NHL Morning Coffee Headlines – October 12, 2020
In today’s NHL morning coffee headlines: Alex Pietrangelo reportedly close to signing with the Golden Knights, the Blackhawks core aren’t happy with management’s recent moves, and the latest notable free-agent signings.
Alex PIetrangelo is reportedly close to a deal with the Vegas Golden Knights (NHL Images).
THE ATHLETIC’s Jeremy Rutherford reported hearing Alex Pietrangelo and the Vegas Golden Knights were getting close to a deal.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: Rutherford speculated it could’ve come as early as last night. Nothing so far as of this posting but they could reach an agreement later today. Cap Friendly indicates the Golden Knights currently have $1.875 million in salary-cap space. A new contract for Pietrangelo could cost over $8 million annually on a long-term deal.
They are allowed to exceed the cap by 10 percent during the offseason, but they’ll have to shed significant salary to fit that deal under the cap before the start of next season. I’ll have more about that in the Rumors section.
THE SCORE: cited The Athletic’s Mark Lazerus reporting the Chicago Blackhawks veteran core players (Patrick Kane, Duncan Keith, Brent Seabrook and captain Jonathan Toews) are fed up with management’s offseason moves. Lazerus cites a source claiming they’re “pissed off” and have “had enough”.
The Blackhawks let Corey Crawford depart for New Jersey via free agency, traded Brandon Saad to Colorado for Nikita Zadorov, and didn’t tender qualifying offers to Drake Caggiula and Slater Koekkoek. Toews said the recent moves came as a shock, adding he was never told the club was going through a rebuild.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: Blackhawks general manager Stan Bowman deserves criticism for his management of the club’s cap payroll. They have little room to maintain a playoff-caliber roster. However, a big chunk of those cap dollars is invested in those core players. I can sympathize with their frustration, but they have no business being pissed off when their contracts annually eat up over $33 million in salary-cap space.
THE DALLAS MORNING NEWS: The Stars re-signed center Radek Faksa to a five-year contract worth $3.25 million annually.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: Faksa, 26, has become an effective shutdown center on the Stars’ third line. This is an affordable deal that’s pretty much in line with market value for a center of his skill set.
THE DETROIT NEWS: The Red Wings signed forward Vladislav Namestnikov to a two-year, $4-million contract.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: Another good, affordable signing by Wings GM Steve Yzerman. Namestnikov is a versatile two-way forward who can play center or wing. He also wanted to play for Detroit. He’s the nephew of former Wing Slava Kozlov and lives in the area.
STLTODAY.COM: The Blues signed forward Kyle Clifford to a two-year contract worth $1 million annually.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: The Blues sit above the salary cap by $1.175 million with defenseman Vince Dunn to re-sign. While they could make a cost-cutting deal, they will likely start next season with Vladimir Tarasenko and Alex Steen on long-term injury reserve, allowing them to exceed the cap by their equivalent salaries until such time as they return to action.
WINNIPEG SUN: The Jets signed defenseman Derek Forbort to a one-year, $1-million contract and center Nate Thompson to a one-year, $750K deal.
TORONTO SUN: The Maple Leafs signed forward Jimmy Vesey to a one-year, $900K contract.
Considering only Kane isn’t embarrassingly overpaid in that group they certainly do not have a right to be pissed.
Agreed. Spoiled, overpaid children who think they should be consulted on management decisions.
They finished 12th. This isnt a playoff team regardless of a play-in win over Edmonton. For them to trot out the same roster and expect success is ridiculous.
As Lyle points out, a lot of this is on Bowman for handing out the contracts (and everyone knew at the time that the tail end would be painful). But the players fell off a cliff way faster than predicted.
Attn Dry and McD….attn Sid and Co. The list keeps going. If you take up all the cap for your self then take that chunk of the blame too otherwise be a team olay because it is a team sport
I wouldn’t include Crosby on that list. He left considerable money on the table when he re-signed with the Penguins. His $8.7 million AAV is a bargain compared to his true market value.
