Latest speculation on the Red Wings and Islanders plus updates on Brayden Schenn and Andrew Ference.
Islanders and Red Wings
Goalie Jaroslav Halak may have played his final game for the NY Islanders.
NEWSDAY: Arthur Staple recently reported on the state of the New York Islanders three goaltenders. Oft-injured starter Jaroslav Halak missed considerable time this past season and could face offseason sports hernia surgery. He’s also been vocal about his displeasure over the club carrying three goalies. Staple speculates there’s a rift between Halak and Isles management. Halak won’t fetch much of a return if traded,so trading him would be to shed salary to address other roster needs. GM Garth Snow praised the performance of backup Thomas Greiss filling in for Halak. Staple suggests Greiss could become an affordable No.1 goalie for the Isles next season, with promising J-F Berube as his backup.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: Moving Halak won’t be easy, as he’s got two years left on his contract at an annual cap hit of $4.5 million. Snow could buy him out in June, provided he’s not still recovering from injuries suffered during the regular season.
MLIVE.COM: Responding to questions from his readers, Ansar Khan dispels the notion of the Red Wings trading forward Henrik Zetterberg and defenseman Niklas Kronwall. He believes concussed winger Johan Franzen’s playing days are over. The Wings could consider trading defenseman Jonathan Ericsson, but his contract (four years, $4.25 million cap hit, modified no-trade clause) and a bad season could make him difficult to move. Winger Gustav Nyquist could be a top trade chip, but he’s coming off a 17-goal season. That could affect his trade value. The Calgary Flames could have interest in Wings goalie Jimmy Howard, though there are other options via trade (Kari Lehtonen or Antti Niemi, Jaroslav Halak among others) or free agency (such as Cam Ward or James Reimer) they could consider. He rejects the idea the Wings could get one of the Flames top defensemen in return for Howard.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: I agree with Khan’s responses.
Schenn and Ference.
CSNPHILLY.COM: Tom Dougherty speculates the Philadelphia Flyers could re-signed restricted free agent forward Brayden Schenn to a three-year, $15.75 million contract extension. That’s an annual cap hit of $5.25 million. Schenn’s current annual salary is $2.5 million.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: That’s a fair assessment of what Schenn could get from the Flyers. I doubt he gets any deal longer than four years years or a annual salary higher than $5.5 million.
CSNNE.COM: Joe Haggerty reports there’s rumors the Edmonton Oilers could buy out the remaining season of defenseman Andrew Ference’s contract.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: I’ll be surprised if the Oilers don’t avail themselves of that option. Ference’s contract pays an annual average salary of $3.5 million. A buyout will result in a $1.083 million cap hit for the next two seasons, a savings of over $2.16 million for the Oilers for 2016-17.
Howard to Calgary for 1 year of Wideman is a real possibility. Though still pretty sure that Holland would’ve to eat at least $1.8M in Howard’s salary to make it worth while for the Flames and they still have far better options elsewhere.
Agreed. Although I think Detroit would have to eat nominally more; 2.4. I have been promoting this trade since January. There are certainly better options, Andersen in Anaheim is my 1st choice; but expensive both in trade & salary demands, & Reimer would cost nothing more than cash but there is a benefit to Calgary getting Wideman off the books & Detroit is in serious need of any help they can get on Defense both offensively & defensively. Not saying it’s going to happen it just makes sense for both teams for a # of reasons.
The goalies listed as alternatives to Howard might be cheaper, but there is a reason for that: they aren’t as good. Niemi, Leht., Halak? All are suspect. The Dallas guys in particular are looking bad. Reimer may not be that cheap, and is he really an upgrade? Ward may not be that cheap either. I’m not saying Howard would necessarily be a top flight guy again, but isn’t that what the Flames need, a true #1? None of these options seem to fit.
The Flames need to wait until next off season to address their goaltending issues. Sign Ward/Ramo for 1 year potentially get another high draft pick and see who becomes available before the expansion draft. They could really handcuff themselves by taking on Howards 3 more years even if the wings pick up part of his salary.
Even Halak would be a better option atleast he was replaced due to injury instead of his playing level and he has less term.
Halak is an injury waiting to happen. I don’t touch him with a 10 foot pole.
