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Old 04-07-2017, 07:32 PM   #26
dannibalcorpse
Minors (Double A)
 
Join Date: Jun 2013
Location: Long Island, NY
Posts: 168
The summer is winding down, and across the country NHL players are reporting for camp and getting ready to get back into the swing of things. This offseason saw no shortage of player movement - some huge names found new addresses through free agency, while others found themselves being told to by their teams they’d been shipped out.

Vegas GM Dan Hampton was a busy man this summer, making seven different trades for assets he used to build the team. Hampton made the following moves early on in the offseason:

G Mason McDonald (20-19-4, 2.71, .899 in AHL) to Carolina for a 4th Round Pick

D Griffin Reinhart (34 GP, 6-10-16 in AHL) to Pittsburgh for a 4th Round pick

RW Oliver Bjorkstrand (65 GP, 5-5-10) to Philadelphia for 21-year-old C Philip Lagunov (68 GP, 10-11-21 in AHL)

RW Nick Lappin (65 GP, 19-17-36 in AHL) to Winnipeg for a 4th Round pick

G Mikko Koskinen (69 GP, 37-24-6, 2.62, .915 with NSH/VGK) to Dallas for a 3rd Round pick

After stocking the cupboards with some extra picks, however, it was time for Hampton to make some of the franchise’s biggest trades. First, he moved D Kevin Shattenkirk, the team’s first-ever free agent signing, and the 4th round picks he got from Pittsburgh & Winnipeg to Nashville in exchange for D P.K. Subban. This blockbuster trade came about because Nashville was up against the cap - moving Suban’s $9M AAV for Shattenkirk’s less bulky $6.8M definitely gave the team some flexibility. Meanwhile, Vegas was happy to pick up one of the best all-around defensemen in the league, and unite him with his younger brothers Jordan & Malcolm (also on the Vegas roster going into camp).

Not content with just one huge move in the summer, Hampton made a move two weeks later - sending D prospect Kale Clague, young center Chase De Leo, and the 4th he had received from Carolina to the Edmonton Oilers in exchange for center Ryan Nugent-Hopkins. Nugent-Hopkins struggled with injuries last year, playing only 28 games and putting up a 4-11-15 scoring line, but he’s still only 26 years old and only a year removed from a 78 point season. Going the other way, Clague was a highly regarded prospect but did not have a clear path to the NHL roster, especially after the acquisition of Mikhail Sergachev late last season. Considering he was acquired last off-season for Austin Watson, currently a free agent that hasn’t seen NHL ice since he left Vegas, analysts are praising the value Hampton got in return for Clague. De Leo had a decent season last year on the 4th line, scoring 15 points in 79 games, but did not show the scoring touch that gained him an NHL call-up in the first place.

The Mikko Koskinen trade was made because Hampton was also active in free agency, signing Robin Lehner to a 3 year, $7.2M deal on July 1st. Lehner slides in as the starting goalie for a team, and his $2.4M AAV is widely seen as a bargain compared to other goalie contracts handed out this offseason. Hampton also signed RW Wayne Simmonds to a 3 year, $14.1M deal after losing out on the bidding for Jeff Skinner. Simmonds will most likely play the wing on the top line with Ondrej Palat and Tyler Johnson. The last free agent signing on the NHL roster is center Marcus Kruger, signed to a 2 year, $3.4M deal. Kruger scored 6 goals and 28 points with Chicago last year, but what attracted him to the Golden Knights was his solid defensive play up the middle - an area in which Hampton had made known he wanted to improve coming into the new season.

The Golden Knights also signed some of last year’s draft class to entry level deals - RW Mikhail Bitsadze and LW Nando Eggenberger each signed a 3 year entry level deal worth $925K per season. This year’s 6th round pick, 20 year old center Ben Evans, also signed an entry level deal worth an annual $575K. Bitsadze and Eggenberger will start the year with the AHL team in Lowell, while Evans will get some seasoning in Reno on the team’s ECHL affiliate.

The team also reached out and signed 21-year-old goalie prospect Carter Hart, a former 2nd round pick of the Flyers in 2016. Philadelphia did not offer him a contract, and Vegas swooped in with a 3 year entry level deal worth $925K. Hart will kick off his professional career in Lowell as well, looking to disprove the naysayers who claim he is too injury-prone to develop into anything more than a career minor leaguer.

Checking on in The Hockey News’ top free agents from earlier this summer, we can see there was a lot of money flying around and a lot of change of address cards to be filled out:

TOP 5 GOALIES
Sergei Bobrovsky, 30: Unsigned as of September 1
Robin Lehner, 27: 3 years/$7.2M to Vegas
Mackenzie Blackwood, 22: Unsiged as of September 1
Semyon Varlamov, 31: Unsigned as of September 1
Antti Raanta, 30: 3 years/$6.8M to Boston

The goalie market took a very strange turn this offseason - while Lehner & Ranta signing decent deals was a given, the fact that talents such as Varlamov and Bobrovsky are still looking for a home on September 1st is a shock. All the more shocking considering some of the goalies signed before them - Ryan Miller signed a one year, $5.3M deal with Colorado; the Avalanche then went and signed Craig Anderson to an almost identical deal. Pekka Rinne will get $6.7M this year from Toronto. Brian Elliott, who didn’t find a home ’til midway through last year, signed a $2.2M one year deal with Arizona. The two Russian goalies will most assuredly find some sort of home during training camp, but the fact that they’re still available is a development no one could have predicted on July 1st. Blackwood, meanwhile, will most likely try to hook on with an AHL team and earn a midseason contract from a team suffering an injury.

