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Zdeno Chara To Decide On Playing Future In September

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It will take a while before we find out whether or not pending UFA defenseman Zdeno Chara will return for another NHL season.  His agent Matt Keator told Matt Porter of the Boston Globe that the veteran intends to take his time before deciding about his playing future:

He’s going to take the summer with his family and assess where he’s at physically, where his family’s at, and make a decision in September. No rush.

The 45-year-old completed his 24th NHL season in 2021-22, returning to the Islanders who originally drafted him back in 1996.  Chara played in 72 games this past season, recording 14 points while adding 125 hits and 90 blocked shots.  Notably, he logged 18:44 per game, good for fifth among New York blueliners while still taking a regular turn on the penalty kill.  All in all, it was a decent return on the $750K base salary plus $750K in performance incentives for the Islanders.

Of course, that type of role is a far cry from being the top blueliner on a team (and even the league with his Norris Trophy win in 2008-09).  At this stage of his career, Chara is more of a depth player than an impact one but could still help the right team in a limited defensive role.  He sits 20 games shy of being the seventh player in NHL history to reach 1,700 but is still 99 appearances behind Patrick Marleau’s all-time games played record so it’s not as if one more year would give him a chance at setting that new benchmark.

There’s no real risk for Chara to wait out the market and see where things stand in September.  Contracts like the one he’d be getting (likely a minimum salary with games played incentives once again) aren’t that difficult to get in the days leading up to training camp so he will have the chance to be selective to see if there’s a good fit for him.  If not, he can hang up his skates after quite an impressive career.

Free Agent Focus: New York Islanders

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Free agency is now less than a month away and many teams are already looking ahead to when it opens up.  There will be several prominent players set to hit the open market in mid-July while many teams have key restricted free agents to re-sign as well.  Next up is a look at the Islanders.

Key Restricted Free Agents:

F Kieffer Bellows –  The 2016 first-round pick has had a slow start to his career, putting up just 25 points in 67 career games thus far, spread over three seasons. After his ELC expired last offseason, Bellows signed a one-year, $750K contract to stay with the Islanders for 2021-22, where he had a modest breakout with the club, recording a career-high six goals and 13 assists in 45 games. That performance was enough to turn some heads and prove Bellows may be able to make a career for himself in the NHL after all, but it likely won’t earn him much of a raise. Considering the Islanders issues with scoring, an aging roster, and limited cap space, Bellows could be in a strong position to see more regular ice-time, both in games played and time-on-ice, as a young and affordable piece who was drafted for, and has shown flashes of, his ability to put the puck in the back of the net.

D Noah Dobson – A 13 game roadtrip to start the season, a major COVID-19 outbreak in the locker room, and a several key injuries contributed to the Islanders missing the playoffs for the first time since 2017-18. Frustrating as the season may have been, one major bright-spot was the emergence of Dobson, who’s 13 goals and 38 assists for 51 points in 80 games all represented career-highs. Those 51 points were also good enough to place Dobson third on the team in scoring, not far behind Mathew Barzal and Brock Nelson’s 59 points, and his 21:28 of average time-on-ice, also a career-high, was enough to lead the team. Having established himself as one of the best and most important players for the team, and at the expiration of his ELC, Dobson is in line for a significant raise. Both team and player could have varying ideas of how to approach his next contract, perhaps opting for a long-term deal that would still bring him to UFA status at a relatively young age (an eight-year contract depositing him on the market at age 30), or perhaps a shorter bridge-deal that would keep Dobson a RFA or expiring right at the start of his UFA eligibility. Looking at the rest of the team, the two highest salaries come from Barzal and Anders Lee, each earning $7MM, and the team’s two top defensemen, Ryan Pulock and Adam Pelech, earn $6.15MM and $5.75MM respectively. However, all but Barzal signed as or as soon-to-be UFAs. One interesting comparable could be Quinn Hughes of the Vancouver Canucks, who signed a four year, $47.1MM contract at the expiration of his ELC, though he was coming off two consecutive years of production similar to Dobson’s single platform-year at this rate of production.

