NHL Morning Coffee Headlines – August 12, 2021

by | Aug 12, 2021

NHL Morning Coffee Headlines – August 12, 2021

Elias Pettersson wants to play for a winner, Sam Reinhart re-signs with the Panthers and the Jets avoid arbitration with Neal Pionk. Details and more in today’s NHL morning coffee headlines.

THE PROVINCE: In an interview with a Swedish hockey publication, Elias Pettersson said he wants to stay in Vancouver but also wants to play for a winning team that has a chance to go deep in the playoffs every year.

VANCOUVER, CANADA – Vancouver Canucks center Elias Pettersson (NHL Images).

“I feel like we’ve got a chance to do that next year,” said Pettersson. “If we have that chance when my next deal expires…I don’t know. I just want a chance to play where there’s a chance of winning.”

A restricted free agent, Pettersson’s contract negotiations with the Canucks are ongoing. The two sides are reportedly still not close to a deal.

SPECTOR’S NOTE: Pettersson’s remarks raised concerns on social media among Canucks fans concerned over the club’s direction under general manager Jim Benning. It’s even sparked some fear he’ll get an offer sheet from a rival club. That appears unlikely given the Canucks have sufficient cap space to match any offer plus the high rate of compensation they would receive if they opted not to match.

It’s believed Pettersson and the Canucks are currently discussing a long-term deal. Nevertheless, it’s fair to speculate whether the Canucks would have difficulty convincing Pettersson to re-sign before his next deal expires if the club is still spinning its wheels.

FLORIDA HOCKEY NOW: The Panthers reached an agreement on a new contract with forward Sam Reinhart. It’s a three-year deal worth an annual average value of $6.5 million.

SPECTOR’S NOTE: A decent raise for Reinhart, who was recently acquired in a trade from the Buffalo Sabres. He earned $5.2 million last season on a one-year deal. Playing in a no-tax state like Florida likely contributed to his acceptance of that annual cap hit.

Reinhart, 25, is expected to skate at right wing on the Panthers’ top line alongside center Aleksander Barkov. He could provide a significant boost to their offensive depth as they look to take the next step toward Stanley Cup contention this season.

WINNIPEG SUN: The Jets avoided salary arbitration with Neal Pionk, reaching an agreement with the 26-year-old defenseman on a four-year contract worth an annual salary-cap hit of $5.875 million. He earned $3.15 million annually on his previous deal.

SPECTOR’S NOTE: Pionk has become an invaluable top-four blueliner for the Jets since being acquired from the New York Rangers two years ago. He’ll either play alongside Josh Morrisey on the first pairing or with recently acquired Brenden Dillon on the second pairing.

The Jets still have an upcoming arbitration hearing with forward Andrew Copp. He earned $2.28 million annually on his previous contract. Cap Friendly indicates the club is already over $2.1 million above the salary cap, though they’ll get some relief by placing Bryan Little ($5.29 million) on long-term injury reserve this season.

NEW YORK POST: Henrik Lundqvist could attempt an NHL comeback once he receives full medical clearance. The 39-year-old unrestricted free agent goaltender missed all of last season recovering from heart surgery.

THE HOCKEY NEWS: Former NHL star Jaromir Jagr appears poised for another season with his hometown club of Kladno in the Czech Republic. The 49-year-old helped his hometown team become champion of the second division in 2020-21 and return to the Extraliga for this season.










NHL Morning Coffee Headlines – August 2, 2021

by | Aug 2, 2021

NHL Morning Coffee Headlines – August 2, 2021

Marc-Andre Fleury will report to the Blackhawks, the Kraken’s contract with Philipp Grubauer rejected by the league, Evander Kane denies betting on NHL games, and 17 players file for salary arbitration. Get the details in today’s morning coffee headlines.

NBC SPORTS CHICAGO: Marc-Andre Fleury confirmed Sunday he will report to the Blackhawks this season. “Hey, Chicago, it’s Marc,” he said via the club’s social media account. “Just wanted to let you know: I’m in. Let’s get to work.”

Marc-Andre Fleury will report to the Chicago Blackhawks (NHL Images).

The Blackhawks acquired Fleury from the Vegas Golden Knights last Tuesday. However, he took several days to discuss his situation with his family and consider his future. The 36-year-old goaltender has a year remaining on his contract with a $7 million salary cap hit.

SPECTOR’S NOTE: Fleury won the Vezina Trophy for the first time last season with the Golden Knights. He won’t have a solid defense in front of him in Chicago as he did in Las Vegas. Nevertheless, the Blackhawks could have a shot at a playoff spot in the Central Division this season if Fleury maintains his Vezina form.

