Wild re-sign Devan Dubnyk, reaction to Bruins and Sabres draft weekend moves, plus updates on Eric Staal, Antti Niemi, Scott Gomez & more.
Wild re-sign Devan Dubnyk.
STARTRIBUNE.COM: The Minnesota Wild have re-signed goaltender Devan Dubnyk to a six-year, $26 million contract. Dubnyk was eligible for UFA status on July 1. That’s a $4.33 million annual cap hit. “He makes $5 million each of the first four years, $3.5 million and $2.5 million the last two. There is a limited no-trade clause for part of the deal.”
SPECTOR’S NOTE: This deal is longer by two years than I expected, but the cap hit is reasonable. No surprise the Wild re-signed Dubnyk after he saved their season and became a Vezina finalist. Yes, there’s a risk this past season was a one-off, but it’s also possible Dubnyk has finally achieved his full potential as a starter. If so, the Wild are finally set between the pipes.
THE BOSTON GLOBE/BOSTON HERALD/CSNNE.COM: The reaction from the Boston media to the Bruins’ moves at the 2015 NHL Draft, highlighted by trading away defenseman Dougie Hamilton and popular power forward Milan Lucic largely for draft picks and prospects, is overwhelmingly negative. The pundits consider these moves the sign of inexperienced by GM Don Sweeney and team president Cam Neely.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: Supporters of Sweeney and Neely defend the moves, blaming former GM Peter Chiarelli for overspending on too many players and leaving the club in cap hell. That’s true to a point, but Sweeney (as assistant GM)and Neely were there when Chiarelli made those signings. You have to believe they were ok with those signings (plus the Tyler Seguin trade) when they were made. The returns for Hamilton and Lucic were underwhelming. The only saving grace will be if those first-round picks they received in this year’s draft blossom into stars down the road. In the short term, however, those moves do nothing to bolster the Bruins lineup.
ESPN.COM: The Carolina Hurricanes are working on a contract extension for captain Eric Staal, who is eligible next summer for UFA status.
THE BUFFALO NEWS: The Sabres are in good spirits after selecting Jack Eichel with the second overall pick in the 2015 NHL Draft, along with acquiring center Ryan O’Reilly from Colorado and goaltender Robin Lehner from Ottawa via trades.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: After the past two years, the Sabres have nowhere to go but up. Given their moves this year (including the acquisition of Evander Kane in February), they can only get better.
THE DENVER POST: Ryan O’Reilly supposedly sought an eight-year, $64 million contract from the Colorado Avalanche. If so, that explains why the Avalanche traded him to Buffalo.
SPORTSNET’s John Shannon reports via Twitter: “Expect Antti Niemi to get a 3 year deal with the Stars. Jim Nill believes the 2 goalie system…splitting games… Is the way to go.” The Stars acquired Niemi’s rights yesterday from the San Jose Sharks.
CSN BAY AREA: The San Jose Sharks re-signed forward Melker Karlsson and goalie Troy Grosenick to two-year contracts.
NHL.COM: The Chicago Blackhawks traded third-string goalie Antti Raanta to the New York Rangers for minor-league forward Ryan Haggerty.
NJ.COM: The New Jersey Devils are parting ways with pending UFAs Scott Gomez and Steve Bernier.
NEWSDAY: The New York Islanders made history by selecting AnDong Song with the 172nd pick in the 2015 NHL Draft, making him the first Chinese player selected at the NHL Draft.
Chiarelli overspending – you wonder what the reaction in Boston would have been had he traded away or failed to sign one of the core players who contributed to the 2010 Stanley Cup win? Seguin deal was a total mess.
Sabres overspent to get Lehner and O’Rielly – all will be forgotten if these guys help turn the franchise around.
As a Bruin fan, I’d say the Hamilton trade was a disaster. Sweeney should have gotten a quality player from the present Calgary lineup, plus their 15th pick along with a second round pick. However, it’s clear to me, that they gave up too soon on Hamilton. I would have done whatever was necessary, to sign Hamilton, even if it meant dumping some salary overboard. Onthe Lucic deal, I think they did fine. Let’s not forget, that Lucic has had a couple of sub-par years and is in the final year of his contract (What are the Kings going to do, to re-sign him?). The Bruins picked up Jakub Zboril with the 13th pick, improved their goaltending, with the addition of Martin Jones, and added d-man Colin Miller, who had a terrific season with the AHL champion, Monarchs. He also won two AHL all-star competitions – hardest shot and fastest skater. But, yes, the Hamilton trade was a disaster, compounded by Sweeney strange draft picks at numbers 14 and 15 – guys he could have gotten with second round picks.
I’m ok with the Bruins moves except the 15th pick was ranked lower and should have taken a higher prospect. I think they still could have gotten him with the 37th pick.
Hamilton wanted out and so did Lucic.
Created cap space for a couple free agents which no one is talking about.
So you can add whoever they add to the trade because you wouldn’t be able to sign anyone without the space.
what free agents are you talking about ?
any of the top free agent d men will cost them 5 mil per yr and are no where the d man that Hamilton is and will be
lucic deal is ok but who will protect marchment now
I really think that Dubnyk was re-booted by Sean Burke (another giraffe) who helped him play a more traditional stand-up style instead of butterfly. Good on Dubnyk cashing in…
You have to wonder how much the Bs will regret trading Seguin now that Krejci has faded so fast after they re-signed him.
Other teams wanted the kid at 15 and nobody on the team could handle Dougie to smart for his own good. I wouldn’t have offered as much as they did. Bruins will be fine time for the kids to shine.
Buffalo overpaid for Lehner based on what Vancouver & NYR got in return
so in boston does this mean the demise of Rask and Krecji too
but they still keep marchment very interesting
Who is this Marchment you keep referring to? Bryan Marchment’s last playing season was in 2005 and he is not a scout for the San Jose Sharks. Never played for the Bruins.
oops brad marchand #63 does that help oops me bad spelled his name wrong
ty for the notice