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Perunovich Contract Likely To Open Up Deals For Other Top Collegiates

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While many undrafted college players have already signed in the last couple of weeks, only a handful of top collegiate players have inked new deals. One of the reasons is due to questions surrounding whether players could sign contracts for this year, since it the rest of the season remains in limbo. However, with the recent signing of defenseman Scott Perunovich with the St. Louis Blues to two different contracts, that could open up a flood of players who are ready to sign contacts, according to Scott Powers of The Athletic (subscription required).

Perunovich agreed to two contracts Friday, one that would start this year (assuming the season continues), while the other would start in the 2019-20 season, although both contracts would be two-year deals. The scribe notes that St. Louis had to get NHL approval of the two contracts, which now could open up possibilities for several college players, including Chicago Blackhawks’ Ian Mitchell, Vegas Golden Knights’ Jack Dugan and Winnipeg Jets’ Dylan Samberg.

Powers uses the example of Mitchell, who wrapped up his junior season at the University of Denver and has to sign a three-year, entry-level contract due to his age. Mitchell would prefer to sign starting this season as it would immediately burn that first year.

“Right now we are waiting to see what happens with the NHL season,” the 21-year-old Mitchell wrote. “There is a freeze on contracts being signed for this season. If I were to sign a contract now, I wouldn’t be able to play this year if the season resumes. So right now it is just wait and see.”

Technically, Perunovich has not signed either contact, but will sign one of the two once it’s decided on whether the 2019-20 season will continue or not. That could be the case for any other college prospects who are eager to sign, but would prefer to sign for this year and not wait an extra year.

Mitchell continues to wait on whether there is a season this year, but is suddenly more open to signing soon after Perunovich’s deal.

“Yes, all options are on the table,” said Mitchell in a text when asked about signing a similar deal.

Powers believes that the contract itself has already been worked out, especially since Chicago has been willing to hand out “A” bonuses to their top prospects in the past and with Mitchell having the ability to threaten to return to Denver for his senior year, he is likely to get that, although it’s believed that he is leaning towards signing a pro contract.

Scott Perunovich Agrees To Terms With St. Louis Blues

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The St. Louis Blues have convinced one of their top college prospects to turn pro, agreeing to terms with Scott Perunovich. Interestingly though, this deal comes with a twist according to Jeremy Rutherford of The Athletic. Perunovich has agreed to two different versions of his entry-level contract. One would start in the 2019-20 season if it resumes at some point, and the other would be starting in 2020-21. The deal is for two seasons either way, though obviously would expire at different times.

Perunovich, 21, was the 45th selection in the 2018 draft and has continued to dominate at the college level. As a junior this year for the University of Minnesota-Duluth, he recorded 40 points in 34 games—as a defenseman mind you—and was named a top-10 finalist for the Hobey Baker Award as the country’s top college player.

Should the season resume at some point, Perunovich would actually be eligible to play for the Blues right away. Just as other college prospects have in recent years like Charlie McAvoy, Brock Boeser and Cale Makar, the young defenseman could be an impact player right away at the NHL level.

The 5’10” 175-lbs defenseman has won almost countless awards during his time at UMD, including the Tim Taylor Award as the NCAA’s best rookie in 2018. Add in two national titles with the Bulldogs, a World Junior bronze medal with Team USA and a potential Hobey Baker and you have a player that’s ready for the next level.

St. Louis Blues Sign Hugh McGing

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The St. Louis Blues have found some common ground with one of their college prospects, agreeing to terms with Hugh McGing on a two-year entry-level contract. McGing recently finished his senior season with Western Michigan University, where he served as an alternate captain.

Selected in the fifth round two years ago, the undersized forward was actually a Hobey Baker nominee this season and last as one of the best college players in the country. Standing just 5’9″, the 21-year old has relied on his hockey instincts and offensive ability to carve out an impressive career for Western Michigan, scoring 117 points in 147 games.

Fans of international hockey at the junior level should also recognize McGing’s name, given that he has competed for Team USA at the Hlinka-Gretzky Cup and been a participant in the selection camp for the World Juniors—though he failed to make it through the final cut. With his college days over he’ll have to see what kind of production he can come up with in the minor leagues, before chasing the dream of becoming an NHL player.

