Down the Frozen River

Tag: Andreas Borgman

  • Tampa Bay Lightning 2021-22 Season Preview

    Tampa Bay Lightning 2021-22 Season Preview

    2020-21 record 36-17-3, 75 points

    3rd in the Discover NHL Central Division

    Defeated Montréal in the Stanley Cup Final

    Additions: F Pierre-Édouard Bellemare, F Gabriel Dumont, F Remi Elie, F Charles Hudon, F Corey Perry, D Zach Bogosian, D Brent Seabrook (acquired from CHI), D Andrej Sustr, G Brian Elliott, G Maxime Lagacé

    Subtractions: F Alex Barré-Boulet (re-signed, then claimed off waivers by SEA), F Blake Coleman (signed with CGY), F Marian Gaborik (contract expired, informally retired), F Barclay Goodrow (traded to NYR), F Yanni Gourde (expansion, SEA), F Tyler Johnson (traded to CHI), F Ryan Lohin (signed with Charlotte Checkers, AHL), F Mitchell Stephens (traded to DET), F/D Luke Witkowski (signed with DET), D Andreas Borgman (signed with DAL), D Brian Lashoff (signed with DET), D David Savard (signed with MTL), D Luke Schenn (signed with VAN), D Ben Thomas (SHL), G Christopher Gibson (signed with FLA), G Spencer Martin (traded to VAN), G Curtis McElhinney (retired), G Anders Nilsson (retired)

    Still Unsigned: F Boo Nieves

    Re-signed: F Ross Colton, F Boris Katchouk, F Taylor Raddysh, F Gemel Smith, F Otto Somppi, D Fredrik Claesson, D Sean Day, D Cal Foote

    Offseason Analysis: One of the good things about winning the Cup is that the following season’s expectations are wiped clean. Sure, fans and analysts may want to see you win it again in back-to-back seasons, but that’s just icing on the cake and any run that comes up short in the year following a Cup ring can be forgiven.

    Luckily for Tampa, they won back-to-back Stanley Cup championships in 2020 and 2021, so if they don’t happen to become the first team to win three consecutive titles since the New York Islanders won four Stanley Cup rings in a row from 1980-83, that’s fine.

    The Lightning don’t get two straight years of postseason forgiveness, however.

    Rather, the Bolts are on the quest for the first dynasty in the National Hockey League since the Edmonton Oilers won three Cups in four years from 1987-90.

    That’s right, folks, Chicago didn’t have a dynasty when they won in 2010, 2013 and 2015. There’s a few too many years in-between.

    Steven Stamkos, Nikita Kucherov, Brayden Point, Victor Hedman and Andrei Vasilevskiy and the rest of the Lightning, however, have a chance of doing something not even Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin and Marc-Andre Fleury with the Pittsburgh Penguins, nor Patrick Kane, Jonathan Toews, Marian Hossa, Duncan Keith, Brent Seabrook, Corey Crawford and the rest in Chicago were able to do– win three-straight Stanley Cup Finals.

    Oh and the dynasty thing too, which is a given.

    But success comes with a price in the loss of depth over time– whether it’s because of lower draft picks over time or simply due to salary cap constraints that pressure Cup winners into shipping out some of the glue guys from the team that just won it all in the middle of a summer-long party.

    It is, after all, a business.

    Blake Coleman, Barclay Goodrow and Yanni Gourde– Tampa’s third line that could be a second line on any other roster– was broken up over the summer.

    Coleman joined the Calgary Flames in free agency, Goodrow was traded to the New York Rangers and Gourde was a victim of the 2021 NHL Expansion Draft– in other words, the first certified star forward in the making for the Seattle Kraken.

    Though the Lightning will miss out on the speed and production of that line in their bottom-six, Tampa is more than ready to promote some bottom-six breakout stars from last season into genuine full-time roles, while also accommodating for general turnover after winning back-to-back Cups.

    Tampa General Manager, Julien BriseBois, signed Corey Perry to a two-year deal worth $1.000 million per season as a low-risk, high-reward veteran that can manage bottom-six minutes with efficiency at this point in his career– yielding 21 points in each of the last two seasons (5-16–21 totals in 57 games with the Dallas Stars in 2019-20, 9-12–21 totals in 49 games with the Montréal Canadiens in 2020-21), while finishing as the first runner up to the Lightning in back-to-back Stanley Cup Final appearances.