TRUE THAT!!!
Syd has been the best Contract in the NHL for its entire duration !
he even let Malkin make more money than him ..while letting Tanger and Flower make some cheese along the way as well…Syd def took one for the team when it was right to keep a core together !
Mind you the guy makes more money in endorsements than probably any other NHL or most pro athletes !
Not sure if there has ever been a better contract for production than Syd Crosby !
I am also biased as I think he’s still the best in the world ….IMO.
Mcdavid stepped in to lower the AAV , albeit by only 500k by report and Draisaitl signed shortly after For 4 million less .
I was ok with both numbers pre signing IF and only if they came with max term , which will be prime years , every year . I said before mcdavid the real discount will be if he signs max term , talk about leverage , he had it all, he could name his price up to max if he wanted to . Draisaitl I was ok to go to 9 IF it came with max term . The difference between them and Chicago is Chicago is paying guys for the declining years , Edmonton is paying for the prime .
On its own Leon’s contract is among the best in the league , 2nd tier behind the McKinnon and sheiffles of the world who are just absolute steals.
Agree with Lyle on Crosby take .
Ovi has been a better player than Sid since Day 1 at a slightly higher cap hit. His contract has been best from start to finish.
As Kal el says – TRUE THAT!!! Wouldn’t Edmonton & Toronto, as examples. loved to have had a 12-year option for some of their signings?
Regardless, he still could’ve insisted on earning top dollar, which would’ve been over $12 million per when he signed the deal at that time. He still left money on the table.
The burgh appreciates crosby taking less. But another factor in that whole thing is that crosby is a superstitious weirdo. He had to have a cap hit of 8.7. He’s a lovable weirdo around here but a weirdo just the same
Superstition is notorious among pro athletes – I don’t know about you Chrisms, but I never leaned to being superstitious – a little stitious maybe …
Ok Wendel, I’ll take the bait. Prove that Ovi is a better player than Sid.
Happy Canadian Thanksgiving.
Wish everyone all the very best enjoy the day!
With all due respect I know that Toews Keith Seabrok & and Kane have a good chunk of the cap hit ..
Here was the Cap in 2011 – 2012
payroll range established for the 2011 2012 League Year, $64.3 million….$81.5 today
with all the CORE players they are sitting about $35 million plus Crawford would have been $40 million.
Stan Bowman over the years has had a significant increase of money to work with as he still has had about $40 million to work with to round out a roster to build within as well as trade with …so the guys who signed long term won 3 CUPS and they do deserve a better Management system to help in the years as they go by …not just a piece meal ..Bowman has brought back over 5 players over the years from cup winning teams that he let go …but never really filled any holes with internal player development there after !
Other teams have been able to do this …mind you they have not won cups but they have built quality teams surrounding a core….and keeping the team together more than a year at a time ..!
I think the issue is that the team changes so much year to year ..they have never really been able to have a decent group that has played together for more then 2 years …just a merry go round !
Cheers…Gobble …gobble !
We won’t hear about a Pietrangelo signing until they trade someone. Already over cap and signing him to anything more than 6.7m puts them over the 10% allowance. Saw rumors of Schmidt being shopped. Florida was team mentioned. Even if that happens, Vegas will be within the allowance, but still over the cap. MAF needs to go.
They are under by about 1.85 after trading Stastny so they could make that signing, but still need to ditch MAF before season start.
I doubt very much that Fleury will be the one to go – simply because no one really needs a goalie right now and to take on that contract because of a “name” would be nuts. It has to be someone like Schmidt, and if his $5,950,000 cap hit added to that $1.85 isn’t quite enough, they may also have to move a Stephenson.
But let’s say they do find a taker for Fleury – even in his case his full $7 mil added to the $1.85 wouldn’t be enough because, after adding Pietrangelo, there’d be virtually nothing left in cap space, they’d still be at 21 signed needing 2 to reach 23, including a back-up goalie.