College Notes: Perunovich, Poolman, McLaughlin

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Among the ten finalists for the Hobey Baker award, there are several seniors that don’t have much of a decision coming for them this summer. Their college careers are over, and they’ll be starting their professional careers in one fashion or another. Some of the others however, including St. Louis Blues draft pick Scott Perunovich, still have college eligibility remaining and could return.

The potential Blues’ prospect is one of considerable intrigue, especially after making a post on Instagram yesterday thanking his teammates and the Minnesota-Duluth program. For a player as accomplished as the UMD junior, signing his entry-level contract for 2019-20 and making his NHL debut was a possibility. With the season now up in the air, it’s unclear how the negotiations will proceed. The 21-year old defenseman had 105 points in 115 games at the college level and could be an impact player quickly for the Blues.

  • Brad Elliott Schlossman of the Grand Forks Herald reports that the Calgary Flames are a frontrunner for the services of Colton Poolman, an undrafted collegiate defenseman out of the University of North Dakota. The younger brother of Winnipeg Jets defenseman Tucker Poolman, Colton captained UND this season and recorded 17 points in 31 games. Not quite as big as his brother, the younger Poolman is also already 24 and will have to cover a lot of development ground quickly if he wants to become a regular NHL player.
  • Jake McLaughlin, another undrafted college defenseman about to turn 24, has minor league contract offers from six different teams according to AHL reporter Mark Divver. McLaughlin recently finished his senior season at UMass, scoring 14 points in 34 games. UPDATE (3/19): McLaughlin is officially off the market. The Amherst standout, who was one of the NCAA’s best defensive defenseman this season, has signed an AHL deal with the Vegas Golden Knights, per Divver. Seeing as this is a contract beginning in 2020-21, McLaughlin could technically be considered the first ever signing by the future Henderson Silver Knights, the soon-to-be-relocated version of the San Antonio Rampage, who were purchased by Vegas last month.

Stretch Run Storylines: St. Louis Blues

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As things stand, the NHL is planning to have games resume at some point over the coming weeks.  Assuming the regular season continues, there will be plenty of things to watch for over the stretch run.  Over the coming weeks, PHR will examine the top stretch run storylines for each team.  First up is a look at the Central Division, beginning with St. Louis.

The Blues had a bit of a sluggish start to their season with just three wins in their first eight games but since then, they have been the top team in the Western Conference and as a result, they sit atop the division as well as the Western Conference.  That has the defending Stanley Cup Champions sitting in good shape whenever play resumes, even more so considering one of their top players will return which highlights their top storylines to watch for.

Tarasenko’s Return

Shoulder injuries have plagued winger Vladimir Tarasenko for a while now and another one suffered in his tenth game of the season has caused him to miss most of the year.  However, at the time he underwent surgery, the projected timeline for his return was late March or early April which made GM Doug Armstrong decide not to use LTIR relief to acquire a replacement, a move that seems particularly prescient now.  If they had acquired someone using LTIR, they wouldn’t be able to activate Tarasenko until they found a way to get in cap compliance and with the trade deadline now long passed, that would be next to impossible.

Barring any unexpected setbacks, Tarasenko should be able to return to the lineup whenever play resumes which will give a team that already has hovered around the top-ten in scoring this season its top scoring threat back.  There is bound to be some rust although some of that will be offset by this extended layoff for everyone.  Getting his timing back before the postseason gets underway would be a big boost to a team that’s certainly going to be capable for another long playoff run.

Pietrangelo’s Increasing Value

The contracts given to Erik Karlsson ($11.5MM) and Drew Doughty ($11MM) have helped place the spotlight on defenseman Alex Pietrangelo who is now pegged to get a significant raise on his current $6.5MM AAV.  Heading into the year, some had suggested a deal in the $9MM range could be his target but that may very well be on the low side.

Very quietly, the captain has put up a career year offensively.  He already has a new top mark in goals (16) while his assists per game and points per game marks are also the best of his career.  If the NHL resumes with some regular season action, he will almost certainly set new highs in those categories as well.  After having a bit of a quieter year offensively in 2018-19, he has rebounded quite nicely and that’s only going to help his value.

As things stand, the Blues can’t afford to re-sign him and fill out the rest of their roster even if the Upper Limit of the salary cap goes up slightly.  (And with everything that’s happening, that’s not as likely as it was just a few weeks ago.)  As a result, it is a distinct possibility that Pietrangelo is playing out his final days in St. Louis.