THE SEATTLE TIMES: The Kraken have rectified an accounting error that resulted in the league rejecting the club’s first attempt to finalize its contract with goaltender Philipp Grubauer. The front-loaded contract violated the CBA’s 25 percent cap above the amount in the initial contract year.

Grubauer’s annual average value is $5.9 million for six seasons. He will earn $5 million in actual salary this season. It was originally slated to rise to $6 million in 2022-23 and $7.5 million in 2023-24, an increase of 30 percent. The deal has been restructured by shifting $250K from the third year to the second year.

SPECTOR’S NOTE: When this was first reported some fans on social media wondered if the contract would be voided. Doesn’t work that way. The team gets the opportunity to fix the accounting error. In this case, it was an easily addressed minor detail.

NBC SPORTS BAY AREA: San Jose Sharks winger Evander Kane denied allegations made by his estranged wife claiming he bet on NHL games. “I have NEVER gambled/bet on hockey, NEVER gambled/bet on Sharks games, NEVER gambled/bet on any of my games and NEVER thrown a hockey game,” he said in a statement released yesterday.

The NHL announced it would investigate Kane based on the allegation made on an unverified Instagram account attributed to Angela Kane. She responded to Kane’s statement via that account yesterday, accusing him of abandoning her and their daughter to party and gamble in Europe. She also claimed he had a gambling addiction and claimed he was trying to use the media to control the narrative.

SPECTOR’S NOTE: Kane’s personal life has been under growing media scrutiny since applying for bankruptcy in January. He was also the topic of trade speculation following a recent report claiming several of his teammates expressed frustration about him to management during their season-ending exit interviews. The Sharks released a statement on Saturday saying they supported the league’s intent to investigate the gambling allegations.

NHLPA: Seventeen NHL players applied for salary arbitration yesterday:

Zach Aston-Reese (Pittsburgh Penguins)
Ross Colton (Tampa Bay Lightning)
Andrew Copp (Winnipeg Jets)
Jason Dickinson (Vancouver Canucks)
Vince Dunn (Seattle Kraken)
Adam Erne (Detroit Red Wings)
Dante Fabbro (Nashville Predators)
Dennis Gilbert (Colorado Avalanche)
Adin Hill (San Jose Sharks)
Michael McNiven (Montreal Canadiens)
Victor Mete (Ottawa Senators)
Adam Pelech (New York Islanders)
Neal Pionk (Winnipeg Jets)
Zach Sanford (St. Louis Blues)
Juuse Saros (Nashville Predators)
Jakub Vrana (Detroit Red Wings)
Nikita Zadorov (Calgary Flames)

The deadline for club-elected arbitration is 5 pm ET on Monday, Aug. 2. The arbitration period is from Aug. 11 to Aug. 26.

SPECTOR’S NOTE: Several notable names on this list include Dunn, Pelech, Pionk, Saros and Vrana. If history is anything to go by we can expect most, perhaps all of these players to reach agreements with their teams on new contracts before their scheduled arbitration hearings.










The Best and Worst NHL Trades of 2019

by | Dec 23, 2019

The Best and Worst NHL Trades of 2019

 










NHL Morning Coffee Headlines – July 22, 2019

by | Jul 22, 2019

NHL Morning Coffee Headlines – July 22, 2019

The latest on Mikko Rantanen, the Jets re-sign Neal Pionk, the Blues re-up Oskar Sundqvist, and more in today’s NHL morning coffee headlines.

THE DENVER POST: Don’t expect anyone to sign away Mikko Rantanen from the Colorado Avalanche with an offer sheet. With the Avs carrying plenty of salary-cap space, the 21-year-old right-winger is poised to become the club’s highest-paid player. He could earn between $8 – $10 million annually on his next contract.

Colorado Avalanche winger Mikko Rantanen will soon receive a big pay raise (Photo via NHL Images).

Rantanen’s next deal won’t upset linemate Nathan MacKinnon, who currently carries the club’s biggest contract. Avalanche GM Joe Sakic said it’s a different landscape compared to when MacKinnon signed his contract.

SPECTOR’S NOTE: Rantanen’s earned the big raise he’ll get on his next contract. The way MacKinnon’s played over the last two seasons, he’ll eclipse Rantanen’s salary when he’s ready for his next contract in 2023, either from the Avs or another club via the unrestricted free agent market.