Chigago?
Ana?
Car?
Buff?
Col?
OK, let’s look at those 5 teams, who they currently have signed in goal and their cap situation:
Chicago – Delia & Subban – $6,163,857 to sign 4 incl RFA Dylan Strome – 12g 26a 38pts coming off $863,333 – who do they move to re-up him and take on $7 mil – and where does that cap go?
Anaheim – Gibson & a back-up to be named (currently 4 in their system) – over the cap by close to a million with 1 to sign – no RFAs – who do they move to wipe out that cap excess AND take on $7 mil – and where does that cap go?
Carolina – Mrazek and Reimer – $5,782,261 to sign 5 (FIVE!) – incl RFAs F Warren Foegle – 13g 17a 30pts +9 coming off $746,667 ELC andLD Hayden Fleury – 4g 10a 14pts -2 in 45gp coming off $850,000 ELC – which will use up most of the cap space – and still 3 to sign – who do they move and where to take on $7 mil
Buffalo – Hutton & Ullmark – $13 mil to sign 4 including 4 RFAs – Viktor Olofsson – 20g 22a 42pts coming off $767,500 ELC; Sam Reinhart – 22g 28a 50pts – coming off $3,650,00; LD Lawrence Pilut – 0 pts in 13gp – coming off $925,000; Linus Ullmark – 2:69 gaa 0.915 save % iun 34gp – coming off $1,325,000 – you’re looking at close to #10 mil to re-up those 4 – so who do they move and where to take on $7 mil
Colorado – Grubauer & Francouz – $9,964,400 to sign 6 (SIX!) – including RFAs Tyson Jost – 8g 15a 23 pts coming off $885,833 ELC; Vladislav Kamenev – 1g 7a 8pts in 38gp coming off $750,000 ELC; LD Ryan Graves – 9g 17a 26ptrs +40 – coming off $735,000 ELC – there goes the bulk of the space and they still need to sign 3 – so who goes to clear space to take on $7 mil?
And remember, Vegas can’t take any cap back – or hold any for that matter – where Fleury is concerned.
Hi Slick62
I agree it is more likely that they wait until they’ve traded Schmidt before signing Petro, but they could do it now
They can go over by 10%… so that’s an upper max limit of $89.6 M. They are at $79.6 M now so could (won’t but could) sign him for $10 M
I expect they will get him in around $8M to $8.5 * 7
I posted on the math last night that 7 at $7.7M in LV structured with $1M sal and the rest in spread out signing bonuses…. will have basically the same take home in 7 years as an 8 year $8.5 M sal in StLouis (as was pondered that the Blues final offer was)
$2 M extra in Cap hit to replace Schmidt with Petro is well more than worth it
Vegas will also get something in return for Schmidt
If it’s FLA …. is it Weegar?
If it’s Flyers is it Myers?
Peng if using your number of $8m to be cap compliant before the season starts Vegas would still need to clear $6.1 in cap space, bringin back any player only compound this and Vegas would still need to clear more $$$ as Schmidt contract is $5.95. Signing AP brings the roster size to 22.
The best two plays for Vegas would be to pay someone to take MAF or tarde Pacioretty.
Exactly. No math I know of would allow Vegas to sign Pietrangelo at $7 or $7.5 by dealing only Schmidt IF unknown cap was part of the return – and where both Weegar and Myers are concerned, right now that’s unknown since both are RFAs
Weegar – coming off $900,000 per 7g 11a 18pts +6 in 45gp
Myers – coming off $678,889 – 4g 12a 16pts +17 in 50gp
When settled, the LEAST you’re looking at is $2.5
And if one of them was taken for Schmidt, not only would that skew the cap for Vegas, they’d still be at 21 signed with virtually nothing left to sign 2.