Other RFAs: F Michael Dal Colle, F Arnaud Durandeau, F Otto Koivula, D Robin Salo, D Parker Wotherspoon

Key Unrestricted Free Agents:

D Sebastian Aho – The other half of the NHL’s Sebastian Aho’s, the Islanders’ Aho is set to hit UFA after just his third NHL season as a Group 6 UFA. Aho brings with him 18 points in 61 games of NHL experience, with 12 of those points coming in 36 games this season, both career-highs. Interestingly, the 2017 fifth-round pick made his debut and played 22 games for the Islanders in 2017-18, but was limited to just one game of NHL action since before this season under the Lou Lamoriello front office. The situation would seem ripe for Aho to test free agency on his own to find an offering of regular ice-time with another organization, but the Islanders have just one left-handed defenseman under contract for next season (Pelech), a position that was a sore-spot for the team this year. Considering Aho’s strong season, which saw regular work down the stretch while the team was trying to make a push for the playoffs, Aho may have an opportunity for a regular job on Long Island.

D Zdeno Chara and D Andy Greene – The two veteran defensemen were brought in to bolster the team’s depth on the left side defensively, but both would end up struggling to a degree, showing their age. Chara, 45, and Greene, who will be 40 in October, may be destined for retirement at this point in their careers but both, being well-respected and long-tenured NHLers, should have no problem staying in the league in off-ice roles if they want to. Greene, an undrafted free-agent signed by Lou Lamoriello with the New Jersey Devils, then acquired by Lamoriello from New Jersey in February 2020, may have a chance to stick around as the team looks for affordable pieces to round out its roster, especially considering Lamoriello’s well-known loyalty to his players.

Other UFAs: F Andy Andreoff, F Austin Czarnik, D Thomas Hickey, D Grant Hutton, D Paul Ladue, D Mitch Vande Sompel, G Kenneth Appleby, G Cory Schneider

Projected Cap Space:

According to CapFriendly, the Islanders head into the offseason with just a tick over $12MM in cap space. On one hand, $12MM is plenty to work with when compared to other teams’ sticky situations and the team only has one pending free agent, Dobson, likely to eat up a significant amount of that. On the other hand, after the tough season on Long Island, they will certainly need to make improvements throughout the roster, with their cap space perhaps not being that amenable. Additionally, Lamoriello made several deals to help alleviate any cap issues the team had or was going to have, including trades of Devon Toews, Nick Leddy, and Andrew Ladd. These trades cost the team some depth, though bringing in three second-round picks altogether, but who may not be ready to make an impact just yet. If the veteran Islanders executive can find a way to move out an expensive veteran contract, such as that of Josh Bailey or the considerably younger Anthony Beauvillier, he could create some additional cap flexibility to make the necessary changes the team has to make.

Mikko Koskinen Heading Overseas For 2022-23

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June 13: With the Edmonton Oilers now out of the playoffs and their season over, it’s now confirmed that Koskinen will be heading to Switzerland next season. HC Lugano has signed the veteran netminder to a two-year contract, keeping him in Switzerland until age 35. Koskinen joins a Lugano team with Carolina reserve list defenseman Oliwer Kaski, former NHLers Mirco Mueller, Mark Arcobello and Daniel Carr, as well as Columbus Blue Jackets prospect Calvin Thurkauf.

May 20: Despite currently serving as the backup for the Edmonton Oilers and even seeing game action in Game 1 of the Second Round, there appears to already be some clarity on goalie Mikko Koskinen’s future for next season. Former NHL head coach Bob Hartley spoke today, saying that Koskinen has already accepted an offer to play for HC Lugano in the Swiss National League next season.

If true, it will likely mark the end of Koskinen’s second and final stint in North America. The Finnish netminder, drafted 31st overall by the New York Islanders in 2009, had one stint in North America from 2009-2012 in the Islanders organization, playing in four NHL games. He returned to the NHL as a free agent with Edmonton in 2018, serving as a solid tandem netminder for them for the past four seasons. As uncertainty mounts in the Oilers crease moving forward, though, it looks like Koskinen has opted to take himself out of the picture for their second goalie next season.