Most teams address their goalie issues in the summer of need, not wait. You don’t ideally go into a season with no clear #1. Calgary tried that last season & it was a disaster. There are some solid options available both in trade Andersen, Murray/Fleury, Bishop/Vasielivsky, Howard, possibly others & several UFA options Reimer, Ward & several lesser lights that look to have earned the chance to be a #1, Enroth, Johnson, Montoya, etc.
Especially if he’s complaining about the guys who are subbing for him while he is out.
I should qualify that. I would be happy with a healthy Halak as when he plays, he’s a solid above average option on a good contract. He did manage 59 games in 2014-15 & was healthy come playoff time, at least enough to play NYI’s 7 playoff games but this groin issue has been some what chronic over the last 5 years limiting his starts in 3 of the 5 seasons.
Perhaps surgery can correct the issue moving forward & if you could some how sneak an asset out of NYI to take on his contract it would be well worth the risk.
Sure but it was more of an example (Halak), Howard is the worst possible goalie Calgary could get 3 more years at over $5mill per season why would they want to do this he isn’t even the answer to Detroit’s goaltending problems? This deal only works for Detroit, Calgary can just ride out Widemans last year and maybe just maybe trade him at the deadline
As for waiting until next season to try and get a younger better longer term option I don’t see how that would be an issue. Ward/Ramo or possibly even Reimer could all be 1 year show me contracts. Granted its not ideal but it keeps your option open moving forward and always you still make moves with out having all that cap space tied up.
Why is it that you think Howard is a good fit for Calgary? Is it because Calgary looks like they have cap space and a need for a goalie and Detroit has a goalie with a big cap hit they want to get rid of?
The cost would be nominal. I think they could get him for around 4 million per season in years 2 & 3 of his current deal, Wideman would off set his full cap hit in 1st year of the trade, dumping Wideman’s contract on them in full for year 1.
3 teams need goalies now. Toronto, Calgary & Carolina. Others may want upgrades if available to figure out how to make that happen financially, see Dallas.
I don’t have the same issue’s as you with Howard. I think he’s still a decent goalie option & if he could be had at or near 4 mil per season; after Detroit retains salary even if only in years 2 & 3, & you can dump Wideman’s cap hit that’s reasonable to me & would be cheaper than almost any other possible option not just in potential salary but also dumping Wideman’s contract freeing up cap space next season.
I don’t think Reimer is signing a 1 year show me deal. He will get at least 3 years at 4 to 4.5 from someone. The longer teams with 2 solid goalies hang onto those assets the lower their value will become. They will have the most value this summer. By next summer with teams facing losing them with in weeks of the Cup being award before the expansion draft I don’t think the return would be as high.
Jonas Gustavsson may be available. He would be a relatively inexpensive signing in both per year and length. Honestly, as much as people were getting on his during the year with his play on the Bruins… I felt he was a decent goaltender, given the in front debacle that was the defense. Rask really wasn’t much better of a goaltender yet many people jumped to his aid pointing out the facts that the blue line was horrible… same I think can be said about Gustavsson.
Gustavsson: 11-9-1 with a 2.72 GAA 908 SV%
Ramo: 17-18-1 with a 2.63 GAA 909 SV%
Ward: 23-17-10 with a 2.41 GAA 909 SV%
Halak: 18-13-4 with a 2.30 GAA 919 SV%
Enroth: 7-5-1 with a 2.17 GAA 922 SV%
You don’t believe that? Gustaffson is a back up & below average 1 at that. He’s 31, 32 when next season starts & his career average SV% is .902. 10 of his 20 starts this season were against teams that didn’t make the playoff’s & 2 others were against a team that shouldn’t have made the playoff’s but did in Detroit. Gustafsson will be lucky to get a job in the NHL next season.
I don’t think Rask played all that well this season either. He was hot & cold. Yes the D was part of the problem but Rask didn’t make many of the saves you would expect him to make. He let in far more soft goals than in past seasons that usually he saved routinely. Like you I watch the Bruins play every game. If I miss them, I watch them after the fact. The D is part of the problem & needs to be addressed but Rask also needs to play better in his own right. Confidence, swagger, the pressure of the superstar pay check, what ever you want to call it, he just didn’t seem the same.
He was significantly off his career SV% average & even worse from his previous 4 seasons. Hopefully a D upgrade & the summer off will at least get him back to in or around .920 as if he is around .915 again Boston will miss the playoffs again.
In fairness this was a young team with 10 players with less than 3 years of NHL experience & most only had 1 or less but played regular roles & with youth comes mistakes. Another year of experience will help. The 3rd line, the Spooner line was a train wreck defensively & allowed numerous back breaking goals that cost the Bruins games & impacted Rask’s #’s.