    BriseBois also added Pierre-Édouard Bellemare to the Bolts’ fourth line after Bellemare spent the last two seasons in a Colorado Avalanche uniform, recording 11 points (nine goals, two assists) in 53 games for the Avs last season, as well as a career-high 22 points (nine goals, 13 assists) in 69 gamed with Colorado in 2019-20.

    Among internal options to move up into the top-nine or make the fourth line after spending last year on the taxi squad or bouncing around in recent years between stints in the NHL, AHL, Major Junior or college, Ross Colton, Boris Katchouk, Mathieu Joseph, Gemel Smith and Taylor Raddysh all present themselves as options to compete for– if not rotate in and out of– a spot on the fourth line.

    Colton scored the Cup clinching goal in the second period of Game 5 of the 2021 Stanley Cup Final– the only goal of the, 1-0, victory over the Canadiens that secured Tampa’s second Cup ring in as many years.

    In 30 games last season, he had 9-3–12 totals. Not bad for a 25-year-old on the rise after spending parts of the last three seasons with the Syracuse Crunch (AHL).

    Joseph managed 26 points (13 goals, 13 assists) in 70 games with the Bolts in 2018-19, before being limited to 4-3–7 totals in just 37 games in 2019-20.

    Last season, he bounced back with 19 points (12 goals, seven assists) in 56 games and is sure to continue to mesh well with Tampa’s influx of youth in the bottom-six as a 24-year-old forward.

    Entering 2021-22, Katchouk and Raddysh are still looking to make their NHL debuts, though Raddysh is slated to be in the lineup against Pittsburgh on Opening Night.

    While Tampa sorts out their supporting cast, one thing that’s remained consistent is the Lightning’s top-six as Kucherov returns to regular season action for a full 82-game slate alongside Point and Ondrej Palat on the first line.

    Meanwhile, Anthony Cirelli leads Alex Killorn and Stamkos on the second line as Hedman, Jan Rutta, Ryan McDonagh and Erik Cernak lead the defenders with Mikhail Sergachev paired alongside Zach Bogosian (he’s back!).

    Curtis McElhinney retired over the summer, though not before BriseBois upgraded his backup goaltender role with Brian Elliott first.

    Elliott’s looking to rebound from a rough stint with the Philadelphia Flyers over the last four seasons, in which he most recently went 15-9-2 with a 3.06 goals-against average, an .889 save percentage and two shutouts in 30 games played.

    He’s sure to benefit from 1) Tampa’s defense and 2) Vasilevskiy yielding an overwhelming majority of games in the regular season.

    Vasilevskiy produced a 31-10-1 record in 42 games last season with a 2.21 goals-against average, a .925 save percentage and five shutouts in that span.

    As for what else is missing from this summer’s tactical overhaul with the salary cap in mind after winning back-to-back Cups?

    Let’s review all of Tampa’s trades from after the Final through now real quick, shall we?

    Goodrow was dealt to the New York Rangers for a 2022 7th round pick on July 17th, then BriseBois swapped a 2022 4th round pick for a 2021 4th round pick with Montréal at the second day of the 2021 NHL Entry Draft on July 24th.

    A few days later, he cleared out some salary by shipping Tyler Johnson to Chicago with a 2023 2nd round pick for Seabrook’s contract that is currently on the long-term injured reserve thanks to a career-ending injury that renders Seabrook as a forgiven cap hit on the books.

    Mitchell Stephens packed his bags out of Tampa for the Detriot Red Wings in exchange for a 2022 6th round pick on July 30th, then the Lightning sent Spencer Martin to the Vancouver Canucks for future considerations on July 31st.

    Offseason Grade: C

    Down the road, Point’s eight-year extension at $9.500 million per season is an excellent move made by BriseBois, but since that contract goes into effect starting next season (2022-23), it doesn’t sway the offseason grade for 2021.

    If it were just a postseason grade, the Bolts would get an “A”, but since this is a measure of everything that happened after the 2021 Stanley Cup Final and before the 2021-22 season gets underway, well, Tampa had an average summer.

    They filled some holes, shed some salary and were forced to make difficult decisions in other areas thanks to the existence of the salary cap and some key players being healthy for a change as the Lightning embark on their two-time defending Stanley Cup champion season.

    All in all, it’s not too bad to be a fan of the Lightning these days or a member of the organization– as long as you got here before the 2021 Stanley Cup Final wrapped up.