WINNIPEG SUN: The Jets avoided salary arbitration with Neal Pionk, re-signing him to a two-year, $6-million contract. The 23-year-old defenseman will earn an annual average value of $3 million. The Jets acquired Pionk last month as part of the return from the New York Rangers in the Jacob Trouba trade.

SPECTOR’S NOTE: The Jets have around $19.8 million in salary-cap space with RFAs Patrik Laine, Kyle Connor, and Andrew Copp to re-sign. Copp had his arbitration hearing yesterday in Toronto and a decision is expected by Tuesday.

STLTODAY.COM: The Blues avoided arbitration with winger Oskar Sundqvist, re-signing him to a four-year, $11-million contract. The annual average value is $2.75 million.

SPECTOR’S NOTE: That’s a big raise for Sundqvist, who earned $700K on his previous contract. His two-way style played a key role in the Blues rise from the bottom of the standings to the Stanley Cup last season.

THE DETROIT NEWS: Six years after leaving Western Michigan University to join the Red Wings, defenseman Danny DeKeyser recently earned his general studies diploma. “It was a real good feeling,” said DeKeyser of walking across the stage. “I felt like I had accomplished something.”

SPECTOR’S NOTE: Congratulations to DeKeyser for completing his studies.

WGR550.COM: The Buffalo Sabres and Evan Rodrigues are about $1.15 million apart on a new contract. “Rodrigues is asking for a deal that will pay him $2.65 million per-year, while the Sabres are hoping to get him under contract with an average annual value of $1.5 million.” Rodrigues’ arbitration hearing is slated for Tuesday in Toronto.

THE SCORE: The Tampa Bay Lightning and Vegas Golden Knights top oddsmakers 2019-20 point projections.










Notable Trades Leading Up To the 2019 NHL Draft

by | Jun 21, 2019

Notable Trades Leading Up To the 2019 NHL Draft

 










Jets Trade Trouba To Rangers

by | Jun 17, 2019

Jets Trade Trouba To Rangers

The Winnipeg Jets have traded defenseman Jacob Trouba to the New York Rangers in exchange for defenseman Neal Pionk and the 20th overall pick in the 2019 NHL Draft. 

Jacob Trouba jets to the New York Rangers (Photo via NHL Images).

SPECTOR’S NOTE: Given the history of difficult contract negotiations between Trouba and the Jets, it’s no surprise the 25-year-old defenseman is heading to the Rangers. His current one-year, $5.5-million contract was awarded by an arbiter last July. He’s once again a restricted free agent with arbitration rights, only now he’s a year away from unrestricted free agent status.

A 25-year-old top-pairing blueliner coming off a career-best 50-point performance, Trouba was in line for a lucrative new contract. With the Jets facing a salary-cap crunch this summer, he wasn’t going to get it from them. Young scoring winger Patrik Laine and Kyle Connor are RFAs coming off their entry-level contracts and in line for big raises of their own. With over $57 million invested in 14 players, there wasn’t enough room to re-sign all three and leave enough to fill out the rest of their roster.

Pionk, 23, is a skilled puck-moving rearguard who put up a respectable 26 points in his sophomore season with the rebuilding Rangers. He logged top-four defense minutes with the Blueshirts and can expect more of the same with the Jets. Like Laine and Connor, Pionk is a restricted free agent completing his entry-level contract. Unlike those two, he’ll be an affordable re-signing for the Jets.  In time, perhaps, he’ll offset the absence of Trouba.

Jets general manager Kevin Cheveldayoff also got back the first-round pick he shipped to the Rangers at the trade deadline as part of the deal for center Kevin Hayes. With Trouba gone, Cheveldayoff could increase efforts to re-sign pending UFA defenseman Tyler Myers. 

Still, it’s a disappointing return for Trouba. There was an expectation he could fetch an established top-pairing defenseman or perhaps a scoring center to line up alongside Laine. However, this might not be the only move Cheveldayoff has in store in the coming days. Perhaps his recently reacquired first-round pick could be used in a package to bring in a better asset. 

Landing Trouba is a significant addition to a Rangers’ defense corps that struggled throughout 2018-19. He’ll automatically become their first-pairing, right-side defenseman.

The Rangers certainly got the better of this deal. Now, they have to re-sign him. Trouba could seek around $8 million annually on a long-term deal. With over $63 million invested in 19 players, they have the cap space to do it but it’ll push their payroll to over $71 million.

That could crimp their rumored efforts to pursue a high-scoring forward like Artemi Panarin or Matt Duchene via the UFA market. Recent speculation suggests the Rangers could attempt to cut costs by trading or buying out a veteran defenseman like Kevin Shattenkirk or Brendan Smith.