Today I give my opinion on some recent signings, and update on the PTO’s, some more Waiver news and 3 western conference teams who need to turn things around after a bumpy start to the season.
We are only a week into the season but I am already worried that 3 teams in the Western Conference who haven’t won a game yet have got to find a way to turn their season around or it could be tough sledding from here.
1: Vancouver
The Canucks I am worried about the most as they have been absolutely disastrous to start the year as they have not only lost their first 4 games of the season (3 in regulation) but are the first team in NHL hist to lose their first 4 games of the season after blowing the lead in each of the games. This is absolutely shocking as I thought the Canucks would be better then this in this season and they are getting a reputation right now for blowing leads left and right because if they shutdown all the games they were able to get multiple goal leads in then they would be a 4-0 team and we would be having different discussions. No to fix this and save their season all they need to do is figure out how to shutdown games once they are able to get leads and it will take a lot of tweaking but if they are able to get a lead instead of pushing to make it a better lead they should push the pace of the game but still be smart defensively because if they abandon the defensive game they are going to give up goals and keep on losing hockey games so this offense looks good right now and I do think that it is in them to be able to turn things around and right the ship but if they can’t make smart plays after they get a lead then this team will have a long and horrible season so I think if they can figure out how to close games they should be able to get right back in the playoff mix.
2: Minnesota
The Wild aren’t as bad as Vancouver as they are only 0-3-0 and there offense has looked deadly and gotten contribution from guys like Kaprizov and Boldy and even their defence but it is their defence that has been their undoing this season as the Wild have not been able to defend at all this season and are currently 30th in goals allowed this season only ahead of Anaheim who has played one more game and LA who has played two more games then them and they honestly need to tighten up defensively if they are going to have any success this season. The Wild could definitely try to be more defensive from here on out as Marc-Andre Fleury and Filip Gustavsson haven’t done too well on that end as well as they do have some offence from their defensive guys like Addison and Dumba but they could try to play a more defensive game because I think that even though they’re offense is doing well and they can put up a lot of points even with a offensive weapon like Fiala now not in the lineup now I just think that the loss of a guy like Kulikov on defence and goalie Cam Talbot is really hurting this team right now and if they don’t find a way to get better defensively this is going to get a lot worse then just a three game losing streak so if the team plays better defensively and the goalies play a bit better they should be back to playoff contenders in no time.
3: San Jose
As for the Sharks They haven’t been nearly as good as the Canucks and wild, and I’ve also played a lot more games than either of those two and I’m currently 0-5-0 and the San Jose Sharks really need to get their act together or they could easily be the worst team in the league. Now the Sharks are currently 4th highest in Goals allowed only ahead of Minnesota, Anaheim and LA and are also 4th lowest in goals scored ahead of Chicago, Winnipeg and St.Louis who have played a combined 6 games so that isn’t amazing news for the Sharks and they are not doing to good on either side of the puck and if this continues my prediction of them finishing with 74 points this year may easily be generous. Now the offense wasn’t to bad last year and I think that with a little bit of tweaking to their lineup they may be able to get better offensive results as Labanc and Kunin have good offensive updise and Meier and Hertl need to find last seasons form and I still think this team could benefit from having young rookies like Bordeleau and Eklund in the lineup but they need to switch something up to become more offensive and it seems like the loss of Burns is hurting the team on both sides as his offensive and defensive game is being missed for sure and without him on the blueline this year the team is playing worse defensively as I don’t think that the goalies have been to bad but the defensive play will absolutely need to improve and if they can improve I still think they might be able to hang in for a playoff spot but if this continues I think Sam Jose could wind up being a favourite to land Connor Bedard.
There have been some interesting players who have been placed and cleared waivers over the past few days and even a few who have been claimed so here is the players who have recently been on Waivers.