TOP 5 DEFENSEMEN
Tyler Myers, 29: 3 years/$7.17M to Pittsburgh
Thomas Chabot, 22: 3 years/$3.96M to Toronto
Jay Bouwmeester, 35: 1 year/$4.05M to Pittsburgh
Niklas Hjalmarsson, 32: Unsigned as of September 1
Mitch Vande Sompel, 22: 2 years/$1.8M to Tampa Bay

Pittsburgh went hard after improving their d-corps, signing both Myers and Bouwmeester. Both players are expected to get decent minutes for a Penguins club lacking depth at that position. Chabot signed a sizable deal for someone with his experience, and will look to prove the Senators wrong from his new home across the province in Toronto. Vande Sompel gets a short term “prove-it” style deal where Tampa can have time to judge his worth without sinking a lot of money into him. Hjalmarsson may take his talents to Europe this season if an offer doesn’t show up during camp.

TOP 5 LEFT WINGS
Jeff Skinner, 27: 5 years/$36.25M to Montreal
Max Pacioretty, 30: 6 years/$45.6M to Montreal
Anders Lee, 28: 3 years/$13.4M to Detroit
Carl Hagelin, 30: 3 years/$12.4M to Vancouver
Ilya Kovalchuk, 36: Unsigned as of September 1

The position where most thought the money would be largest did not fail to disappoint - what was surprising was that the two biggest fish in the pond both went to Montreal. The Canadiens are trying to emulate the success of the recent Blackhawks dynasty - a top heavy roster with a ton of stars, and using those players to slowly develop your prospects into the next batch of stars. Time will tell how that plays out for them. Meanwhile, Anders Lee scored a deal slightly less than most thought he would get to replace Gustav Nyquist as a top scoring threat in Detroit; Carl Hagelin will try and fill the hole left by the retirement of Henrik Sedin in Vancouver. Kovalchuk, meanwhile, still has not found a home; with the KHL season starting, many think he will sit the start of this season out if need be and wait for a contender to come calling closer to the trade deadline. He didn’t make the list, but Ryan Spooner scored a big deal to go to Carolina - a 2 year deal with a $3.7M AAV after an 8-24-32 season in Boston.

TOP 5 CENTERS
Austin Czarnik, 26: 3 years/$6.9M to Vancouver
Adam Henrique, 29: 3 years/$12.15M to San Jose
Nick Shore, 26: 3 years/$11.4M to Edmonton
Filip Ahl, 22: Signed with Vik Vasteras in ALL
Viktor Komarov, 25: 1 year/$925K to Toronto

The weakest crop of free agent forwards this year was definitely at center, and it shows with the contracts given out. Henrique gets the best AAV going to San Jose, a team that was decimated up the middle by the retirements of the Joes Pavelski & Thornton this offseason. Nick Shore gets a nice value from Edmonton, which no doubt made it easier for Edmonton to say goodbye to Ryan Nugent-Hopkins. Austin Czarnik played off well on his bet last offseason - he settled for a one year deal worth less than $1M from Calgary and turned it into a nice 3 year deal with a $2.3M AAV from Vancouver. Komarov signed a similar-type deal with Toronto - he’ll hope to parlay a strong debut season in the NHL into a large contract next offseason. Ahl, meanwhile, took one look at the lack of interest he was receiving and decided to head back to Finland to work on his game. He’s on a one year deal over there, so a strong showing could get him showing back up on NHL GM’s radars next year.

TOP 5 RIGHT WINGS
Jordan Eberle, 29: 3 years/$13.8M to Tampa Bay
Gustav Nyquist, 29: 3 years/$13.65M to Minnesota
T.J. Oshie, 32: 3 years/$14.04M to Dallas
Wayne Simmonds, 30: 3 years/$14.1M to Vegas
Kevin Hayes, 27: 3 years/$14.04M to Dallas

Another deep free agent position led to a somewhat depressed market for free agent right wingers - the biggest contract was handed out to Wayne Simmonds, but he only beat out runners-up Kevin Hayes and TJ Oshie by a combined $600K over their 3 year deals. Most surprising was Dallas picking up both Oshie & Hayes - not only did they grab two of the top 5 RWs, they also handed Paul Byron a 3 year/$11.3M deal as well. The versatility of Byron & reigning Calder Trophy winner Artur Lauta gives the Stars some flexibility, but many would not be surprised to see the Stars move a forward before the trade deadline this year. Eberle and Nyquist scored slightly less on their deals, but will still only be 32 years old when they expire - they’ll both have a good chance at scoring one more decent payday before their skills decline too much. Eberle stands the best chance to enhance his value, as most expect him to play on a line with Steve Stamkos in Tampa Bay. Detroit wound up getting Alex Burmistrov to replace Nyquist, handing him a 3 year deal worth $11.2M.
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