Roundup of latest contract signings and more in this morning’s collection of NHL headlines. 

 OTTAWA SUN: The Senators avoided salary arbitration with winger Mike Hoffman, re-signing him to a four-year, $20.75 million, or an average annual salary of $5.185 million.

 

SPECTOR’S NOTE: After months of speculation over Hoffman’s future in Ottawa, the Senators decided to reward their leading goal scorer over the last two seasons with a lucrative new deal. As per the Sun report, the club’s recent coaching change played a significant role in getting this deal done. Should Hoffman benefit from this, so will the Sens, who are making a substantial investment in a player who has a reputation as a streaky scorer. 

 

THE DETROIT NEWS:  The Red Wings and goalie Petr Mrazek also avoided arbitration, agreeing on a two-year deal worth an average annual salary of $4 million. Mrazek will receive $3 million in 2016-17 and $5 million in 2017-18. 

 

SPECTOR’S NOTE: Mrazek’s getting a considerable raise, though not as much as the $5.5 million per season he was reportedly seeking. He’s shown promise as a starting goalie, but consistency was an issue last season. He must overcome that problem if he’s to prove himself as a steady and reliable NHL starter.

 

THE TENNESSEAN:  The Nashville Predators re-signed forward Calle Jarnkrok to a six-year, $12 million contract ($2 million annual cap hit) and signed former Tampa Bay Lightning defenseman Matt Carle to a one-year, $700K contract. Carle was recently bought out by the Lightning.

 

SPECTOR’S NOTE: Two terrific moves by Predators GM David Poile. Jarnkrok receives a sensible contract, while Carle further bolsters what could be next season’s best defense corps. 

 

 

THE NEWS & OBSERVER:  The Carolina Hurricanes extended the contract of head coach Bill Peters through 2018-19. 

 

SPECTOR’S NOTE: The Hurricanes are building what could be something special in Carolina and believe Peters is the bench boss to help them achieve that goal. They’re among several rebuilding clubs to monitor in 2016-17.

 

NORTHJERSEY.COM:  The New York Rangers extended a professional tryout to training camp for forward Maxim Lapierre, who spend last season playing in Europe.

 

SPECTOR’S NOTE: The early take I’ve seen from some Rangers followers is Lapierre will just be a body at training camp. We’ll see if that comes to pass.

 

CALGARY SUN:  Flames GM Brad Treliving said there’s nothing really new to announce regarding contract talks with young stars Johnny Gaudreau and Sean Monahan.

 

TAMPA BAY TIMES:  Lightning GM Steve Yzerman remains confident of re-signing Nikita Kucherov, but admitted it could take a while.

 

THE WASHINGTON POST:  Defenseman Dmitry Orlov remains the Capitals sole unsigned roster player. 

 

ARIZONA SPORT: Craig Morgan takes a look at the protracted contract talks between the Coyotes and forward Tobias Rieder.

 

SPECTOR’S NOTE: There’s still plenty of time for these teams to re-sign their respective RFAs. However, the longer they remain unsigned, the more speculation could rise over their futures, especially as the start of training camp draws near.