It’s been a pretty slow week in the NHL. Basically, the only things to talk about were the constantly delayed NHL schedule and the gold (read: yellow) ice in Nashville.
Chicago Blackhawks (~$2 million in cap space left)
New to town:
G Nikolai Khabibulin (1 yr/$2 million)
Leaving town:
G Ray Emery (To Philly, 1 yr/ $1.65 million)
G Carter Hutton (To Nashville, 1 yr/ $550K)
LW Viktor Stalberg (To Nashville, 4 yrs/$12 million)
C Michael Frolik (Traded to Winnipeg)
C Dave Bolland (Traded to Toronto)
C Rostislav Olesz (To New Jersey, 1 yr/$1 million)
D Steve Montador (Buyout)
Re-signed:
LW Bryan Bickell (4 yrs/ $16 million)
C Michal Handzus (1 yr/ $1 million)
C Marcus Kruger (2 yrs/$2.65 million) – New this week
D Michal Rozsival (2 yrs/ $2.2 million)
D Nick Leddy (2 yrs/ $5.4 million)
Still undetermined:
RW Jamal Mayers (UFA)
Chicago made a bunch of pretty minor moves this past week. The only notable thing was the re-signing of Marcus Kruger to a two-year deal.
After the Kruger deal, the Blackhawks made three re-signings to bolster their AHL squad (the Rockford IceHogs). Ryan Stanton (D), Kyle Beach (W) and Wade Brookbank (D) all re-signed with the team.
None of those three guys should be expected to have an impact on the NHL squad this year. With the loss of some depth forwards, Beach might have an outside shot at winning a role, but it’s doubtful.
Colorado Avalanche (~$10 million in cap space left)
New to town:
RW J.T. Wyman (From Tampa Bay, 1 yr/$750K)
RW Guillaume Desbiens (From Vancouver, 1 yr/$600K)
C Nathan MacKinnon (3-year ELC signed)
D Nate Guenin (From Anaheim, 1 yr/ $600K)
D Nick Holden (From Columbus, 2 yrs/$1.2 million)
D Andre Benoit (From Ottawa, 1 yr/$900K)
Leaving town:
RW Geoff Walker (To Tampa Bay, 1 yr/ $575K)
C Tomas Vincour (Went to KHL)
D Greg Zanon (Buyout)
Re-signed:
LW Patrick Bordeleau (3 yrs/$3 million)
LW David Van der Gulik (1 yr/ $600K)
C Matt Duchene (5 years/ $30 million) – New this week
Still undetermined:
RW Chuck Kobasew (UFA)
RW Milan Hejduk (Likely to retire)
The Avs made a couple of moves this week. They signed center Brad Malone to help their AHL squad and re-signed Matt Duchene to a hefty five-year extension.
Colorado has a fascinating group of centers signed up, and unless Paul Stastny is moved, Ryan O’Reilly is pretty much guaranteed to move to wing.
Minnesota Wild (~$2.8 million in cap space left)
New to town:
LW Matt Cooke (From Pittsburgh, 3 yrs/$7.5 million)
RW Nino Niederreiter (Trade from New York Islanders)
D Keith Ballard (From Vancouver, 2 yrs/$3 million)
D Jonathon Blum (From Nashville, 1 yr/$650K) – New this week
Leaving town:
RW Devin Setoguchi (Traded to Winnipeg Jets)
RW Pierre-Marc Bouchard (To New York Islanders, 1 yr/$2 million)
RW Cal Clutterbuck (Traded to New York Islanders)
RW Mark Parrish (Buyout)
C Matt Cullen (To Nashville, 2 yrs/$7 million)
D Justin Falk (Trade to New York Rangers)
D Tom Gilbert (Buyout)
Re-signed:
G Niklas Backstrom (3 yrs/$10.25 million)
D Jared Spurgeon (3 yrs/$8 million)
Still undetermined: None of note
The Wild made a few of signings this week, with the only one of note being the signing of Blum away from Nashville. He’s still a young kid but has some interesting potential as an offensive defenseman.
They also re-signed Justin Fontaine (W) and Carson McMillan (W) to one-year contracts. Fontaine was the leading scorer for the Wild’s AHL team last season and could see time in Minnesota this year. McMillan will be toiling away in the AHL, this time in Iowa instead of Houston.
The last bit of news was that Jamie Langenbrunner wants to sign with the Wild. Who knows why the Wild would want him, but he’s there for the taking.