    This isn’t to say that Tampa will be bad by any means, but rather that they’re content with contending for the next few years to come– at least– so if they don’t win three Cup rings in as many years, that’s fine. They’ll be quite alright.

  • 2021 NHL Free Agency Signings Quick Recap

    2021 NHL Free Agency Signings Quick Recap

    This post will be updated as signings are officially announced. Be sure to check our Twitter account (@DtFrozenRiver) for all of the latest signings, news, and analysis.

    Free agency begins at noon (technically 12:01 PM ET) on July 28th.

    For the second-straight year, the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has shifted the schedule a bit for the National Hockey League, but after the free agency signing period opens to kickoff the 2021-22 league calendar year, things will be back on track for a full 82-game schedule (albeit about a week later than usual).

    All that is known is shown and will be updated throughout the day. More analysis will come as we play catch-up.

    ESPN+ is streaming TSN’s coverage of free agency from 11 a.m. ET onward and NHL Network has the Sportsnet/their own feed, probably (we like the former, in all partiality).

    Reported free agent signings

    These are reported agreements in place that are yet to be confirmed and/or announced by a playing club.

    F Kyle Palmieri has likely re-signed with the New York Islanders.

    Announced free agent signings

    These are confirmed/announced signings by playing clubs.

    F Carter Verhaeghe signed a three-year extension worth about $4.167 million per season with the Florida Panthers that goes into effect starting with the 2022-23 season.

    The Edmonton Oilers re-signed D Tyson Barrie to a three-year contract worth $4.500 million per season.

    The Vegas Golden Knights signed D Alec Martinez to a three-year extension worth $5.250 million per season.

    The Carolina Hurricanes signed G Frederik Andersen to a two-year deal worth $4.500 million per season.

    G Petr Mrazek signed a three-year deal with the Toronto Maple Leafs worth $3.800 million per season.

    F Nick Bonino agreed to a two-year contract with the San Jose Sharks.

    F Brandon Sutter signed a one-year extension worth $1.125 million with the Vancouver Canucks.

    G Antti Raanta reportedly signed a two-year deal worth $2.000 million per season with the Carolina Hurricanes.

    The Los Angeles Kings re-signed F Andreas Athanasiou to a one-year deal worth $2.700 million.

    D Dougie Hamilton signed a seven-year contract worth $9.000 million per season with the New Jersey Devils.

    F Blake Coleman signed a six-year deal worth $4.900 million per season with the Calgary Flames.

    The Montréal Canadiens signed D David Savard to a four-year contract worth $3.500 million per season.

    G Brian Elliott signed a deal with the Tampa Bay Lightning.

    D Tucker Poolman agreed to a four-year contract worth $2.500 million per season with the Vancouver Canucks.

    The Dallas Stars signed F Luke Glendening to a two-year deal worth $1.500 million per season.

    D Andreas Borgman signed a one-year, two-way deal worth $750,000 at the NHL level with the Dallas Stars.

    D Travis Hamonic signed a two-year extension worth $3.000 million per season with the Vancouver Canucks.

    F Dominik Simon signed a one-year, two-way contract extension with the Pittsburgh Penguins.

    F Charles Hudon signed a deal with the Tampa Bay Lightning.

    D Zach Bogosian signed a three-year contract worth $850,000 per season with the Tampa Bay Lightning.

    The San Jose Sharks signed F Andrew Cogliano to a one-year contract worth $1.000 million.

    The Montréal Canadiens signed F Cedric Paquette to a one-year contract worth $950,000.

    D Brady Keeper signed a two-year deal worth $762,500 per season with the Vancouver Canucks.

    The Vegas Golden Knights signed G Laurent Brossoit to a two-year deal worth $2.325 million per season.

    F Jean-Sébastien Dea signed a one-year deal worth $750,000 with the Montréal Canadiens.

    The San Jose Sharks signed G James Reimer to a two-year deal worth $4.500 million per season.

    F Michael Bunting signed a two-year deal worth $900,000 with the Toronto Maple Leafs.

    D Patrik Nemeth signed a three-year contract worth $2.500 million per season with the New York Rangers.

    F Maxim Mamin signed a one-year deal worth $975,000 with the Florida Panthers.

    D Louis Belpedio signed a one-year, two-way contract worth $750,000 with the Montréal Canadiens.

    The Vancouver Canucks signed F Danila Klimovich to a three-year entry-level contract worth $886,667 per season.