All the players who have Cleared waivers:
Arizona
Laurent Dauphin C (1 year left $.750 Thousand dollars)
Bokondji Imama LW (1 year left $.750 Thousand dollars)
Cam Dineen LD (1 year left $.750 Thousand dollars)
Jon Gillies G (1 year left $.750 Thousand dollars)
Boston
Chris Wagner RW,C (1 year left $1.35 Million dollars)
Nick Foligno LW,C,RW (1 year left $3.8 Million dollars)
Mike Reilly LD (2 years left $3 Million dollars)
Chicago
Buddy Robinson RW (1 year left $.750 Thousand dollars)
Columbus
Emil Bemstrom RW,LW (2 years left $.900 Thousand dollars)
Colorado
Anton Blidh LW,RW (1 year left $.750 Thousand dollars)
Mikhail Maltsev LW (1 year left $.800 Thousand dollars)
Dallas
Will Butcher LD (1 year left $.750 Thousand dollars)
Detroit
Givani Smith LW (1 year left $.750 Thousand dollars)
Tarp Hirose LW (2 years left $.850 Thousand dollars)
Kyle Criscuolo C (1 year left $.750 Thousand dollars)
Jussi Olkinuora G (1 year left $.750 Thousand dollars)
Edmonton
Devin Shore LW,C,RW (1 year left $.850 Thousand dollars)
Florida
Aleksi Heponiemi C (1 year left $.750 Thousand dollars)
Gerald Mayhew C,RW (1 year left $.750 Thousand dollars)
Chris Tierney C (1 year left $.750 Thousand dollars)
Lucas Carlsson LD (1 year left $.800 Thousand dollars)
Micheal Del Zotto LD (1 year left $.750 Thousand dollars)
Alex Lyon G (1 year left $.750 Thousand dollars)
Los Angeles
Jacob Moverare LD (2 years left $.763 Thousand dollars)
Phoenix Copley G (1 year left $.825 Thousand dollars)
Minnesota
Nicolas Petan C,LW,RW (2 years left $.763 Thousand dollars)
Mason Shaw C (1 year left $.750 Thousand dollars)
Montreal
Madison Bowey RD (1 year left $.750 Thousand dollars)
Corey Schueneman LD/RD (1 year left $.750 Thousand dollars)
New Jersey
Mason Geertsen LW,LD (1 year left $.750 Thousand dollars)
Nashville
Jimmy Huntington C (1 year left $.750 Thousand dollars)
Mark Jankowski LW,C (1 year left $.750 Thousand dollars)
Roland McKeown RD (2 years left $.763 Thousand dollars)
Kevin Gravel LD (2 years left $.763 Thousand dollars)
Jordan Gross RD (2 years left $.763 Thousand dollars)
New York I
Otto Koivula LW,RW,C (2 years left $.800 Thousand dollars)
Grant Hutton RD (3 years left $.775 Thousand dollars)
Paul LaDue RD (2 years left $.763 Thousand dollars)
New York R
Julien Gauthier RW (1 year left $.800 Thousand dollars)
Ottawa
Jayce Hawryluk RW,LW (1 year left $.750 Thousand dollars)
Scott Sabourin RW (1 year left $.750 Thousand dollars)
Jacob Larsson LD (1 year left $.750 Thousand dollars)
Antoine Bibeau G (1 year left $.750 Thousand dollars)
Philadelphia
Cooper Marody C,RW (2 years left $.763 Thousand dollars)
Zack MacEwen C,RW (1 year left $.925 Thousand dollars)
San Jose
Jeffery Viel LW (1 year left $.750 Thousand dollars)
Aaron Dell G (1 year left $.775 Thousand dollars)
Seattle
John Hayden C,RW (1 year left $.750 Thousand dollars)
Michal Kempny LD (1 year left $.750 Thousand dollars)
St.Louis
Josh Leivo RW,LW (1 year left $.750 Thousand dollars)
Tampa Bay
Philippe Myers RD (1 year left $2.55 Million dollars)
Toronto
Adam Gaudette C,RW (1 year left $.750 Thousand dollars)
Kyle Clifford LW (2 years left $.763 Thousand dollars
Wayne Simmonds RW,LW (1 year left $.900 Thousand dollars)
Victor Mete LD/RD (1 year left $.750 Thousand dollars)
Vegas
Jonas Rondbjerg RW (3 years left $.766 Thousand dollars)
Washington
Henrik Borgstrom C (1 year left $.750 Thousand dollars)
Lucas Johansen LD (2 years left $.763 Thousand dollars)
Winnipeg
Jansen Harkins LW,C (2 years left $.850 Thousand dollars)
So there were a few guys who weren’t claimed on Monday who I thought would’ve been claimed and I think there are at least a handful of players who some teams will regret not taking on the waiver wire. So in Net really the only guy who I am surprised didn’t get a look was Copley as he could be a decent backup for a team like Philly and although he is probably more of a 3rd string goalie right now I do think he could’ve been looked at and possibly taken but besides him I didn’t see anyone else being taken, on the defensive side their was definitely a few faces I was surprised weren’t taken on waivers but the 5 most surprising at least in my opinion would be Geertsen in New Jersey, Reilly in Boston, Carlsson and Del Zotto in Florida as well as Butcher in Dallas, now Reilly was by far the biggest of the defensive