NHL Morning Coffee Headlines – August 21, 2024

by | Aug 21, 2024 | News, NHL | 29 comments

The Flyers intend to terminate Ryan Johansen’s contract, the Kraken signed Matty Beniers to a seven-year contract, concerns are raised over Canucks goalie Thatcher Demko’s readiness for this season, and more in today’s NHL Morning Coffee Headlines.

PHILLY HOCKEY NOW: The Flyers announced Tuesday they were placing center Ryan Johansen on unconditional waivers to terminate his contract due to a “material breach.”

Johansen, 32, was acquired by the Flyers from the Colorado Avalanche on March 6. He was placed on waivers to be sent to their AHL affiliate in Lehigh Valley. However, he missed the remainder of the season with a hip injury despite playing his final game with the Avs two days before the trade.

Philadelphia Flyers forward Ryan Johansen (NHL Images).

Kurt Overhardt, Johansen’s agent, released a statement claiming his client has a severe hockey injury and is scheduled for surgery. He indicated his client has been working “in good faith” with the club, its medical staff, and authorized third-party physicians.

Calling the Flyers’ move “disappointing,”, Overhardt stated he’s been in contact with the NHL Players’ Association to defend his client and his rights.

SPECTOR’S NOTE: The Johansen camp intends to contest the contract termination by filing a grievance. This will drag out for several weeks before a decision is reached.

THE TENNESSEAN: The Flyers’ termination of Johansen’s contract could create additional salary cap space for the Nashville Predators. They retained half his $8 million contract when they traded him to the Colorado Avalanche last summer.

Johansen is in the final year of his eight-year contract. If a mediator rules in favor of the Flyers, it will clear $4 million from the Predators’ books for 2024-25.

THE SEATTLE TIMES: The Kraken signed Matty Beniers to a seven-year, $50 million contract. Beniers, 21, was a restricted free agent. The average annual value is $7.142 million.

SPECTOR’S NOTE: Beniers won the Calder Memorial Trophy in 2022-23 with 24 goals and 57 points in 80 games, helping the Kraken reach the playoffs in their NHL second season. However, he followed up with a disappointing sophomore performance, netting 37 points in 77 games.

The Kraken are betting that Beniers’ 20-point slide last season was merely a blip in his development.

THE PROVINCE: Patrick Johnston reports the lack of offseason news about Thatcher Demko has raised media speculation over the health of the Vancouver Canucks goaltender,

Demko, 28, played in Game 1 of the Canucks’ first-round series before being sidelined by a lower-body injury. He missed the remainder of that series and the entirety of their second-round matchup with the Edmonton Oilers but was reportedly close to returning to action before that series ended.

On July 1, Canucks GM Patrik Allvin claimed Demko would be ready for training camp. However, CHEK-TV’s Rick Dhaliwal reported Tuesday that the netminder is progressing but there’s no timetable for when he’ll be 100 percent healthy.

SPECTOR’S NOTE: Johnston suggested the Canucks could end this speculation by publishing a statement about Demko’s health. Meanwhile, Dhaliwal speculated they might “continue to poke around the goalie market again” seeking insurance between the pipes.

EDMONTON JOURNAL: Oilers general manager Stan Bowman said limited salary cap space was why his club opted not to match the offer sheets signed last week by Philip Broberg and Dylan Holloway with the St. Louis Blues.

Bowman said the decision wasn’t reflective of Broberg and Holloway but rather concerns over the club’s short and long-term salary cap flexibility. The Oilers must ensure they have sufficient cap space to re-sign Leon Draisaitl and Evan Bouchard next summer and Connor McDavid in 2026.

SPECTOR’S NOTE: Over the weekend, the Oilers acquired winger Vasily Podkolzin from the Canucks and shipped defenseman Cody Ceci to San Jose for blueliner Ty Emberson. Those moves were to address the imminent departures of Broberg and Holloway.

SPORTSNET: Blues GM Doug Armstrong dismissed the belief that he wouldn’t have signed Broberg and Holloway to offer sheets if his friend Ken Holland remained as Oilers general manager.

Armstrong claimed that was the furthest from the truth. “Honestly, I’d do it to my mother if she was managing the Oilers.”