    The Dallas Stars signed D Alex Petrovic to a one-year, two-way contract.

    F Michael Amadio signed a one-year, two-way deal worth $750,000 at the NHL level with the Toronto Maple Leafs.

    The Vancouver Canucks signed D Luke Schenn to a two-year contract worth $850,000 per season.

    F Josh Leivo has signed a deal with the Carolina Hurricanes.

    The Carolina Hurricanes signed D Ian Cole to a one-year, $2.900 million deal.

    F Nic Petan signed a one-year, two-way deal worth $750,000 at the NHL level with the Vancouver Canucks.

    D Jake McCabe signed a four-year contract with Chicago worth $4.000 million per season.

    The Detroit Red Wings signed D Jordan Oesterle to a two-year deal worth $1.350 million per season.

    F Andrew Agozzino signed a two-way contract with the Ottawa Senators.

    D Adam Clendening signed a two-way deal with the Philadelphia Flyers.

    D Ryan Murphy signed a two-way contract with the Detroit Red Wings.

    The Los Angeles Kings have signed D Alex Edler to a one-year contract worth $3.500 million per season.

    The Boston Bruins signed F Erik Haula to a two-year deal worth $2.375 million per season.

    F Tomas Nosek signed a two-year contract worth $3.500 million per season with the Boston Bruins.

    F Phil Di Giuseppe signed a two-way contract worth $750,000 at the NHL level with the Vancouver Canucks.

    The Tampa Bay Lightning signed F Pierre-Edouard Bellemare to a two-year contract worth $1.000 million per season.

    F Matt Luff signed a one-year, two-way, $750,000 deal with the Nashville Predators.

    F Jon Lizotte signed a one-year, two-way, contract worth $750,000 at the NHL level with the Minnesota Wild.

    F Ryan Getzlaf agreed to a one-year extension with the Anaheim Ducks worth $4.500 million.

    F Ryan Dzingel signed a one-year, $1.100 million deal with the Arizona Coyotes.

    D Matt Tennyson signed a two-year, two-way contract with the Nashville Predators.

    F Mattias Janmark reached an agreement on an extension with the Vegas Golden Knights.

    F Josh Ho-Sang signed a PTO with the Toronto Maple Leafs.

    F Mike Hoffman signed a three-year deal with the Montréal Canadiens worth $4.500 million per season.

    G Linus Ullmark signed a four-year deal worth $5.000 million per season with the Boston Bruins.

    G Garret Sparks reached an agreement on a one-year, two-way contract with the Los Angeles Kings worth $750,000 at the NHL level.

    F Sam Gagner agreed to an extension with the Detroit Red Wings.

    The Red Wings also agreed to an extension with G Calvin Pickard.

    D Ryan Suter signed a four-year deal worth $3.650 million per season with the Dallas Stars.

    The Columbus Blue Jackets signed F Boone Jenner to a four-year extension.

    The Pittsburgh Penguins signed F Evan Rodrigues to a one-year extension worth $1.000 million.

    F Patrik Laine signed his qualifying offer with the Columbus Blue Jackets and will make $7.500 million on a one-year deal as a result.

    F Eric Robinson agreed to terms on a two-year extension worth $3.200 million with the Columbus Blue Jackets.

    The Philadelphia Flyers signed D Keith Yandle to a one-year deal worth $900,000.

    D Alex Goligoski signed a one-year deal worth $5.000 million with the Minnesota Wild.

    G Braden Holtby signed a one-year contract worth $2.000 million with the Dallas Stars.

    The Minnesota Wild signed F Frederick Gaudreau to a two-year deal worth $1.200 million per season.

    D Jarred Tinordi signed a two-year deal worth $900,000 per season with the New York Rangers.

    F Justin Bailey signed a one-year, two-way contract extension with the Vancouver Canucks.

    The Vegas Golden Knights signed F Sven Baertschi to a one-year, two-way, contract worth $750,000 at the NHL level.

    The Tampa Bay Lightning signed F Gabriel Dumont, D Darren Raddysh, D Andrej Sustr and G Maxime Lagacé to one-year, two-way contracts.

    F Gage Quinney signed a one-year, two-way contract extension with the Vegas Golden Knights.

    The Ottawa Senators signed D Michael Del Zotto to a two-year contract worth $2.000 million per season.

    Chicago signed F Jujhar Khaira to a two-year deal worth $975,000 per season.