Nashville Predators (~$6 million in cap space left)
New to town
G Carter Hutton (From Chicago, 1 yr/ $550K)
LW Viktor Stalberg (From Chicago, 4 yrs/$12 million)
LW Eric Nystrom (From Dallas, 4 yrs/$10 million)
LW Matt Hendricks (From Washington, 4 yrs/$7.4 million)
C Matt Cullen (From Minnesota, 2 yrs/$7 million)
D Seth Jones (3-year ELC signed)
Leaving town:
RW Sergei Kostitsyn (off to the KHL)
D T.J. Brennan (To Toronto, 1 yrs/$600K)
D Jonathon Blum (To Minnesota, 1 yr/$650K) – New this week
D Hal Gill (Buyout)
Re-signed:
LW Rich Clune (2 yrs/$1.7 million) – New this week
Still undetermined:
G Chris Mason (UFA)
RW Brandon Yip (UFA)
C Nick Spaling (RFA)
Not much out of the Preds this week aside from their odd ice-color choice. Nick Spaling chose to head for salary arbitration and will have that hearing in a week.
They re-signed yet another depth winger in Rich Clune for an extra two years, and Clune is all ready to fire up what’s sure to be a heated Stars-Preds series this season. Nashville’s AHL team, the Milwaukee Admirals, also re-signed Scott Ford (D) on Thursday.
St. Louis Blues (~$13 million left in cap space)
New to town:
LW Magnus Paajarvi (Traded from Edmonton) – New this week
RW Mark Mancari (From Buffalo, 1 yr/$600K)
C Derek Roy (From Vancouver, 1 yr/$4 million)
C Maxim Lapierre (From Vancouver, 2 yrs/$2.2 million)
C/W Keith Aucoin (From NYI, 1 yr/$625K)
C Alexandre Bolduc (From Phoenix, 1 yr/$550K)
Leaving town:
LW David Perron (Traded to Edmonton) – New this week
RW Jamie Langenbrunner
RW Ty Rattie (Traded to Edmonton) – New this week
RW Dmitrij Jaskin (Traded to Edmonton) – New this week
C Andy McDonald (retired)
C Scott Nichol (retired)
D Kris Russell (Traded to Calgary)
Re-signed:
D Jordan Leopold (2 yrs/$4.5 million)
Still undetermined:
G Jake Allen (RFA)
RW Chris Stewart (RFA)
D Alex Pietrangelo (RFA)
The Blues didn’t make any signings this past week, but they were pretty busy on the trade front. They sent three players (Perron, Rattie and Jaskin) to Edmonton for Paajarvi and a 2014 second-round pick.
Perron leaving the Blues will be helpful for Dallas as he killed the Stars. Paajarvi should be in contention for a top-six spot among the Blues forwards.
In other news, Chris Stewart is going to arbitration, which should happen next week. The Blues are also working to re-sign Pietrangelo and Allen.
Winnipeg Jets (~$19 million in cap space left)
New to town:
RW Devin Setoguchi (Trade from Minnesota)
RW Michael Frolik (Trade from Chicago)
RW Jerome Samson (From Carolina, 1 yr/$600K)
RW Andrew Gordon (From Vancouver, 1 yr/$550K)
D Adam Pardy (From Buffalo, 1 yr/$600K) (also, HA!)
D Jacob Trouba (Up from the minors)
Leaving town:
C Alexander Burmistrov (Went to KHL)
D Derek Meech (Went to KHL) – New this week
Re-signed:
G Al Montoya (1 yr/$601K)
LW Eric Tangradi (2 yrs/$1.35 million) – New this week
D Grant Clitsome (3 yrs/$6.2 million)
Still undetermined:
RW Blake Wheeler (RFA)
LW Antti Miettinen (UFA)
C Nik Antropov (UFA)
C Kyle Wellwood (UFA)
C Bryan Little (RFA)
D Zach Bogosian (RFA)
D Zach Redmond (RFA)
D Paul Postma (RFA)
D Ron Hainsey (UFA)
The Jets had a chunk of their file for arbitration this past week, but they managed to re-sign Tangradi before his date came up. The other four (Bogosian, Little, Postma and Wheeler) will have their hearings in the upcoming two or three weeks.
Aside from that, very little happened. They just re-signed Patrice Cormier to a one year, $575K contract. Their AHL team made a bunch of signings, signings that won’t have an impact on the Jets this year.