Striker,
Agree to disagree on Gustavsson… I thought there were plenty of games he looked confident and made some big saves. With a better defense in front of him I think he could be a starter. Low cost.
Agreed on Rask, everything for that matter… lack of confidence, swagger, didn’t seem the same AT ALL!
Also, it’s fair to say it was a younger team… I agree there but there were still plenty of core players on this team with a lot of experience. Maybe not necessarily age, but experience around the team. A lot of the leaders besides maybe Marchand and Bergeron really fell short last season.
just to clarify, halak wasn’t complaining about the guys for when he was OUT….it was the 3 goalie rotation when he was healthy…splitting a net in practice was a major complaint. berube also stated that he didn’t like the 3 goalie rotation. goalies want consistent reps throughout practice, and to obviously in games. 3 goalies capable of starting on any given night made that an uncertainty.
His SV% of .908 considering 12 of his 20 starts came against the leagues weaker competition beg to differ. Of all goalies to have appeared in the same # of games last season as Gustavsson, 24 he ranked in a tie with 4 other goalies at 39th.
#’s never truly reflect the facts & the eye test has to come into play. I can only think of 3 games where I can honestly say I felt he played really well. 2 losses; 1 in OT & a win. Late Nov an OT loss to Det 3-2, a 3-2 loss to Nas in early December & his shut out win against TB in early March sometime. In his other 17 starts he didn’t really impress me any way really.
Striker: you’re dreaming if you think the Isles will be sending a prospect with Halak, that is unless Calgary is sending back their first rounder.
I didn’t say a prospect. I said an asset. If Halak has surgery he won’t be eligible to be bought out. He would be difficult to trade in the current goalie market coming off the same injury in 3 of the last 5 years. If NYI doesn’t want to lose a goalie for nothing on wavers when they need to submit their 23 man roster the day before next season starts they will have to move 1.
It might be as simply as adding a nominal pick. Say a 3rd & someone sends back some B grade prospect that probably never plays in the NHL. I’m not saying it’s going to happen just that moving Halak with out a sweetener is very unlikely. No team wants to pay a goalie 4.5 per that can’t stay healthy.
Ultimately I think Jaroslav Halak is bought out in the off-season. I know the first step for the Islanders will obviously be to move the entire player/contract in a trade but I just can’t wrap my head around teams looking to do that… especially if he goes through with surgery.
If he has surgery he’ll miss the buy out window.
Well that’ll put a damper on the Islanders plans now won’t it… I think it’s going to be difficult to move him especially with other comparable free agent options available this summer. Why move assets or take on Halak’s contract when you may be able to sign another goaltender for similar numbers and not give up anything… or maybe even sign for less term/AAV
Yes. The same thing happened to Minny with Backstrom. He was injured & couldn’t be bought out, it’s happened to other palyers & teams as well. There are only 2 buyout windows but only 1 guaranteed to all teams & it comes fairly early in the summer. The 2nd buyout window relates to arbitration settlements. Teams who’s players go to & are awarded a contract via arbitration are given a 2nd chance late in the summer to make a buy out due to these awards impact on their cap.
When I saw the Joe Haggerty comment on a possible buyout of Andrew Ference the first thing that popped into my head was “wow! what has happened to Ference, he used to be a really good player and now subject of buyout rumors!?”… then I jumped on the NHL site and realized he’s 37 now! Oh where does the time go lol… I guess when he was playing with the Bruins I just assumed he was a younger guy but obviously not since that was only 3 years ago.
There were some rumors that Ference was talking retirement. But why not sit back and have one of the best seats in the house watching Mcdavid play and get paid.
Makes sense… just ask DiPietro, I’m sure he’s loving life right about now
List of Detroit players whose production dropped last year:
Pavel Datsyuk
Henrik Zetterberg
Gustav Nyquist
Tomas Tatar
Darren Helm
Justin Abdelkader
Riley Sheahan
Tomas Jurco
Niklas Kronwall
Jonathan Ericsson
Danny DeKeyser
Essentially, the whole team, excluding first or second year NHLers.
… still made the playoffs though
Larkin and Stamkos were best chemistry to watch in the ASG…just saying
Yeah heard that Stamkos loved playing with Larkin so there you go you never know what could happen.