    F Alexander Wennberg agreed to a three-year deal worth $4.500 million per season with the Seattle Kraken.

    The Nashville Predators signed F Anthony Richard to a one-year, two-way contract worth $750,000 at the NHL level.

    F Phillip Danault signed a six-year contract worth $5.500 million per season with the Los Angeles Kings.

    The Seattle Kraken reached an agreement with F Jaden Schwartz on a five-year deal worth $5.500 million per season.

    F Michael McCarron signed a two-year, two-way contract worth $750,000 at the NHL level with the Nashville Predators.

    G Martin Jones signed a one-year, $2.000 million contract with the Philadelphia Flyers.

    F Nate Thompson signed a one-year, $800,000 contract with the Philadelphia Flyers.

    G Philipp Grubauer is signed a six-year deal worth $5.900 million per season with the Seattle Kraken.

    F Greg McKegg signed a one-year, two-way contract worth $750,000 at the NHL level with the New York Rangers.

    F Dryden Hunt signed a two-year deal with the New York Rangers.

    The Florida Panthers signed D Brandon Montour to a three-year contract worth $3.500 million per season.

    D Chris Wideman signed a one-year deal worth $750,000 with the Montréal Canadiens.

    The Columbus Blue Jackets signed F Sean Kuraly to a four-year contract worth $2.500 million per season.

    The San Jose Sharks signed F Lane Pederson to a two-year contract worth $750,000 per season.

    D Tony DeAngelo signed a one-year contract with the Carolina Hurricanes worth $1.000 million.

    D Gavin Bayreuther signed a two-year, two-way contract with the Columbus Blue Jackets.

    The Edmonton Oilers signed D Cody Ceci to a four-year deal worth $3.250 million per season.

    F Kurtis Gabriel signed a one-year, $750,000 contract with the Toronto Maple Leafs.

    F Zachary L’Heureux signed a three-year, entry-level deal with the Nashville Predators.

    The Toronto Maple Leafs signed F David Kampf to a two-year contract worth $1.500 million per season.

    The Pittsburgh Penguins signed F Brock McGinn to a four-year contract worth $2.750 million per season.

    The Arizona Coyotes signed F Dmitrij Jaškin to a one-year contract.

    The Carolina Hurricanes re-signed F Jordan Martinook to a three-year contract worth $1.800 million per season.

    F Juho Lammikko signed a one-year extension with the Florida Panthers.

    G Jonathan Bernier signed a two-year deal worth $4.125 million per season with the New Jersey Devils.

    The Buffalo Sabres signed F Vinnie Hinostroza to a one-year contract worth $1.050 million.

    F Zach Hyman reached an agreement with the Edmonton Oilers on a seven-year contract worth $5.500 million per season.

    G Filip Lindberg signed a two-year entry-level contract with the Pittsburgh Penguins.

    F Brayden Point signed an eight-year extension worth $9.500 million per season with the Tampa Bay Lightning that goes into effect starting with the 2022-23 season.

    The Boston Bruins agreed to a three-year deal with D Derek Forbort worth $3.000 million per season.

    The Boston Bruins signed F Nick Foligno to a two-year deal.

    G David Rittich agreed to a one-year deal worth $1.250 million with the Nashville Predators.

    G Carter Hutton signed a one-year deal worth $750,000 with the Arizona Coyotes.

    The Colorado Avalanche signed D Roland McKeown to a one-year contract.

    The Columbus Blue Jackets signed F Alexandre Texier to a two-year contract extension worth $3.050 million.

    F C.J. Smith signed a one-year, two-way contract worth $750,000 at the NHL level with the Carolina Hurricanes.

    G Chris Gibson signed a one-year, two-way contract with the Florida Panthers.

    The Detroit Red Wings signed F Pius Suter to a two-year contract.

    D Brandon Davidson signed a one-year contract extension worth $750,000 with the Buffalo Sabres.

    The Nashville Predators re-signed F Mikael Granlund to a four-year contract worth $5.000 million per season.

    The Calgary Flames signed F Trevor Lewis to a one-year deal worth $800,000.

    G Jaroslav Halak agreed to a one-year deal worth $1.500 million with the Vancouver Canucks.

