NHL 2022-2023: FA July 13th - LET IT BEGIN

[jingle.boy]

Seems odd to go to CBJ when the Isles were an option.

[Anguyen92]

^^ Maybe he just didn't want to talk to Lou Lamoriello or teams that used to be GM'ed by Lou.

[Nick]

Definitely did not see Gaudreau turning away money (over 1m per year) to head to... Columbus, a city that has notoriously had a hard time attracting free agents.

[TAC]

Definitely did not see Gaudreau turning away money (over 1m per year) to head to... Columbus, a city that has notoriously had a hard time attracting free agents.

Probably for the same reason the Flyers will have trouble attracting free agents for the next couple of years.

[gmillerdrake]

Definitely did not see Gaudreau turning away money (over 1m per year) to head to... Columbus, a city that has notoriously had a hard time attracting free agents.

Hockey players are getting smart about where they’re contracts are based out of. Canadian teams/contracts are taxed pretty highly. I’d be curious to find out what Ohio’s state tax rate is? He actually may be making more there.

[KevShmev]

Love the Thomas and Leddy signings, but I am gonna be bummed if we lose Perron, which looks likely.  That ripple effect of Parayko's contract could handicap the team's ability to make moves to get over the top again.

I get that sentiment because he's a good 'team' guy and had a pretty good season last year....BUT....he's a 34 year old player with an extensive concussion history.....and missed 20+ games last season with concussion symptoms again. He was wanting $4+ mil for 2-3 years....just a lot of cash for an aging, concussion prone player. We have Kyrou now to sign after this season AND O'Reily is up as well after this season. I'm on Armstrong's side here by not making the full effort to get him back.

And the Paryako deal is a bargain for him. Very good defender who can move the puck well....his play the last half of the season (especially after Leddy came over) was really good. Once you stop asking him to do things he simply can't and just get back to his game....that deal looks like the bargain it is.

The handicapping contracts will start to come to fruition here in two or three years when the aging Schenn, Faulk and Krug's on the team start on the back nine of their careers. Those are the ones that hurt.

I hear everything you are saying, and it all makes sense. It's just gross seeing Perron go to the dreaded Red Wings.

[romdrums]

Love the Thomas and Leddy signings, but I am gonna be bummed if we lose Perron, which looks likely.  That ripple effect of Parayko's contract could handicap the team's ability to make moves to get over the top again.

I get that sentiment because he's a good 'team' guy and had a pretty good season last year....BUT....he's a 34 year old player with an extensive concussion history.....and missed 20+ games last season with concussion symptoms again. He was wanting $4+ mil for 2-3 years....just a lot of cash for an aging, concussion prone player. We have Kyrou now to sign after this season AND O'Reily is up as well after this season. I'm on Armstrong's side here by not making the full effort to get him back.

And the Paryako deal is a bargain for him. Very good defender who can move the puck well....his play the last half of the season (especially after Leddy came over) was really good. Once you stop asking him to do things he simply can't and just get back to his game....that deal looks like the bargain it is.

The handicapping contracts will start to come to fruition here in two or three years when the aging Schenn, Faulk and Krug's on the team start on the back nine of their careers. Those are the ones that hurt.

I hear everything you are saying, and it all makes sense. It's just gross seeing Perron go to the dreaded Red Wings.

The Red Wings have so many former Blues players on the roster you could root for them now!

[KevShmev]

The Red Wings have so many former Blues players on the roster you could root for them now!

That's about as likely as me becoming a fan of Kiss.

[TAC]

The Red Wings have so many former Blues players on the roster you could root for them now!

That's about as likely as me becoming a fan of Kiss.

I just heard Eric Bloom and Buck Darma have just joined Kiss.

[KevShmev]

The Red Wings have so many former Blues players on the roster you could root for them now!

That's about as likely as me becoming a fan of Kiss.

I just heard Eric Bloom and Buck Darma have just joined Kiss.

What a shame that senility has infected two musicians from an actual great band.  Sad news.