names and I think the reason he wasn’t taken was due to his contract and term as he is a good 3rd pair defensemen but for 2 years at $3 Million dollars not many teams would’ve wanted a bottom pair defensemen with that contract so I see why he wasn’t take, for Butcher, Geertsen and Del Zotto they were all fringe players who could play a 3rd pair role and would be decent 7th defensemen but are more geared towards the AHL now and while I thought a team with a bit of a weaker defence or a injury or two who could use a defensemen might’ve taken them I can see why they cleared and then for Lucas Carlsson I thought he definitely would’ve been taken as he is a good young defensemen who could easily play 3rd pair minutes but obviously no one saw him as a good addition to their roster so while the Carlsson one puzzled me the most I am not to surprised that these players all cleared. Now for the forward group their was definitely a ton of names I am surprised never got claimed but of all the names out there the 10 that stood out to me were, Foligno in Boston, Bemstrom in Columbus, Smith in Detroit, Shore in Edmonton, Heponiemi in Florida, Koivula in New York I, Gauthier in New York R, MacEwen in Philly, Simmonds in Toronto and Rondbjerg in Vegas. Now for Rondbjerg, Smith, Koivula, Bemstrom and Heponiemi all of them are close to being NHL forwards but aren’t right now as all do have a bit of NHL experience and could all be bottom six forwards in a year or two but they didn’t have enough to make their teams cuts so I thought with the young upside at least one or two teams would take one of these young players and give them a opportunity, and for the other five in MacEwen, Simmonds, Shore, Gauthier and Foligno they are all proven bottom six forwards who could have been good for a team lacking in scoring depth. Now Foligno’s $3.8 Million dollar cap hit probably lead to him not being taken as that is a hefty price to pay for a 4th liner, as for MacEwen and Shore they are both pretty good depth forwards on deals under $1 Million dollars and could’ve both brought experience and grit to a teams fourth line so I am a bit surprised neither were claimed, while Gauthier and Simmonds were both also pretty good 4th liners and were being discussed in trade rumours earlier in the year so to possibly get one of them for free ment that them clearing surprised me most of all but I am sure that they will get another chance at the NHL level with their teams, but that is all of the guys I am surprised weren’t taken off of Waivers last Monday as I think at least a few more should’ve been claimed.
And here is all of the waivers News since Tuesday.
All who have cleared waivers.
Anaheim
Glenn Gawdin C,RW (2 years left $.763 Thousand dollars)
Calgary
Martin Pospisil RW (1 year left $.750 Thousand dollars)
Nicolas Meloche RD (1 year left $.950 Thousand dollars)
Philadelphia
Hayden Hodgson RW (2 years left $.800 Thousand dollars)
St.Louis
Anthony Angello C,RW (1 year left $.750 Thousand dollars)
Tampa Bay
Pierre Cedric Labrie LW (1 year left $.771 Thousand dollars)
Washington
Sonny Milano LW,RW (1 year left $.750 Thousand dollars)
Winnipeg
Dominic Toninato C,LW (1 year left $.750 Thousand dollars)
Placed on unconditional waivers and had the contact terminated:
Philadelphia
Linus Sandin RW (1 year left $.750 Thousand dollars)
On waivers right now
Buffalo
Anders Bjork LW,RW (1 year left $1.6 Million dollars)
Okay so not many I am surprised have cleared over the past few days as I did wonder if a team would take a chance on a depth player like Toninato, Gawdin or Meloche but I am not really surprised that they wound up clearing and after the Caps signed Milano they needed to put him on waivers and I am quite shocked that he did end up going through waivers and I am still surprised that there wasn’t more interest in him as he is a pretty decent player coming off a good year so that didn’t surprise me, and Bjork is on waivers today and while I wouldn’t be surprised if he cleared and his high cap hit will probably allow him to do so, but I also wouldn’t be shocked if someone gave him a opportunity as he could still be a good 4th line forward for a team and could maybe even use a change of scenery but even though the season has now started I would still expect some waivers activity over the next few weeks.