  • St. Louis Blues 2019-20 Season Preview

    St. Louis Blues

    45-28-9, 99 points, 3rd in the Central Division

    Defeated Boston in the Stanley Cup Final

    Additions: F Dakota Joshua (acquired from TOR), F Nick Lappin, F Evan Polei, F Michael Vecchione, F Nathan Walker, D Andreas Borgman (acquired from TOR), D Jake Dotchin, D Justin Faulk (acquired from CAR), D Derrick Pouliot

    Subtractions: F Conner Bleackley (signed with Idaho, ECHL), F Dominik Bokk (traded to CAR), F Pat Maroon (signed with TBL), F Nikita Soshnikov (KHL), D Chris Butler (retired), D Michael Del Zotto (signed with ANA), D Joel Edmundson (re-signed, then traded to CAR), D Jani Hakanpaa (signed with ANA), D Jakub Jerabek (KHL), D Jordan Schmaltz (traded to TOR), D Tyler Wotherspoon (signed with PHI), G Jared Coreau (signed with NYI)

    Still Unsigned: F Chris Thorburn

    Re-signed: F Ivan Barbashev, F Sammy Blais, F Robby Fabbri, F Zach Sanford, F Oskar Sundqvist, D Carl Gunnarsson, G Jordan Binnington, G Ville Husso

    Offseason Analysis: Winning the Stanley Cup cures everything. Nobody’s asking when and if the St. Louis Blues will ever a) make another appearance in the Stanley Cup Final or b) winning the Cup.

    The Blues crossed off the top item from their bucket list and hoisted the Stanley Cup over their heads in Boston after winning Game 7 against the Bruins in June.

    General Manager, Doug Armstrong, has been building and retooling the organization since assuming his current role in 2010. A finalist for the NHL General Manager of the Year Award last season, Armstrong landed a key piece of St. Louis’ Cup-winning roster (and Conn Smythe Trophy winner as the 2019 Stanley Cup Playoffs MVP) in Ryan O’Reilly last offseason in a trade with the Buffalo Sabres.

    St. Louis won the Cup, so now Armstrong’s task of winning one is taken care of. He– along with the rest of the Blues– will have a bit of a grace period until fans are fed up again with whatever behooves them next.

    Of course, the goal of winning the Cup for any GM ultimately isn’t to just win it once, but rather to win it as many times as possible in your career.

    Armstrong took care of a delicate balance in re-signed a plethora of restricted free agent members of the Blues.

    Rather than making Jordan Binnington the surefire franchise goaltender, Armstrong was able to negotiate a solid two-year bridge deal worth $4.400 million per season.

    The 26-year-old goaltender took over St. Louis’ starting role at the dawn of the new year in January and– even though he set a National Hockey League rookie record for most wins in the postseason with 16– has yet to solidify his legitimacy as a starting goaltender in the NHL.

    Binnington and 29-year-old, Jake Allen, each have two years on their respective contracts. This season, one will rise above the other as the starter (likely Binnington), but for the next couple of seasons each are competing for a long-term role with the organization.

    Glue guys, Ivan Barbashev, Sammy Blais, Robby Fabbri, Zach Sanford, Oskar Sundqvist and Carl Gunnarsson are all sticking around in St. Louis for the near future, with Sundqvist extended for the longest tenure on a new four-year deal worth $2.750 million per season.

    The Blues can sit back for a season or two and see if Craig Berube and Co. can recreate the magic of their 52nd season in franchise history.

    Whether or not this team has what it takes to formulate a dynasty remains to be seen, but Armstrong bolstered their chances after trading Joel Edmundson, Dominik Bokk and a 2021 7th round pick to the Carolina Hurricanes for veteran defender, Justin Faulk, and a 2020 5th round pick on Sept. 24th.

    Carolina retained 14% of Faulk’s salary ($676,667), which means he will carry a $4.157 million cap hit for the Blues this season.

    Upon his acquisition, Armstrong locked up the defender to a seven-year extension with St. Louis worth $45.500 million ($6.500 million per season). Faulk’s extension goes into effect next season and carries a no-trade clause for the first five years, then a modified no-trade clause for the remainder.

    A full no-trade clause was added by the Blues to the final year of his current deal.

    If nothing else, this trade covers Armstrong’s back in case he is unable to sign Blues captain, Alex Pietrangelo, to an extension.

    The 29-year-old defender is a pending-unrestricted free agent at season’s end and likely to see a pay raise from his current $6.500 million cap hit (especially considering, 1) his role in St. Louis’ turnaround, 2) his Stanley Cup ring and 3) the fact that Faulk’s extension carries Pietrangelo’s current cap hit).