I wasn’t even remotely happy with how Blashill deployed Detroit’s players. No player better exemplifies the terrible personal decisions made by Blashill than Tatar. If I’m Tatar I’m asking for a trade, actually I’m demanding 1 & most of you know my thoughts on such demands. Only when truly warranted & in Tatar’s case he has grounds.
Tatar tied for 3rd in points this season in Detroit. 2nd in goals, 3rd in game winners, 2nd for PPG’s, 4th for PPpts, 4th for shots taken, 2nd for shooting % & he tied for 3rd best +/- on the team. His reward. 10th for forwards in TOI/GP; that’s 4th line minutes, & 8th for all players in PP TOI/GP. He lead the team in scoring in the playoffs basically getting the exact same role; 7th for TOI/GP for fowards; 3rd line minutes, 8th again for all players on the PP.
Totally agree the entire roster under-performed this year we had 19 less power play goals this year then last and that hurts. I think the only one that hit his mark from a year ago is Glendening and it’s not hard to beat a 20 point season. Abdelkader just missed tying his mark by 2 points.
Abdelkader is part of the problem. There is the exact reversal of opportunity in Detroit. Abdelkader got 1st line ice time & power play time. 3rd for forwards in TOI/GP, 3rd for PP TOI/GP for all players yet his stats paled in comparison to Tatar’s in almost every other way but hits.
Abdelkader isn’t a 1st line winger. Frankly he isn’t a 2nd line winger, he’s a 3rd line winger that should move to the 2nd line as injuries warrant.
If Tatar had the same icetime Abdelkader did he would have lead Detroit in all offensive categories & done so providing a better overall defensive game.
The only upgrade right now for Calgary in net would be Howard I think, actually trading any assets for one of Kari Lehtonen, Antti Niemi or Jaroslav Halak makes zero sense. If they did take a run at one of them it would be a favour to Dallas or NYI.
Noel,
I don’t think it would take much in terms of assets to get Kari Lehtonen out of Dallas. I think the Stars goaltending situation is towards the top of the priority list for Jim Nill. If they could move Lehtonen for even a nominal return I think the Stars would jump at that opportunity. I’m not sure they’re looking for a home run with either Lehtonen or Niemi in terms of return. Moving the contract should be the 1st priority in the return, after that I think it’s gravy. Just my opinion though.
Agreed, although in terms of priorities for Dallas their D is nothing outside of Odouya (who isn’t a #1 or 2 guy) and Klingberg. Demers, Goligoski and Russell aren’t the answers either.
I wonder what it would take to take Niemi or Lehtonen from Dallas? I can’t see Nill keeping both.
B level prospect or 2nd-3rd round pick. I can’t see them getting a 1st round or A level prospect. The contracts will hinder the returns and both goaltenders are nothing more than average.
Lehtonen and Niemi are overpaid. 4th-5th rounder in exchange for some salary retention is most likely scenario. Halak is a better goalie than both but the offer would probably be quite similar.
I see no benefit to either Dallas goalie, 2 average goals both over paid. Halak if the right enticement was made by NYI might make sense as the cost would be NYI paying Calgary something to get him of the books as opposed to potentially buying him out if even able. If he goes under the knife the buyout isn’t even an option.
I like the Howard for Wideman swap with Det eating at least 2.4 mil from the remainder of Howard’s contract in total or signing Reimer for 3 years at about 4 mil.
Trading for 1 of Andersen or Fleury/Murray or Vasilevsky might even be better options depending upon the cost.
I am all for Murray or Vasilevsky but the price is going to be high and the chances are slim Pitts deals Murray at all.
Agreed but I would be happy taking Fleury. Very good goalie well above average, bordering on superstar status & has a great contract at 5.75 for 3 more years.
And it wouldn’t be doing Detroit a favor taking Howard?
Right now any team looking should be looking at the good prospects or #2 for the following teams; Tampa, Pittsburg, Columbus, Washington, St Louis, Anahiem, Vancouver, Islanders, Boston, and Florida. Some of the guys like Vasiliev, Allen and Murray have shown their value while Washington and NYI have real good prospects playing in the KHL, then there are guys in the AHL or college. Personally I think a team will have to offer at least a first round pick for some of these. For TO I would look at Allen and Subban first and see what it might take. Vasiliev and Murray would be my first choices but good luck getting them.
HALAK to the FLAMES for WEIDMAN….. ?
I could use some WEIDMAN! Hahahahah