Here are six claims that have happened since Monday
Brett Leason RW (2 years left $.775 Thousand dollars) was placed on Waivers by Washington and was claimed by Anaheim. Leason doesn’t have much experience in the NHL and only got his first taste of NHL action last season when he played in 36 games with Washington but showed he could be a good 4th line forward and the Anaheim Ducks are obviously willing to give Leason a chance to be a good bottom six forward for them and with a good role with the team as the Ducks don’t have too many depth forwards I think he could do well in Anaheim this year.
Jarred Tinordi LD (1 year left $.900 Thousand dollars) was placed on Waivers by New York R and was claimed by Chicago. Now Tinordi isn’t the best of defensemen in my opinion and hasn’t got too much of a NHL opportunity over the past few years but he can be a serviceable one for a rebuilding team like Chicago. Now he is at best a 3rd pair defensemen and should be able to carve out a 3rd pair role with Chicago after getting into 7 games last year putting up 1 point and while he was mostly a AHL forward last year I do think that with Chicago having multiple injuries and a younger blueline a more physical veteran like him could help the team and I think he should so well there.
Josh Mahura LD/RD (1 year left $.750 Thousand dollars) was placed on Waivers by Anaheim and was claimed by Florida. Now the Panthers needed some defensive help especially after waiving Del Zotto and Carlsson and I think Mahura while not the biggest addition should be able to help the Panthers. Mahura has been a good defender for the Ducks over the past few years playing mostly on the 3rd line and was able to get into a good amount of games last year putting up 7 points in 38 games last season and while I would still have him as a young 3rd pair defensemen, due to the lack of NHL talent on the blueline especially the left side after the Weegar departure I do think that Mahura could wind up getting a top 4 role with the Panthers at least to start the season.
Axel Jonsson-Fjallby LW (1 year left $.750 Thousand dollars) was placed on Waivers by Washington and was claimed by Winnipeg. Jonsson-Fjallby was also waiver claimed last season first by Buffalo and then was claimed back by Washington and was able o play some NHL minutes last season and didn’t look out of place in the bottom six with Washington last year as he was able to get into 23 NHL games and put up 4 points and also had 34 points in 44 AHL games but he is definitely a good 4th line forward and and I think with the Jets weak forward group he should at least challenge for a 3rd line role but at the very least should be a regular NHL forward.
Connor Ingram G (1 year left $.733 Thousand dollars) was placed on Waivers by Nashville and was claimed by Arizona. The Arizona Coyotes weren’t going to let this opportunity get away as they needed a good young goalie and Ingram has the makings of at least a tandem goalie in the future. Last year with the Nashville Predators Ingram got into a few regular season games due to injuries following a good year in the AHL and did all right but in the playoffs did his best to keep the Preds in the series with Colorado putting up a .913 SV% in those 4 games and I thought he would’ve been Nashville’s backup this year but the Predators signed Lankinen which ment they needed to put Ingram on Waivers and for Arizona I think he can absolutely be a solid backup for this season and should show enough that in time he could maybe even be a 1A for the Coyotes.
Jonas Johansson G (1 year left $.750 Thousand dollars) was placed on Waivers by Arizona and was reclaimed by Colorado. Now this one isn’t too much of a surprise as the Avalanche claimed back Johansson who they had lost to Arizona earlier but were able to bring him back. Now that they claimed him back he will probably be a 3rd string goalie for the Avalanche this year as I think that position suits him best and he should be the first guy the Avalanche call up if there is a injury but until then he should play in the AHL.
What happened to the final 9 players who still had PTO’s when I last talked about it.