    In short, Pietrangelo is better than Faulk and best while the two of them are on the same blue line.

    Armstrong will also have to balance the books next season by deciding whether or not to re-sign Brayden Schenn, Fabbri, Blais, Dunn, Jay Bouwmeester and Mackenzie MacEachern.

    For now, bars across St. Louis will keep playing “Gloria” even as the team on the ice must turn the page on last season and focus on what looms this season and beyond.

    Offseason Grade: B-

    Considering the number of RFAs Armstrong had to re-sign, the Blues GM managed to do a decent job tidying things up for the time being, but most of the extensions were short term, one or two year deals.

    St. Louis has about $138,740 in cap space available, leaving them with little to no room for any major extensions for next season without having to unload some larger contracts from the books.

    At the very least, the only major loss from last season’s Cup winning roster to this season was Pat Maroon, who signed with the Tampa Bay Lightning due to St. Louis’ cap constraints.

  • Toronto Maple Leafs 2019-20 Season Preview

    Toronto Maple Leafs

    46-28-8, 100 points, 3rd in the Atlantic Division

    Eliminated in the First Round by Boston

    Additions: F Pontus Aberg, F Kenny Agostino, F David Clarkson (acquired from VGK), F Tyler Gaudet, F Alexander Kerfoot (acquired from COL), F Kalle Kossila, F Aaron Luchuk (acquired from OTT), F Nick Shore, F Jason Spezza, F Garrett Wilson, D Tyson Barrie (acquired from COL), D Cody Ceci (acquired from OTT), D Kevin Gravel, D Ben Harpur (acquired from OTT), D Jordan Schmaltz (acquired from STL)

    Subtractions: F Nick Baptiste (signed with Toronto, AHL), F Connor Brown (traded to OTT), F Michael Carcone (traded to OTT), F Tyler Ennis (signed with OTT), F Gabriel Gagne (signed with Allen, ECHL), F Josh Jooris (NLA), F Dakota Joshua (traded to STL), F Nazem Kadri (traded to COL), F Patrick Marleau (traded to CAR), F Chris Mueller (signed with TBL), D Andreas Borgman (traded to STL), D Jake Gardiner (signed with CAR), D Fedor Gordeev (traded to MIN), D Ron Hainsey (signed with OTT), D Vincent LoVerde (signed with Hartford, AHL), D Igor Ozhiganov (KHL), D Calle Rosen (traded to COL), D Jordan Subban (EBEL), D Nikita Zaitsev (traded to OTT), G Eamon McAdam (signed with Binghamton, AHL), G Garret Sparks (traded to VGK)

    Still Unsigned: D Steve Oleksy

    Re-signed: F Mitch Marner, D Martin Marincin, G Michael Hutchinson

    Offseason Analysis: Kyle Dubas had a busy offseason as general manager of the Toronto Maple Leafs. His main priority was re-signing Mitch Marner, which finally wrapped up on Sept. 13th.

    Marner signed a six-year extension worth $10.893 million per season. Whether or not he’s actually worth that much money is a different question, but the fact of the matter is it didn’t help the Maple Leafs.

    Together with Auston Matthews, John Tavares and William Nylander, Marner and the other three make up $40,489,366 of Toronto’s salary cap.

    This season’s salary cap ceiling is $81.500 million.

    Three of the seven highest paid players in the league are on the Leafs and the four highest paid Leafs eat up almost half of Toronto’s salary cap.

    At the time of Marner’s signing, the Maple Leafs were $13,365,199 over the salary cap.

    Granted, Pontus Aberg and Frederik Gauthier were assigned to the Toronto Marlies (AHL), while Nathan Horton, David Clarkson, Zach Hyman and Travis Dermott are all expected to be placed on the long-term injured reserve to allow the Leafs to remain cap compliant.

    Things should get interesting, however, once Hyman and Dermott return from injury, not that their salaries are that expensive, but rather the day-to-day cap operations and paper transactions necessary to make things work should be a lot of fun for Toronto’s front office to balance.

    Mike Babcock is still behind the bench in Toronto after three straight seasons of First Round exits– including back-to-back Game 7 losses on the road against the Boston Bruins in 2018 and last season.

    Dubas was active in the trade market to 1) free up expendable salary to re-sign Marner and 2) improve his roster from last season to this season.