He also laughed off the notion that there was an agreement among general managers not to target each other’s players with offer sheets. “I’ve read what people are writing – if there is a GM code not to do offer sheets, nobody emailed it to me.” He added that offer sheets are a tool everyone uses, “and should use.”

SPECTOR’S NOTE: General managers rarely share their true intentions about trades or player signings with friendly pundits. Most trades and free-agent signings take place that media insiders never see coming.

Offer sheet signings are few and far between in the salary cap era. Most general managers prefer not to use that tool as Armstrong suggests. There could be more efforts to go that route but restricted free agents seem to favor negotiating with their clubs.

TSN: At the same time it was confirmed the Oilers wouldn’t match the offer sheets for Broberg and Holloway, the Blues traded prospect defenseman Paul Fischer and a 2028 third-round pick to the Oilers for future considerations.

LAS VEGAS REVIEW-JOURNAL: The Golden Knights signed free-agent forward Tanner Pearson to a professional tryout offer. An 11-season NHL veteran, the 32-year-old winger had 13 points in 54 games last season with the Montreal Canadiens.

CBC.CA: Allan Andrews, the founder of Andrews Hockey School in Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island, passed away on Monday at age 83.

Pittsburgh Penguins captain Sidney Crosby, Colorado Avalanche center Nathan MacKinnon. Boston Bruins winger Brad Marchand, and former NHL star (and PEI native) Brad Richards are among the graduates of Andrews Hockey School.

Following the news of Andrews’ death, Crosby and Richards praised the impact he and his hockey school had on their lives and careers.

Andrews was awarded the Order of Canada in 2017 and inducted into the PEI Hall of Fame in 2021.

SPECTOR’S NOTE: My sincere condolences to Andrews’ family, friends, colleagues, and the staff and alumni of his hockey school.







29 Comments

  1. Looking back at the Johansen- Jones trade I feel both players never reached their expected potential! Feel for Jones though because he has been buried in Chicago! Nashville has a tough time with centers after their trades for Turris and Johansen! They did hit on it with O Reilly!

  2. So much for the “unwritten agreement” as the reason why there have been so few offer sheets. I always thought that to be a crock.

  3. Why wouldn’t the Nucks Just use playoff hero Silovs and Patera to get them thru Demko’s recovery? Unless Demko is expected to be out till Christmas…….

    • From what I understand following the Avalanche, johansen was not “up front” about the extent of his injury with the Avalanche? So, I don’t know why the flyers would ” be going after” the Avalanche? They did get a 1st round draft pick out of the deal didn’t they? More for flyer’s to cry about, they are always crying about something!!!! Unless there is more to shed light on, quit complaining!!!

  4. The unwritten rule probably does exist since it’s bad for business.
    The NHL and NHLPA are at odds over control of players and their contracts.
    The offer sheet is a compromise giving the NHLPA something while putting enough conditions to make it unattractive.

    Every now and then a GM goes for it and like any business move, competitors take your number.

    • True, HF30, as did Dundon with KK. That turned out to be a costly blunder and showed what happens when childish emotion overtakes business acumen.

      A GM who acts in his club’s best interests would shrug off being offer sheeted and make any deal with the rival club, were it the best deal available. Otherwise they are putting their ego ahead of the team.

      Shall we call that pulling a Dundon?

  5. On Ryan Johansen, that is a dangerous game that the NHL and NHLPA is playing. That situation could open a pandora’s box. As an Example, could the Oilers claim breach of contract on Evander Kane and simply terminate his contract? What about C. Price in Montreal? Dangerous game that is being played here and could set a really bad precedent.