40-year-old Mike Smith is (somehow) still under contract with the team for next season, and they do have a solid internal option in Stuart Skinner as the backup. However, with such a gigantic question mark with Smith as a 41-year-old starter, Edmonton will surely attempt to make a significant acquisition in free agency to shore up the crease.

 

New York Islanders Fire John Gruden, Jim Hiller

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The New York Islanders have continued to change their coaching staff, this time relieving assistants John Gruden and Jim Hiller of their duties. That leaves the full run of assistant roles open after Lane Lambert was promoted to head coach, taking the spot of the dismissed Barry Trotz. No replacements have been named at this point.

Gruden, 52, had been with the Islanders since 2018, following stints as the head coach of both the Flint Firebirds and Hamilton Bulldogs in the OHL. He was also part of the USNTDP for several years, and has plenty of experience developing young players. Notably, he’s also the father of Pittsburgh Penguins prospect Jonathan Gruden, who played had 27 points for the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins this season and is heading into the final year of his entry-level contract.

Hiller, meanwhile, spent three seasons with the Islanders following stints with both the Detroit Red Wings and Toronto Maple Leafs. He too was a CHL head coach before that, leading the Tri-City Americans for five seasons and the Chilliwack Bruins before that.

With these moves, the Islanders will have quite a few new voices behind the bench next season to support Lambert as he makes the transition from associate to head coach. The team did not list director of goaltending Mitch Korn–a long-time collaborator with Trotz–nor goaltending coach Piero Greco as part of the changes and still have them on the official website.

Offseason Checklist: New York Islanders

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The offseason has arrived for half of the league’s teams that weren’t playoff-bound plus those who were eliminated in the first two rounds.  It’s time to examine what they will need to accomplish over the coming months.  Next up is a look at the Islanders.

This past season was a tough one for New York.  They were forced to start with a 13-game road trip to ensure their new arena was ready to go and got hit hard with COVID-related absences soon after.  That put them in too much of a hole to climb out of.  Despite making the Eastern Conference Final the previous two years, GM Lou Lamoriello opted for a coaching change, dismissing Barry Trotz and elevating Lane Lambert to the top role.  However, that can’t be the only thing they do this summer if they want to get back into contention; Lamoriello has a few other items on his to-do list in the coming months.

Add Scoring Help

Let’s get the obvious out of the way first.  Scoring has been an issue for this team for a while as they haven’t averaged three goals per game since the 2017-18 season.  Part of that can be attributed to Trotz’s defense-first system but there isn’t a lot of firepower on this team.  Only Brock Nelson and Anders Lee cracked the 20-goal plateau this season and over the final two months of the year, Mathew Barzal was regularly playing with Zach Parise and Oliver Wahlstrom; with all due respect to those players, that’s probably not the optimal combination for their most skilled forward.

Back at the trade deadline when the Isles were very quiet, Lamoriello opted not to make any changes, stating that his focus was on ‘hockey trades’ to bring in pieces that better fit his roster.

With the team having barely $12MM in cap space and several roster spots to fill with that money, they don’t have the financial flexibility to be aggressive bidders on the free agent market.  Accordingly, this is one of those situations where Lamoriello will make a hockey trade and move out an underachiever for someone that’s a better fit.  Wingers Josh Bailey (two years, $5MM AAV) and Anthony Beauvillier (two years, $4.15MM) are candidates to move from their existing forward group while veteran goaltender Semyon Varlamov (one year, $5MM) could also make sense if they find a trade that’s acceptable to the 34-year-old who has a 16-team no-trade clause.  Either way, whether it’s one of them moving or someone else, New York will need more offensive production to get back into the playoff picture.

Re-Sign Dobson

A good chunk of their cap space is going to be heading towards defenseman Noah Dobson who is set to become a restricted free agent this summer.  After his first two NHL seasons were relatively quiet, 2021-22 was a breakout year that allowed the 22-year-old to finish third on the team in points with 51 including 13 goals.  For perspective, the rest of their blueliners combined for 19.  Not surprisingly, Dobson’s ATOI jumped up by more than five minutes a night from his sophomore campaign.  In other words, he had quite the platform year.