Now two players are still currently left on PTO’s:
PHI: Artem Anisimov C,LW
FLO: Eric Staal C
Now 3 of the players ended up being released from their PTO’s
ANA: Rocco Grimaldi LW,RW (has since signed in the AHL)
EDM: Jason Demers RD (now back to being a UFA)
NYR: Matt Bartkowski RD (now back to being a UFA)
And the other 4 were able to impress enough to earn new contracts with the teams that gave them opportunities:
Left Wing, Center Derick Brassard played well enough in camp to earn a 1 year contract with the Ottawa Senators that will have a AAV of $.750 Thousand and the deal is 1 way. Brassard is a good 4th line veteran and he showed that last year when he had 8 goals and 19 points in 46 games with the Flyers and Oilers and I think he should be a good veteran leader for this Senators team and he also has experience in the Ottawa organization as he had played there before and I think he should be a good 4th line Center for the Senators and while he probably won’t play in all of Ottawa’s games I do think he should be a good vet whenever he does get in.
Center Derek Stepan played well enough in camp to earn a 1 year contract with the Carolina Hurricanes that will have a AAV of $.750 Thousand and the deal is 1 way. Stepan has been a good bottom six player over the last few seasons and he played well in his first year with the Hurricanes last year putting up 19 points in 58 games and he should be a good bottom six forward for them again cause the could still use a guy like Stepan on the bottom line and I think he should do excellent as the 4th line Center for them.
Right Defensemen Michael Stone played well enough in camp to earn a 1 year contract with the Calgary Flames that will have a AAV of $.750 Thousand and the deal is 1 way. Stone has been a great defender for the Flames the last few seasons as he just takes one years deals at league minimum and ends up playing good 3rd pair minutes and last year he did okay getting into 11 games and putting up 6 points and I think he will be in and out of the 3rd pair this season but with Kylington injured should start on the 3rd pair and be a reliable defensemen back there for this season.
Right Defensemen Anton Stralman played well enough in camp to earn a 1 year contract with the Boston Bruins that will have a AAV of $1 Million dollars and the deal is 1 way. Stralman is coming off one of his better seasons in his career and definitely as of late as he was able to get a expended role with the Coyotes last year and got 8 goals and 23 points in 74 games last season which was his best point and goal total since the 2015-16 season with the Lightning so he showed he can still be a good defensemen and with the Bruins defensive injuries he should get a shot to be a top 4 defensemen in Boston and once they get a bit more healthy he should be a solid 3rd pair defensemen on the Bruins blueline this year.
Here is a list of all the NHL signings that have happened between SEPT 15th and SEPT 20th.
Metro
New York R
Goalie Talyn Boyko who was a 4RD pick in 2021 by the New York Rangers has signed his 3 year entry level contract with the Rangers and that will carry a AAV of $.851 Thousand Dollars and the deal is two way. Now Boyko still has a ways to go before he is competing for a NHL spot and will probably go back to the WHL where he played last season but did have a nice .913 SV% in 46 games with Kelowna last year and if he can continue to grow and improve his game then in 2-3 years I could see him challenge for the backup role in New York.
Atlantic
Tampa Bay
Left Winger Pierre Cedric Labrie and the Tampa Bay Lightning have agreed to a 1 year contract that will carry a AAV of $.771 Thousand dollars and the deal is two way. Labrie had played in the NHL before but his last game was in the 2013-14 season and while he does have 5 points in 46 games of NHL experience he still hasn’t played in 8 seasons in the NHL and even though he had a okay AHL season last year putting up 16 points in 56 AHL games I think he is probably going to be just a depth piece who may get a call up in season.
Pacific
Vegas
Left Defensemen Nicolas Hague and the Vegas Golden Knights have come to terms on a 3 year contract that will carry a AAV of $2.29 Million dollars and the deal is 1 way. This deal needed to get done before the season started for both sides as Hague is a big piece of the Golden Knights blueline. Last year he had a solid 14 points in 52 games and has been a pretty consistent defensive defensemen for the Golden Knights and while I think he hasn’t reached his potential I do think that he will play on the 3rd pair again this season and if he can stay healthy and play consistently then I think he can be a 20-30 point defensemen for Vegas.
Central
Dallas
Winger Jason Robertson and the Dallas Stars have come to terms on a 4 year contract that will carry a AAV of $7.75 Million dollars and the deal is 1 way. This was a deal that absolutely had to be done for the Stars before the season as Robertson is the driving force behind the Stars offence and should be a huge piece again this year. He has been productive in his 2 full seasons in the NHL and has had amazing chemistry with Hintz and Pavelski and he exploded last year for 41 goals and 79 points in 74 games and with this new deal he should continue to be a lethal forward for the Stars and I think that he will be able to chase 40 goals again this year.
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