[Nick]

You could always fill the hole left by departing Blues players by signing Kadri Kev.

[KevShmev]

[gmillerdrake]

You could always fill the whole left by departing Blues players by signing Kadri Kev.

Now that would be hilarious if that happened. I can’t imagine that Armstrong would do that…there’s just no way.

[jingle.boy]

You could always fill the whole left by departing Blues players by signing Kadri Kev.

Now that would be hilarious if that happened. I can’t imagine that Armstrong would do that…there’s just no way.

I will sig this all season if it happens.   

[Nick]

Can someone explain to my what exactly the Ducks are doing? It's a couple days past free agency now and they are 9+ million UNDER the cap.

If you have a team that wants to rebuild or not spend, fine, but at this point they have lost a LOT of leverage in trading for teams that wanted to dump salary. Their return at this point won't be nearly as good. It's an organization I honestly know very little about, but I can't help but want their GM to be fired at this point.

[jingle.boy]

I gather they'll be open to take some LTIR contracts (ie, permanent injury/retirement), and or ones that may be lower on the salary than the AAV.  Problem is, a lot of those contracts with big $$$$ as an AAV will also have NMCs (eg: Toews).  Maybe they throw something at LVK now for Weber's contract - since I don't think LVK needs the relief anymore after unloading Pacioretty??

[Anguyen92]

Can someone explain to my what exactly the Ducks are doing? It's a couple days past free agency now and they are 9+ million UNDER the cap.

If you have a team that wants to rebuild or not spend, fine, but at this point they have lost a LOT of leverage in trading for teams that wanted to dump salary. Their return at this point won't be nearly as good. It's an organization I honestly know very little about, but I can't help but want their GM to be fired at this point.

As a Kings fan that sometimes want to keep tabs on the other California teams (honestly, the Sharks are the ones that looks really in the gutter right now, although trading Brent Burns at 33% retention can help their cap and age issues), the Ducks have decent talent.  I'm going to keep hammering the point.  A team needs to hit well on a FA signing contract like the Kings did with Danault to turn their luck around.  The Ducks hasn't seem to do that yet.  Why?  No idea.  Their GM just got there last season after Bob Murray was there forever.  The idea of signing a guy like Kadri could be intriguing for them while guys like Trevor Zegras and Mason McTavish gets more suited in playing bigger roles. 

Obviously, I wish for them to continue standing pat and not do anything and do whatever they want just to meet cap floor.

[jingle.boy]

Not a lot of high priced players out there still - the names in the title, Kinglberg, Stastny.  The rest are definitely on the tail end of their careers, and going to be making less than their last contracts (PK, Kessel, Stralman ...)

More than a few good RFAs though.  As usual, I don't see any offer sheets going out to anyone of significance.

[TAC]

It would seem that nobody wants to pay Kadri a boatload of money. I wonder if Calgary bites after losing Gaudreau.

[jingle.boy]

Why would anyone. He’s 31, and only had one ‘great’ season.  Not a lot of teams have cap room. If he thought he was gonna get a $50M+ contract, he’s been smoking some of that high end stuff. For 3-4 years, I can see someone taking a chance and shelling out $8Mish AAV. If he wants longer term than that, well…. he’s past the prime of his life already. His production isn’t likely to get better. Especially if he doesn’t have the teammates he had in Colorado, AND if he’s expected to be the #1 guy (ie, he’ll get the #1 defenders - where it was MacKinnon that had to play against the best defenders)

[gmillerdrake]

Why would anyone. He’s 31, and only had one ‘great’ season.  Not a lot of teams have cap room. If he thought he was gonna get a $50M+ contract, he’s been smoking some of that high end stuff. For 3-4 years, I can see someone taking a chance and shelling out $8Mish AAV. If he wants longer term than that, well…. he’s past the prime of his life already. His production isn’t likely to get better. Especially if he doesn’t have the teammates he had in Colorado, AND if he’s expected to be the #1 guy (ie, he’ll get the #1 defenders - where it was MacKinnon that had to play against the best defenders)

I think you’re being kind with the $8mil evaluation for that short term. I’d think 3-4 years and $6.5-7.5. As you mentioned…..his success last year was largely predicated on who he was surrounded by. Add in the ‘drama’ he brings to your team by being a no good POS dirty player and it’s no surprise he’s still waiting by the phone.