While the Islanders would undoubtedly like to lock Dobson up on a long-term deal, that would go against Lamoriello’s tendencies as he has continually opted for bridge contracts for his core RFAs including Barzal and defenseman Ryan Pulock in recent years.  A short-term pact would also allow them some extra cap flexibility to try to upgrade their roster.  That makes the bridge deal the likeliest scenario.

The extremes between Dobson’s first two seasons and this one will make it tricky to find the right number and without arbitration eligibility, the Islanders hold more of the leverage.  A two-year deal with an AAV around the $3MM range which is more than what Pulock and Adam Pelech received on their second contracts while a third season could push it closer to the $4MM range.  Anything longer than that would walk Dobson to unrestricted free agency so it’s likely that three years is the maximum term that New York will want to go.  It may take a while – Dobson’s only leverage is to delay signing in the hopes of getting a better offer later – but eventually, the two sides will come together on a short-term pact.

Rebuild The Defense

Over the past few years, the NHL has started to shift towards a more mobile back end.  The Islanders have been one of the exceptions but now as they work to retool things under a new head coach, this is the right time to try to kickstart that change.

Zdeno Chara and Andy Greene have been successful defensemen in the league for quite a while but mobility has been an issue for both of them while their offensive games are also quite limited.  Both are pending unrestricted free agents and should be replaced with younger, better fits.  Sebastian Aho is more of a mobile blueliner but has struggled in his own end in limited NHL action.  He’s also a pending UFA and will need to be retained or replaced.  That’s three roster spots that they’ll need to try to fill within their limited cap space and in terms of in-house options, only Robin Salo might be able to push for a spot at the end of the roster.

It’s also worth noting that Scott Mayfield is a year away from UFA eligibility as well and will be eyeing a sizable raise from the $1.45MM cap hit he’s on now.  Any multi-year commitments they make this summer will offset how much they can give to Mayfield a year from now so that’s something Lamoriello will have to weigh as he navigates the open market this summer.

With Pelech, Pulock, and Dobson, the Isles have a strong core back end that is either signed or under club control for at least the next four years.  That’s a strong foundation to work with.  Now, improvements will need to be made at the bottom end within a very tight cap situation to start moving towards a younger, more mobile defensive group.

Work On Barzal Extension

Three years ago, the Islanders and Barzal eventually worked out a three-year bridge deal, one that will be expiring next summer.  That means once the calendar flips to the start of the 2022-23 league year in mid-July, the two sides will be able to work on a contract extension.  After the season, Barzal stated that he wants to work out a long-term contract and is hopeful to remain with New York for his full career, a proclamation that is certainly encouraging from the team’s standpoint.

Barzal will be owed a qualifying offer of $8.4MM which is 120% of his current AAV; that’s the lower number between it and his salary for next season ($10MM).  He’ll also have arbitration eligibility at that time.  That qualifying number, therefore, serves as the absolute minimum starting point for negotiations as if the 25-year-old doesn’t like what the long-term offers look like, he can simply accept the qualifier in 2023 and become UFA-eligible a year later.

The potential challenge here is that Barzal hasn’t exactly produced at a level that’s worthy of offering considerably more than the qualifier.  While he averaged more than a point per game in his rookie season, the most he has gotten since then is 62 points.  He’s undoubtedly their most gifted offensive player but in a more defensive environment under Trotz, his numbers have suffered.  If Barzal thinks things will open up under Lambert, it may make more sense for him to play out next season and see what happens from there knowing the qualifying offer will still be on the table at that time.  But if Lamoriello comes in with a long-term offer in the $9MM range, it might be enough to give Barzal a chance to play for the Islanders for a long time to come.

They may not get a deal done this summer but both sides seem likely to give it a shot.  It isn’t as pressing as some of the other elements that will affect their plans for next season but as the offseason goes on and things slow down, that would be an optimal time to get to work on Barzal’s file.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.  Contract information courtesy of CapFriendly.