    He may have unintentionally 3) stunted the team’s growth in the process.

    Toronto seven trades involving players this offseason, including three pretty big deals for the Maple Leafs.

    Patrick Marleau, a conditional 2020 1st round pick and a 2020 7th round pick were shipped to the Carolina Hurricanes in exchange for a 2020 6th round pick at the 2019 NHL Draft on June 22nd.

    Rather than buyout Marleau’s contract and face cap penalty, Toronto was able to convince Carolina to take on his salary and offer him the chance to play for the Hurricanes or buy him out. Marleau refused to play for the Canes, so now Carolina is saddled with his buyout penalty.

    In the process, if the Maple Leafs yield a top-10 pick in the 2020 Draft, the conditional 1st rounder in the trade becomes a 2021 1st round pick.

    In place of Marleau, the Leafs signed Jason Spezza to a league-minimum, one-year, $700,000 contract. Spezza will likely play on the fourth line in a limited role as Marleau would have begun to see less and less time on ice at this stage of his career.

    Dubas knew Toronto wasn’t going to be able to keep Jake Gardiner and maintain a happy relationship with Nikita Zaitsev as Zaitsev had already requested a trade.

    As such, Dubas packaged Zaitsev with Connor Brown and Michael Carcone in a trade with the Ottawa Senators in exchange for Cody Ceci, Ben Harpur, Aaron Luchuk and a 2020 3rd round pick on July 1st.

    Ceci then signed a one-year extension– worth $4.500 million– as a restricted free agent with the Leafs.

    For that same price and eight points less than Ceci had last season, Zaitsev is at least signed through 2023-24 at the fixed rate of $4.500 million.

    Zaitsev has broken the 30-point plateau before as a defender, while Ceci never has– though he did record 26 points with Ottawa last season.

    The fact of the matter is that if Toronto was trying to save money this season on a defender, they didn’t.

    And if they were thinking “maybe we can find a cheaper replacement in Ceci”, the fact that they’re already paying the defender in his prime what Zaitsev was already making doesn’t do them any long-term favors as Ceci’s cap hit is expected to go up– especially if the current ceiling remains about the same until the next collective bargaining agreement is negotiated in 2022.

    But for all that the loss of Gardiner did to the special teams in Toronto, at least Dubas was able to find a sweet deal with the Colorado Avalanche.

    The Maple Leafs traded Nazem Kadri, Calle Rosen and a 2020 3rd round pick to Colorado for Tyson Barrie, Alexander Kerfoot and a 2020 6th round pick on July 1st.

    The Avs retained some salary on Barrie’s contract, which– you guessed it– also expires at the end of this season, but at least Toronto can afford $2.750 million right now as opposed to a more significant cap hit.

    To their credit, the Maple Leafs negotiated a four-year extension with Kerfoot worth $3.500 million per season, which is $1.000 million less than Kadri’s cap hit.

    Barrie is a versatile defender that excels on the power play and fills the void left behind by Gardiner’s departure.

    Clearly, while Dubas has, in fact, made improvements to the team, he’s also made minor tweaks and delayed the inevitable headaches that he or the next general manager of the Maple Leafs is sure to face.

    But at least this time around Toronto is convinced they have the team that they’ve been planning for the last five years to “win now”.

    The younger players are more experienced, the salary spent is at the ceiling and Babcock– a Stanley Cup winning coach who last won the Cup 11 years ago with the Detroit Red Wings in 2008 (a rather different era and style of the game than what it is today)– are all ready for the challenge of making it out of the First Round to show they’ve at least made some progress.

    One definition of insanity is “doing the same thing and expecting a different result” and if something doesn’t change the end result in the 2020 Stanley Cup Playoffs for Toronto, then…

    At the very least, last season’s backup, Garret Sparks, was traded to the Vegas Golden Knights for Clarkson’s contract and a 2020 4th round pick and nobody can blame Marner for being a “greedy holdout” anymore.

    Offseason Grade: B-

    The Marner contract is not great, but the other moves made by the Leafs this offseason mean that they’re actually trying. There is a plan in place that they remain committed to– constantly evaluating and re-evaluating talent for the overall intended improvement of the organization.

    Whether or not Toronto is sure to win the Cup this season remains to be seen. Every year there’s always Cup front runners on paper, but the on-ice product and results vary. This team is capable of winning the Cup, but they still have a lot of work to do to earn it.