[Nick]

Why would anyone. He’s 31, and only had one ‘great’ season.  Not a lot of teams have cap room. If he thought he was gonna get a $50M+ contract, he’s been smoking some of that high end stuff. For 3-4 years, I can see someone taking a chance and shelling out $8Mish AAV. If he wants longer term than that, well…. he’s past the prime of his life already. His production isn’t likely to get better. Especially if he doesn’t have the teammates he had in Colorado, AND if he’s expected to be the #1 guy (ie, he’ll get the #1 defenders - where it was MacKinnon that had to play against the best defenders)

I think you’re being kind with the $8mil evaluation for that short term. I’d think 3-4 years and $6.5-7.5. As you mentioned…..his success last year was largely predicated on who he was surrounded by. Add in the ‘drama’ he brings to your team by being a no good POS dirty player and it’s no surprise he’s still waiting by the phone.

I think a lot of the league after seeing some very hard contract moves and buyouts are finally being more reasonable in free agency and not overpaying as much. Hell, it was how many years ago that Suter/Parise got their matching contracts just shy of 10m AAV and all these years later Johnny Hockey got basically the same thing, even though the cap has raised a good bit since then.

As far as Kadri in particular is concerned, I agree that given age and this past season being an outlier one must be very careful. I haven't really seen much as far as what he's waiting for. Could be term, could be short term money, could be just trying to work his way into a place he wants to play.

[Anguyen92]

Why would anyone. He’s 31, and only had one ‘great’ season.  Not a lot of teams have cap room. If he thought he was gonna get a $50M+ contract, he’s been smoking some of that high end stuff. For 3-4 years, I can see someone taking a chance and shelling out $8Mish AAV. If he wants longer term than that, well…. he’s past the prime of his life already. His production isn’t likely to get better. Especially if he doesn’t have the teammates he had in Colorado, AND if he’s expected to be the #1 guy (ie, he’ll get the #1 defenders - where it was MacKinnon that had to play against the best defenders)

I think you’re being kind with the $8mil evaluation for that short term. I’d think 3-4 years and $6.5-7.5. As you mentioned…..his success last year was largely predicated on who he was surrounded by. Add in the ‘drama’ he brings to your team by being a no good POS dirty player and it’s no surprise he’s still waiting by the phone.

I think a lot of the league after seeing some very hard contract moves and buyouts are finally being more reasonable in free agency and not overpaying as much. Hell, it was how many years ago that Suter/Parise got their matching contracts just shy of 10m AAV and all these years later Johnny Hockey got basically the same thing, even though the cap has raised a good bit since then.

I don't think AAV was the issue for those contracts.  AAV for those contracts was $7.5M.  The reason the AAV was like that was because the contracts was set to last for 13 years and it got bought out on year 9.  Guess whose the GM that signed those contracts?  Chuck Fletcher.

No wonder the league needed to clamp down on those contracts and limit the years to 8 max.  Few contracts structured like that rarely worked in hindsight.  Ovi's lengthy contract was great.  Crosby's current lengthy contract turned out to be a huge bargain for the Pens in hindsight.  Others just didn't work out like that.  Like Mike Richards......  Carter probably almost thought about retiring in 2021 if the Pens didn't rejuvenate him which would have been ugly for the Kings as well since they would have eaten a recapture penalty.

Also, the Flyers were the ones that was really trigger-happy with signing those long deals as well.  They offer-sheeted Shea Weber which the Preds matched and give a long contract (9 years) to Ilya Bryzgalov in addition to the Carter and Richards contracts.  Got bought out after 2 years.  This does not count against the Flyers' cap due to CBA negotiations, but man.  Bryzgalov got his Bobby Bonilla moment.