Carey Price Wins 2022 Masterton Trophy

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Montreal Canadiens netminder Carey Price is the recipient of the 2022 Bill Masterton Memorial Trophy, given “to the National Hockey League player who best exemplifies the qualities of perseverance, sportsmanship, and dedication to hockey, ” as voted by members of the Professional Hockey Writers’ Association. Price beat out other finalists in New York Islanders defenseman Zdeno Chara and Philadelphia Flyers forward Kevin Hayes to win the award.

Price, after leading the Canadiens to the Stanley Cup Final in 2021, faced incredible amounts of adversity throughout the 2021-22 campaign. The well-respected veteran netminder waived his no-movement clause and was subsequently left unprotected by the Canadiens in the 2021 Seattle Expansion Draft, kicking off an offseason of uncertainty. He then dealt with knee and hip injuries over the offseason but was expected to only miss six to eight weeks and be ready for the start of the season. Obviously, that wasn’t the case.

Then, as Price missed camp with those injuries and a non-COVID illness, he entered the NHL/NHLPA Player Assistance Program just days before the start of the season. Price returned to the team a month later, but as he recovered from the issues that caused him to enter the program, he wasn’t close to returning to game action. He continued to suffer injury setbacks throughout the season before finally returning to NHL ice on April 15 against the New York Islanders. He got his only win of the season in the team’s last game of the year, a 10-2 drubbing of the Florida Panthers.

The hockey world hopes that Price can continue to work towards full health and continue his Hall of Fame-caliber career.

Islanders Sign Ruslan Iskhakov

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Islanders prospect Ruslan Iskhakov has had an interesting journey over the last few years but he has secured his first NHL deal as CapFriendly reports (Twitter link) that the 21-year-old has signed a two-year, entry-level contract.  The deal carries a cap hit of $855K and an AAV of $925K.

The forward spent his draft-eligible season playing in Russia but had committed to playing in college at UConn just days before the draft.  As a result, he became subject to the four-year rule which meant that New York had until only next Wednesday to get him under contract even though his college days had already ended.

Iskhakov spent just two years in college before deciding to turn pro, signing with TPS Turku in Finland in 2020.  He was quite productive in the Liiga, notching 38 points in 54 games but once again opted for a change of scenery for this season when he decided to play with Adler Mannheim in Germany.  Iskhakov was similarly productive, albeit in limited action due to injury, as he put up seven goals and 15 assists in just 25 games, a good enough performance to convince the Islanders to sign him after he was granted his release from his German league contract earlier this month.

While he has spent two seasons in the pros overseas, it would be surprising to see Iskhakov jump to the NHL right away.  Instead, it’s quite likely he’ll start next season with Bridgeport of the AHL, allowing himself to get reacclimated to playing in North America.  But as a player who has been able to produce in good leagues overseas, he should become an intriguing recall option on a New York team that only finished 24th in goals scored this season.

2022 Masterton Trophy Finalists Announced

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The NHL continues to release finalists this week for their major awards. Today, Daily Faceoff’s Frank Seravalli revealed the three finalists for the 2022 Bill Masterton Memorial Trophy, as voted on by the PHWA. New York Islanders defenseman Zdeno Chara, Montreal Canadiens goalie Carey Price, and Philadelphia Flyers forward Kevin Hayes were named for the award.

The Masterton Trophy is awarded “to the National Hockey League player who best exemplifies the qualities of perseverance, sportsmanship, and dedication to hockey.” Each NHL team is able to put forth a nominee for the award, and voting members then select nominees from that list.

Chara earned his nomination after returning to the league for his 24th (and likely final) NHL season. The 45-year-old defenseman suited up for 72 games with the New York Islanders this season, his most games in a season since he played 73 in 2017-18. Finishing with two goals, 12 assists, and 14 points, Chara gave his best to the Islanders team that originally drafted him back in 1996. Those 14 points were actually the most he registered in a season as an Islander — he spent four seasons with the team from 1997-2001, recording a previous high of 11 points in 1999-00.

Price, the future Hall-of-Fame goaltender, battled back to play five games at the end of this season after being sidelined for the majority of the season with a knee injury and spending time in the NHLPA Player Assistance program. With the injury severe enough to cause uncertainty surrounding the future of his playing career, Price obviously did all he could in order to try and return to the crease after carrying his team to the 2021 Stanley Cup Final.