Scoring Race

The battle for the top spot in the division should be tightly contested as Colorado is only two spots behind them and this layoff gives them a chance to get some of their players healthy as well.  But there is another race that is certainly intriguing, the battle to lead the team in points.

While St. Louis doesn’t have anyone near the point per game mark, they have four players within four points of each other for the team lead in Ryan O’Reilly (61), David Perron (60), Brayden Schenn (58), and Jaden Schwartz (57).  Four points isn’t a big gap so it’s quite possible that this particular race could go down to the wire.

O’Reilly and Perron are signed for two more years after this one while Schenn signed an eight-year extension back in October that kicks in for 2020-21.  But Schwartz will be entering the final season of his deal this summer which makes him eligible for a contract extension.  A strong finish to his campaign will certainly bolster his bargaining power.  If he can get that team lead, it’ll be even stronger.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Troy Brouwer, Aaron Ness Clear Waivers

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Wednesday: Both Brouwer and Ness have cleared waivers and can be sent to the minor leagues.

Tuesday: Even though the season is almost over, teams are still making tweaks to their rosters. Today, Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet reports that both Troy Brouwer and Aaron Ness have been placed on waivers.

In Ness’ case, Craig Morgan of The Athletic tweets that the Arizona Coyotes are expecting Jakob Chychrun back this week. Even though teams no longer have a roster limit, Ness is eligible to play for the Tucson Roadrunners and can continue to get some game action in the minor leagues.

For Brouwer, things are a little different. The veteran forward was not recalled until after the trade deadline, meaning he is eligible for AHL playoffs, but he actually hasn’t played a single game at that level this season. It’s unclear if the St. Louis Blues would send him down to the minor leagues in the event he clears waivers.

When it comes to post-deadline waivers, it is important to remember that any claim comes with some restrictions. As CapFriendly pointed out recently, a team changing reserve lists after the deadline is not eligible to play in the regular season or playoffs for his new club. That means even if a playoff team claimed Brouwer or Ness to give them a little more depth, they could not play.

Four Players Remain Eligible To Avoid Group VI Free Agency

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With the end of the season quickly approaching, we now have clarification on most of the players that are eligible for Group VI unrestricted free agency this offseason.  The full list can be found here along with the breakdown of the criteria to reach this status.  However, there are four players that could still avoid being in this situation which will be worth watching for over the last few weeks.

Colby Cave (Edmonton) – A year ago, it didn’t look like Cave would be in this situation.  He spent the majority of 2018-19 in the NHL, getting into 52 games between Boston and Edmonton but failed to earn a regular role with the Oilers this season.  Instead, he has played in 43 games with their AHL affiliate in Bakersfield this season and just 11 with the big club.  That leaves him 13 games shy of remaining RFA eligible.  While he won’t get there with regular season games, playoff games count as well and he’s likely to be up with them for their playoff run.  With AHL Bakersfield well out of playoff contention, he’s someone they could recall right away if they wanted to knock some games off before the postseason starts.

Mackenzie MacEachern (St. Louis) – Of the four, this is the likeliest one to get to 80 and remain a restricted free agent as long as he doesn’t get injured in the near future.  MacEachern has spent the entirety of the season in St. Louis, albeit in a limited role as he has averaged less than nine minutes a night in 48 games while spending a lot of time as a healthy scratch.  Nonetheless, he’s just two NHL games shy of 80 and with the Blues comfortably in a playoff spot, they can afford to toss him on the fourth line a couple more times to secure his rights for another season.

Michael McCarron (Nashville) – The 2013 first-round pick saw NHL action in each of his first three pro campaigns but hasn’t since then.  Instead, he has played a more limited role in the minors and a midseason trade from Montreal to Nashville hasn’t changed his fortunes much although he has nine goals in 26 games with AHL Milwaukee.  He’s ten NHL games shy of 80 but barring a rash of injuries, he’s unlikely to make it back to the NHL this season or at least play enough to reach the threshold.

Boo Nieves (NY Rangers) – This is another one that didn’t seem likely a year ago.  Nieves played in 43 games with New York in 2018-19 and did well enough that they gave him an early one-way contract extension to avoid him hitting the UFA market as a Group VI player last season.  However, he has played in just four NHL contests this year which leaves him four shy of reaching 80.  With the Rangers’ fourth line seeing limited minutes, it’s not crazy to think that they could bring Nieves up for a week or so to give him another look and ensure they keep his rights for next season.

