chances to impress the head coach and management.
The first day off free agency was a busy one for Chayka. The Yotes signed left wing Jamie McGinn to a three-year, $10 million contract that has a cap hit of $3.3 million per season. McGinn should help to bring some secondary scoring and improve the power play. Arizona then signed Ryan White to a one-year, $1 million deal. White will add physicality, and he can also play on either special teams unit. Kevin Connauton signed a two-year, $2 million contract and he should bring some depth to the blue line.
The rest of the moves on day one of free agency were depth moves for the organization. Chris Mueller and Garret Ross signed one-year, two-way deals worth $600,000. Jared Tinordi signed a one-year, two-way contract worth $700,000, while Jamie McBain signed a similar deal worth $650,000. Arizona signed Justin Peters to a one-year, two-way, $600,000 deal which will offers some depth in the goalie position. Klas Dahlbeck signed a one-year, one-way deal worth $750,000.
Shane Doan was re-signed to a one-year, $3,876,134 million deal to remain with the Coyotes for another season. Luke Schenn signed a two-year, $2.5 million contract, which has a cap hit of $1.25 million per season. Schenn doesn’t shy away from playing a physical game on the blue line, and can play on the penalty kill. Michael Stone got a new one-year, $4 million deal, while Connor Murphy received a new six-year, $23.1 million contract, with a cap hit of $3.85 million per season. Arizona bought out the remainder of Antoine Vermette’s deal, and signed Radim Vrbata to a one-year, $1 million contract.
The Coyotes weren’t done yet, acquiring Lawson Crouse and Dave Bolland from the Florida Panthers in exchange for draft picks. And, as a result of his impressive performance in the World Cup of Hockey, Tobias Rieder, an unsigned Coyotes restricted free agent, he was able to get a new deal with a new two-year, $4.45 million contract.
This is definitely an improved Arizona Coyotes team and they may even have a shot at making the playoffs.
They re-signed some current players, made some moves in free agency, acquired two new goaltenders and won the 2016 NHL Entry Draft Lottery. Toronto earned the right to the first overall pick in the 2016 NHL Entry Draft.
On April 13, just a few days after the Maple Leafs season ended, the team re-signed two key pieces in the organization. They agreed to new six-year deals with center Nazem Kadri and defenseman Morgan Rielly. Kadri’s deal was worth $27 million with a cap hit of $4.5 million per season, while Rielly’s contract was for $30 million with a cap hit of $5 million per season.
Then General Manager Lou Lamoriello went out and got some more help for the blue line. Defenseman Nikita Zaitsev signed a one-year contract with a cap hit of $925,000. It is a two-way contract so it’s some more organizational depth since there’s a possibility that Zaitsev could start the season playing with Toronto’s AHL affiliate, the Toronto Marlies. The defenseman can move the puck and has some offensive ability, but his biggest adjustment will be learning to play the North American style of hockey.
On June 20,the Leafs acquired goaltender Frederik Andersen from the Anaheim Ducks in exchange for a 2016 first round draft pick and a 2017 second round draft pick. Toronto needed a replacement for James Reimer, who was traded at the deadline last year. By signing Andersen to a new five-year contract worth $25 million, the organization has made a statement. Andersen has good size and can make the routine save as well as the spectacular one, but Lamoriello and the Leafs are putting a lot of trust in a goalie that has only played 125 career NHL games. One of the biggest knocks on Andersen is that he seems to be injury prone.
On June 24, with the first overall pick in the Draft, surprising no one, the Maple Leafs selected center Auston Matthews. By draft day, Matthews was considered the top prospect and may already had already assumed he would go to Toronto. He signed his three-year entry level contract worth $2,775,000 with a cap hit of $925,000 per season. While it is a two-way contract he’ll start the season with the Leafs. He has a ton of offensive talent and isn’t afraid to go to the net so he should help Toronto’s power play and offense overall. The biggest question is whether he can handle the expectations that come with playing in a hockey market like Toronto.
Perhaps the Leafs’ biggest free agent signing was Matt Martin who they got with a four-year, $10 million contract carrying an annual cap hit of $2.5 million. Martin adds toughness in addition to depth to the their lineup. Defenseman Roman Polak signed a one-year, $2.25 million contract and he’ll bring some physicality and leadership to the blue line.
Lamoriello continued by adding some players for organizational depth. He re-signed goalie Garret Sparks to a one-year, two-way, $575,00 contract. Forwards Josh Leivo and Peter Holland were re-signed to two-year and one-year contracts respectively. Defenseman Jared Holl and Frank Corrado each re-signed one year deals, while Connor Carrick got a new two year, two-way contract worth $2.5 million.
The final piece of the puzzle was to add a backup goalie since the Leafs traded Jonathan Bernier in the offseason. They found it in Jhonas Enroth, who signed a one-year, $750,000 contract in free agency.
The Maple Leafs should be an improved, and somewhat different, team this year with the signings and Matthews entering the lineup.
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