[Nick]

For some reason I recalled the Suter/Parise contracts as higher, good catch. I still think if a comparable to Johnny would have hit the market 5 years ago his AAV would have been higher. And the Flyers are not blameless, but far from the only ones. I actually saw something very good recently, let me see if I can dig it up...

[Nick]

I saw this in image form, but here you go, in 2016 in free agency you had...

 Player    Former Team    New Team    Contract Details
 2   Kyle Okposo – RW    Islanders    Sabres    7 yrs, $42M ($6.0M AAV)
 3   Loui Eriksson – RW    Bruins    Canucks    6 yrs, $36M ($6.0M AAV)
 4   Milan Lucic – LW    Kings    Oilers    7 yrs, $42M ($6.0M AAV)
 5   David Backes – C    Blues    Bruins    5 yrs, $30M ($6.0M AAV)
 6   Andrew Ladd – LW    Blackhawks    Islanders    7 yrs, $38.5M ($5.5M AAV)
 8   Frans Nielsen – C    Islanders    Red Wings    6 yrs, $31.5M ($5.25M AAV)
 9   Eric Staal – C    Rangers    Wild    3 yrs, $10.5M ($3.5M AAV)

[Anguyen92]

6 years later and which contract out of that 2016 FA class aged well for the teams that signed it?  Very few.  Honestly, the Kings gave up a lot for Lucic for the 15-16 season (1st round pick in 2015, Martin Jones when he was still good, and a prospect).  In hindsight, it might have been for the best for him to go FA since if they gave him 8 more years, it would be even more disastrous for the team than what actually happened to them over that amount of time.

[TAC]

6 years later and which contract out of that 2016 FA class aged well for the teams that signed it?  Very few.  Honestly, the Kings gave up a lot for Lucic for the 15-16 season (1st round pick in 2015, Martin Jones when he was still good, and a prospect).  In hindsight, it might have been for the best for him to go FA since if they gave him 8 more years, it would be even more disastrous for the team than what actually happened to them over that amount of time.

The prospect was Colin Miller.

[Anguyen92]

There's an article on The Athletic that says Matthew Tkachuk does not want to re-sign with the Flames.  That's good news for the Kings.  He's been a problem to deal with for them and for Doughty.  The Flames getting weaker after losing Gaudreau and possibly losing Tkachuk means only the Oilers and Golden Knights are the definitive obstacles in the Pacific for the time being.  Excellent.

As for Matt Tkachuk, where will he end up?  Blues seems like a good choice.  Kev and Gary, how do you feel about that possibility?  Your team would need to move cap space around, but it could be done.

[SchecterShredder]

There's an article on The Athletic that says Matthew Tkachuk does not want to re-sign with the Flames.  That's good news for the Kings.  He's been a problem to deal with for them and for Doughty.  The Flames getting weaker after losing Gaudreau and possibly losing Tkachuk means only the Oilers and Golden Knights are the definitive obstacles in the Pacific for the time being.  Excellent.

As for Matt Tkachuk, where will he end up?  Blues seems like a good choice.  Kev and Gary, how do you feel about that possibility?  Your team would need to move cap space around, but it could be done.

I think just about every team will be interested in him.  The real question is what will it cost to get him in a trade? His value will be slightly down since he's not under contract,  amd allegedly wants out,  but Calgary could still hold him for a few years on arbitrated 1yr deals if it came to that.

I doubt he'd come up the highway to Edmonton,  but I'd gladly do away with Jesse Puljujarvi and a 1st for his rights.

[jingle.boy]

There's an article on The Athletic that says Matthew Tkachuk does not want to re-sign with the Flames.  That's good news for the Kings.  He's been a problem to deal with for them and for Doughty.  The Flames getting weaker after losing Gaudreau and possibly losing Tkachuk means only the Oilers and Golden Knights are the definitive obstacles in the Pacific for the time being.  Excellent.