If any of these players get to 80 total NHL games, they will be eligible for restricted free agency with salary arbitration eligibility this summer.

Snapshots: Three Stars, Fines, Wisconsin

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The NHL has released their Three Stars from last week, and the five-goal man is at the top once again. Mika Zibanejad was always going to be the first star after scoring five goals in a single game (including the OT winner). The New York Rangers center scored seven on the week, giving him a career-high 39 through just 55 games this season.

Second and third place go to two Western Conference stars in Gabriel Landeskog and Leon Draisaitl, who continued their scoring ways with nine and eight points respectively. That means Draisaitl is up to 110 on the season, an incredible feat given he has only played 69 games so far.

  • St. Louis Blues forward Oskar Sundqvist has been fined $5,000 for his roughing of Chicago Blackhawks defenseman Adam Boqvist, which resulted in a line brawl between the two teams. Sundqvist tried to lay a check along the boards, but when he missed his left hand (while clutching his stick) came around and hit Boqvist in the face. The amount is the maximum allowable under the CBA, and will affect other supplementary discipline in the future.
  • While other college players are starting to sign with teams in the NHL, a few names from the Wisconsin program have yet to make their decisions. Pierre LeBrun of The Athletic reports that the Montreal Canadiens will meet with Cole Caufield over the next week while his colleague Rick Carpiniello adds that the Rangers have been in contact with K’Andre Miller but the prospect defenseman has not yet made a decision.

Central Notes: Pietrangelo, Lowry, Radulov, Boqvist

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The St. Louis Blues got some good news last week when they learned from NHL commissioner Gary Bettman when he announced that the 2020-21 salary cap is expected to rise between $84MM and $88.2MM. With the current salary cap set at $81.5MM this season, that would give the Blues franchise a significant amount of cap space that it could use to re-sign defenseman Alex Pietrangelo, who is currently slated to become a unrestricted free agent this summer.

In his latest mailbag, The Athletic’s Jeremy Rutherford (subscription required) writes that while those numbers sound promising, the NHL was projected to have a salary cap set at $83MM for the 2019-20 season and it ended up being $81.5MM, which suggests that all teams shouldn’t expect a significant increase. However, as far as Pietrangelo is concerned, the scribe believes that St. Louis has no intention of paying out any more than $9.5MM AAV, and the team would prefer a number closer to $8.5MM regardless of the increase in salary cap. The team believes that if other teams are willing to go to $10MM per season, the Blues will not match that.

Rutherford adds that if that’s the case and Pietrangelo opts to sign elsewhere, the team is unlikely to make any significant additions as there aren’t many significant free-agent defenseman this summer. That means the Blues would then hand the reins to Colton Parayko as the defensive leader next season.

  • The Athletic’s Ken Wiebe reports that Winnipeg Jets forward Adam Lowry is likely to return to the lineup Monday for their game against Arizona. Lowry has been out since Jan. 19 with an upper-body injury and should be able to give the Jets a much-needed boost. The 26-year-old has four goals and 10 points in 47 games with 132 hits.
  • The Dallas Stars were without Alexander Radulov Saturday due to illness, while forward Justin Dowling was able to re-enter the lineup since late January. Dowling immediately moved onto the top line next to Jamie Benn and Tyler Seguin. However, with the team desperate to put up some offense after being held to one goal in the past three games, The Athletic’s Sean Shapiro (subscription required) writes that if Radulov has to miss extended time, the Stars should consider in recalling forward Jason Robertson. The 20-year-old prospect has 25 goals in his rookie campaign with the Texas Stars and has appeared in three NHL games already.
  • NBC Sports’ Charlie Roumeliotis reports that after missing Friday’s game with a wrist injury on Saturday, Chicago Blackhawks defenseman Adam Boqvist is expected to enter the Blackhawks lineup today against the St. Louis Blues. He fills a gap with rookie Lucas Carlsson out with a concussion.

Justin Faulk Has An Upper-Body Injury

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  • While it was initially believed that Blues defenseman Justin Faulk had missed Friday’s game due to the flu, the team announced (Twitter link) that he’s actually dealing with an upper-body injury. He’ll be re-evaluated today.  It has been a rough first season with St. Louis for the 27-year-old as he has a career low 15 points in 67 games and will begin a new seven-year contract with the Blues next season with an increase in his cap hit from $4.833MM to $6.5MM.

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