    • but at the same time did Price, Weber +etc decide to not to continue to play because they knew they would never be as good IF they could rehab their injuries?
      many teams get stuck with declining overpaid former stars and their cap hits.
      different conversation i know

      • There has to be medical proof in order for a player to go on LTIR. Teams just can’t stick them there so they don’t have the player’s cap hit

    • Agree Brian

      I posted the same yesterday,

      No way this Cap hit automatically comes off their hit

      Otherwise all teams would go the termination process (for “breach”) take it to court/arbitration; settle with player out and f court/arb; thus if settled, he is effectively terminated; and no Cap hit

      Multi-billionaire owners “buy” their way out of cap hell

      Sharks already did this to Kane. They were found that they actually couldn’t terminate him; so should have had him on the books; but he settled (undisclosed) out of court; so Cap was wiped off the books

      I’d like to see our owners try to terminate for breach for Hayes (too slow); and Accairi (massive underperformance relative to contract) LOL

      Free up $5.8 M in Cap just for cash 🤣

  6. With Anaheim ($21.72 mil, Calgary ($19.2 mil), Columbus $18.2 mil), San Jose ($11.35 mil) and Utah ($9.92 mil) all sitting on huge reserves, and with no pressing unsigned deals of their own to finalize (except Columbus and Sillinger), would be doing their fans a misservice if they didn’t use all legal, negotiated avenues open to them to improve their teams.

    With regard to remaining unsigned RFAs it’s already the subject of speculation in articles such as this from The Hockey News, which came out just before Edmonton’s decision not to match and Beniers’ signing.

    https://thehockeynews.com/news/will-other-notable-nhl-rfas-sign-offer-sheets

    I think GMs should be doing everything open to them to either make their teams better, or put the squeeze on rival GMs, some of whom have been perceived as dragging their feet on getting their own players under contract.

    Players like Swayman, Seider, Raymond, Jarvis, Harley, Perfetti, Mercer and Krebs would be significant additions to the re-building clubs mentioned above.

    Just my opinion

    • That guy from The Hockey News is pretty shrewd! 😉

      • LOL – just noticed … they gotta stop using that small print for names, Lyle out of deference to us old crocks

      • Maybe he should be a GM.

      • As a shrewd pundit once said to me: insert eye roll here.

    • Besides, if more and more teams start using it regularly, the assumed “get-even” list would grow to include so many “transgressors” that it wouldn’t be worth the effort.

  7. If Johansen was indeed injured when Colorado sent him to Philly, why isn’t Philly going after Colorado for sending them damaged goods?

    • It cost Ottawa a 1st round pick – still to be determined when – in the Dadonov fiasco.

      • Of course, in that case it wasn’t an injury but rather the fact that Dadonov had a 10-team no trade clause.

    • That’s a very good question and you’re not the only person to raise it since that deal went down.

      • Did the Flyers have the opportunity to review medical records when making the trade?

    • I can see the Flyers side here and Ryan Jo’s camp. The Flyers are probably off the hook with the contract and someone will pay Ryan

      • If Dorion’s “oversight” cost Ottawa a 1st rounder, then the same penalty should be handed down to Sakic. What’s good the for the goose …

      • Good point, George.

        Maybe August isn’t so dull for hockey news after all ….

    • Because Colorado was up front about the injury and Philly was aware. He agreed to have surgery though that seems to be in limbo. There’s rumors he was given rehab to do and may or may not be doing it then suddenly he’s scene in instagram videos doing his best Fred Astaire impression and lifting his new bride and swinging her around. BAM termination of contract filed.

  8. What gets me is the suggestion that Johansen wasn’t “up front” with the Avalanche about the extent of his injury. Isn’t it the business of the team’s doctor(s) to be aware at all times?

    From this article https://phillyhockeynow.com/2024/03/17/philadelphia-flyers-danny-briere-reveals-truth-about-ryan-johansen-injury/

    “He claimed to be injured when we traded for him, so we had him see the doctors,” Flyers general manager Danny Briere told Philly Hockey Now in a phone interview. “They found an injury, so now he’s going to be rehabbing. You can’t send down a player who’s injured, so he’s going to be doing rehab until… we don’t know when.

    • So the question is, what is it that Johansen is, or is not, doing to prompt Brier to cancel the contract, given that Briere acknowledges that he new the guy was injured, and is now rehabbing?

      • It gets murkier and murkier … if, as Briere says “he claimed to be injured when we traded for him …” why didn’t he – in addition to having him see a doctor – immediately call Sakic and ask for clarification?

  9. George O, perhaps the Avalanche medical personnel were not aware due to johansen not being forthcoming about an issue to stay in the lineup? Or it seems Brier is saying he was aware, why did he make the trade?