Hi Caper and George
Was out for a bit and reading responding now
My assertion of signing him before any trade was just to show that it is possible (staying below 110% of 81.5 M in off-season)
Yes I think they’ll trade first
They obviously don’t have to take Petro… could stick with Schmidt ; keep the Flower, add two league min depth forwards and be at 23 and under the Cap
That is obviously not their pref…. they would like Petro… that would make them cup favs IMHO
So … let’s just for the sake of argument.. add those two depth Fwds
They are now under (just) and a full roster… Glass replaced Statsny (bigger faster, 14 years younger) and
Dahlstrom in for Merril… big improvement
The loss is minor in a depth league min player replacing Cousins
So to get Petro from starting point above:
1) Schmidt and Martinez moved; Petro signed; Martinez replaced by a UFA D… 1 year.. low cost (just throwing out there.. Huttin, Koekkoek, DelZotto…. or maybe the return from the Schmidt trade is a young D at reasonable
or
2) Take the asset(s) acquired in the Schmidt trade; add an asset… use as sweetener to move MAF… after signing Petro … that’s $4.5 M left over for a back up and extra space
3) move Schmidt and Martinez … take the trade assets… sweeteners… use to move MAF…… Sign Petro…. that leaves $10.5 M for a back up; Martinez replacement, and two forwards…
For $10.5 M they could sign a short term on Vats , Haula, depth forward; back up … and still be under the Cap
The options are there if they are full go on Petro (I believe they are)…. but Schmidt IMHO… is the piece to move… no point in keeping Schmidt if you are getting Petro
As i mentioned yesterday Boston needs a LD both Schmidt and Theodore are LD. Lets make a deal.
This also why i said Chevy mishandle the deal for Stastny, Winnipeg should’ve got a 2nd round pick.
Hi Caper
Schmidt us a Lefty who plays predominantly RD
I don’t see Vegas moving Theodore at all
Agree . No chance Theodore is being moved .
Good bargain price interchangable slug added by Dubas. Basically same as Johnsson for 2.5M less.
Welcome to the new NHL, no middle class.
The league knows VGK have to clear plenty of salary. They’re not going to be offering up prime assets to help another team win a cup.
If VGK can trade MAF without retaining salary they need to do whatever is necessary. It cost TOR a 1st round pick to move Marleau and $6M…VGK would be wise to offer anything to another team to absorb MAF whole cap hit.
Schmidt has value on the trade market as a RHD but VGK can’t take salary back. If VGK offer a 1st rounder with MAF they could likely get one back for Schmidt.
Daryl. The nucks knew Tampa needed to clear space but still gave them a 1st for Miller. And apparently helped them win a cup. Just sayin.
Hi Pengy, i agree i don’t see Theodore being moved; Schmidt being a lefty should be and easy transition to playing the left side full time.
@Chrisms…
I wouldn’t call Benning an astute GM…he just allowed his starting goalie to sign with a division rival while signing an inferior goalie to replace him for the same money.
He also let two RHD walk for nothing with no discernible plan to replace them.
Tampa was not in as dire a financial situation as Vegas now finds themselves in. Miller seemed to work out well for VAN last season though…?
The goalie thing I can’t see construed as a loss. They are moving on to demko and got a good 1b to mentor and spell him at a cheaper rate than markstrom. A win. The d man thing is a wait and see. If he does nothing or his moves are less than ideal it’s a loss. But both d men moving out wernt needle movers either.
Toffoli is biggest loss.
If Toews, Kane, Seabrook & Keith are all chapped then they should rip up their contracts and rework them for something reasonable … then Bowman would have the flexibility to retool the team … problem solved … yeah, like that would ever happen 🙂
Seabrook is fed up with chicago’s management moves???
How ironic because, as the most overpaid player on their team, Seabrook is the one chicago SHOULD move!
He better be careful what he wishes for. IF chicago could find someone to dump Seabrook on, he’s probably the next guy out the door.
Well…Seabrook is on LTIR and has a NMC so I don’t know how they’d accomplish that feat?
A team may trade for him if he stayed on LTIR but he’s determined to play again.