Hayes would be the second Flyer to win the trophy in as many years if victorious. Oskar Lindblom won the trophy last year after battling back from cancer diagnosis and treatment. Hayes played not only through injuries that limited him to just 48 games, but also dealt with the sudden news of his brother and former NHLer, Jimmy Hayes, passing away just prior to the season. Kevin still managed 31 points this season on a weak Flyers team despite the adversity.

New York Islanders Name Lane Lambert Head Coach

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The New York Islanders announced today that the team named Lane Lambert as their head coach, succeeding the previously fired Barry Trotz.

Lambert is an internal promotion, having served as an associate coach with the team since the 2018-19 season. Lambert’s led a long career as both a player and coach, also serving as an assistant coach under Trotz for both the Nashville Predators (2011-2014) and Washington Capitals (2014-2018). Lambert’s last experience as a head coach came with the AHL’s Milwaukee Admirals from 2007-2011.

Lambert actually took over as the team’s head coach for a few games midseason while Trotz was away from the team on a personal leave of absence. He’s the uncle of top 2022 draft prospect Brad Lambert. He becomes the 18th person to coach the Islanders and the fourth in the past 10 years.

Under Lambert, the Islanders look to return to their winning ways after missing the playoffs by 16 points this season. The team had advanced to the Eastern Conference Final in the previous two seasons. Islanders general manager Lou Lamoriello said the following today regarding his hiring:

I had the opportunity to work with Lane over the past four years, which includes spending time with him on a one-on-one basis when he served as the interim Head Coach this past season. In my opinion, he is the right person to coach this team.

Lambert was a candidate of interest for many teams around the league for head coaching roles. PHNX Sports’ Craig Morgan reported today that Lambert was a candidate for the Arizona Coyotes’ coaching vacancy last season before the team decided to opt for Andre Tourigny.

It’s a large cloud moved off the Islanders’ offseason, as they’re able to move forward into the draft and free agency with their situation settled behind the bench.

Snapshots: Wild, Babcock, Trouba

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Questions are sure to arise this offseason in the State of Hockey. The Minnesota Wild, although they forced the series to six games, were dealt with pretty handily in the final days of their season by the St. Louis Blues, capped off by a 5-1 rout in Game 6.

Now, with the full effect of the controversial Zach Parise/Ryan Suter buyouts kicking in next season, many wonder how the Wild will be able to manage their cap space moving forward. NBC Sports’ James O’Brien looks at a few routes the Wild could go down to manage their salary cap situation next season. The buyouts take up a combined $12.74MM next season, and although the team’s cap situation is fuzzy due to the amount of playoff Black Aces still on the active roster, they’ll surely have less than $10MM to work with this offseason. That includes signing Kevin Fiala, who’s a restricted free agent with arbitration rights (again), to a new deal, and finding a goalie to replace (or to-resign) Marc-Andre Fleury. While Fiala could be dealt, especially after an underwhelming playoff performance, they could also look to clear out some depth names. O’Brien names Dmitry Kulikov, who carries a $2.25MM cap hit next season, as another trade piece, although he does have an eight-team no-trade list (somehow).

  • While there hasn’t been any official link, and there likely won’t be knowing the tight-lipped Lou Lamoriello, The Athletic’s Kevin Kurz names former NHL bench boss Mike Babcock as a potential fit for the New York Islanders’ coaching vacancy. Kurz references Lamoriello’s history with Babcock in Toronto, and Lamoriello’s history of opting for tougher, more aggressive voices in the room as a solution to unsatisfactory team performance. Since then, he’s served as a senior adviser at the University of Vermont and the head coach of the University of Saskatchewan.
  • After Jacob Trouba’s controversial hit that gave Sidney Crosby a reported concussion, The Athletic’s Eric Duhatscheck looked at whether the NHL could examine a potential rule change to penalize similar hits in the future. Duhatschek notes that penalizing all hits to the head is extremely unlikely, as evidenced by current NHL leadership’s hesitation against cracking down on body contact. While illegal head contact exists in the NHL, by its definition, the league viewed Trouba’s hit as legal.

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