As for Matt Tkachuk, where will he end up?  Blues seems like a good choice.  Kev and Gary, how do you feel about that possibility?  Your team would need to move cap space around, but it could be done.

I think just about every team will be interested in him.  The real question is what will it cost to get him in a trade? His value will be slightly down since he's not under contract,  amd allegedly wants out,  but Calgary could still hold him for a few years on arbitrated 1yr deals if it came to that.

I doubt he'd come up the highway to Edmonton,  but I'd gladly do away with Jesse Puljujarvi and a 1st for his rights.

I'd gladly see Nylander go in a 1:1 swap.  Willie was born in Calgary afterall.

But I could see Ottawa also be a high-probability destination for Tkachuk.

[SchecterShredder]

There's an article on The Athletic that says Matthew Tkachuk does not want to re-sign with the Flames.  That's good news for the Kings.  He's been a problem to deal with for them and for Doughty.  The Flames getting weaker after losing Gaudreau and possibly losing Tkachuk means only the Oilers and Golden Knights are the definitive obstacles in the Pacific for the time being.  Excellent.

As for Matt Tkachuk, where will he end up?  Blues seems like a good choice.  Kev and Gary, how do you feel about that possibility?  Your team would need to move cap space around, but it could be done.

I think just about every team will be interested in him.  The real question is what will it cost to get him in a trade? His value will be slightly down since he's not under contract,  amd allegedly wants out,  but Calgary could still hold him for a few years on arbitrated 1yr deals if it came to that.

I doubt he'd come up the highway to Edmonton,  but I'd gladly do away with Jesse Puljujarvi and a 1st for his rights.

I'd gladly see Nylander go in a 1:1 swap.  Willie was born in Calgary afterall.

But I could see Ottawa also be a high-probability destination for Tkachuk.

Nylander for Tkachuk straight up would be a fleecing. One's a 80-100 point player, the other one is...William Nylander.

I could see him go to Ottawa to play with his brother.

[gmillerdrake]

There's an article on The Athletic that says Matthew Tkachuk does not want to re-sign with the Flames.  That's good news for the Kings.  He's been a problem to deal with for them and for Doughty.  The Flames getting weaker after losing Gaudreau and possibly losing Tkachuk means only the Oilers and Golden Knights are the definitive obstacles in the Pacific for the time being.  Excellent.

As for Matt Tkachuk, where will he end up?  Blues seems like a good choice.  Kev and Gary, how do you feel about that possibility?  Your team would need to move cap space around, but it could be done.

Would love to see it but I just don’t think it can happen. Blues have a lot of high value long term contracts with no movement clauses and are $150k over the cap right now. I think we’d have the pieces to trade but don’t know if it’d add up to enough room.  Plus, he’d want to be signed long term at a hefty sum and I’m not sure he’s worth $9 mil a year that’d utterly cripple your budget.

[Nick]

One thing the Athletic article noted, which is a great point, is that even though he's an RFA he actually has a good bit of leverage in deciding where to go in a trade, and he apparently wants a US contender.

Reason for the leverage is Calgary is likely to get a much better return for him if they let teams he wants to talk to negotiate an extension with him as part of the trade.

[gmillerdrake]

One thing the Athletic article noted, which is a great point, is that even though he's an RFA he actually has a good bit of leverage in deciding where to go in a trade, and he apparently wants a US contender.

Reason for the leverage is Calgary is likely to get a much better return for him if they let teams he wants to talk to negotiate an extension with him as part of the trade.

It’s more or less a known thing that St Louis is his top choice. I just don’t see how they’d pull it off. Only way is for Tarasenko to agree to going to Calgary and I doubt that’ll happen.

[KevShmev]

It’s more or less a known thing that St Louis is his top choice. I just don’t see how they’d pull it off. Only way is for Tarasenko to agree to going to Calgary and I doubt that’ll happen.

Agreed. I have seen the idea floated of trading Kyrou to get him, but I am like nooooooooooooooooooooooooo.  I'd love to get Tkachuk, but I don't want to lose Kyrou.