If there is one thing that the Tom Rowe and the Florida Panthers brass proved this summer it is that they have an overwhelming confidence in their budding stars.
The club has been by and large the NHL's most active organization in the early months of the offseason. Besides inking pending free agent Keith Yandle to a seven-year deal and unrestricted free agents Jason Demers and James Reimer to five-year terms, the club has also locked up several of their young stars.
Related: Panthers riding impressive offseason after front-office shake-up
Aaron Ekblad, Vincent Trocheck, and Reilly Smith have all signed lucrative long-term deals. The commitments have placed the franchise in steady hands looking towards the future, assuming their production continues to trend upwards.
The Panthers locked up Ekblad to a staggering eight-year contract on July 1, with the 20-year-old still to play out the final year of his entry-level deal.
Ekblad captured the Calder Trophy following his debut campaign during the 2014-15 season and followed it up with yet another stellar season, leading the team's defensive core with 15 goals and 36 points in 78 games, in addition to an admirable 52.85% Corsi-for during his two seasons.
All that aside, Ekblad will see his annual salary jump from $925,000 to $9 million during the 2017-18 season with a cap-hit of $7.5 million until the 2024-25 season. This is a lot for a player with just two years of professional experience under his belt.
Trocheck - like Ekblad - was locked up long-term as well, inking a six-year contract that will pay him an annual average of $4.75 million and max out at $6.26 million in the final year.
The 22-year-old is coming off what was by far his most productive season, hitting the 25-goal plateau in his first full-season in the NHL with a 53-point total. Prior to this past season he had never managed to dress in more than 50 games and never scored more than seven goals in a single campaign.
Now enter Smith, who also hit the 25-goal mark for the first time while hitting the 50-point mark for the second occasion. He also shined in the playoffs, leading the team in scoring with four goals and four assists in six games.
After playing just his first season with the franchise, the team extended Smith through to the 2021-22 season with a five-year deal that will kick-in in 2017-18 with an average of $5 million per season.
Keep in mind that Jonathan Huberdeau will be a restricted free agent at the conclusion of next season and has fared better statistically than Smith and an equal if not greater contract is likely coming down the pipeline for him as well.
Without factoring in Huberdeau and Nick Bjugstad - who is signed until the 2020-2021 season with a cap-hit of $4.1 million - the Panthers will have $17.25 committed to three guys with just over seven years of NHL experience collectively. The team also sits with over $59 million combined for the 2017-18 season with 10 players set to become restricted or unrestricted free agents.
That being said, all three are under the age of 25 and are coming off career-years. During the team's recent postseason run, the trio played significant minutes - over 25 a night - including Trocheck who averaged 33 minutes of ice-time.
If the three - in addition to the rest of the young group of Panthers - can continue to improve and play significant roles with the club, Florida will undoubtedly have one of the league's strongest cores for the foreseeable future.
Rowe and company clearly have seen something in these young men that leads the club to believe they are worth the long-term investment, it is now up to the players themselves to ensure that these lucrative contracts are money well spent.
-Contract info courtesy of General Fanager
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The Philadelphia Flyers bolstered their blue-line depth Tuesday, signing defenseman T.J. Brennan to a multi-year contract, the team announced.
Philadelphia didn't disclose terms, but according to Tim Panaccio of CSNPhilly, it's a two-way deal worth $625,000 anually.
Brennan, 27, spent the last four seasons in the Toronto Maple Leafs organization, primarily with the AHL-affiliate Marlies.
Though he struggled to find a permanent spot in the NHL, Brennan's widely noted as a gifted offensive defenseman. He scored 68 points in 69 games last season for the Marlies, which earned him the Eddie Shore Award as the league's most outstanding blue-liner.
In 53 NHL games, Brennan's scored five goals and eight assists.
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Pavel Datsyuk has a golden goal of a different sort.
The veteran forward's agent, Dan Milstein, told Helene St. James of the Detroit Free Press that his client's plan is to play until 2018 to be part of Russia's pursuit of Olympic glory.
“Pavel wants to play well and he wants to help the team,” Milstein said. “Very likely, he will play for two years, to be part of the next Olympics, because he has unfinished business. He wants to help Russia win a gold medal.”
Datsyuk is waiting on transfer paperwork that will facilitate his departure from the NHL and the Arizona Coyotes, who took on the final year of his contract in a draft night trade with the Detroit Red Wings.
Milstein said the documents should arrive shortly, and his client will sign with a KHL club as soon as they're processed.
The 37-year-old announced his decision to leave the NHL for Russia last month.
The cap hit from the final year of Datsyuk's deal remains on the books, per CBA rules, because he signed a multi-year deal after the age of 35.
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It's doubtful Teemu Pulkkinen will start the season for the Detroit Red Wings.
The 24-year-old Finnish winger underwent shoulder surgery in early June, according to MLive.com's Ansar Khan, and will be out four-to-six months.
Pulkkinen had six goals and six assists in 36 games last season. He has 11 goals and nine assists in 70 career NHL games. He's currently in need of a contract as a restricted free agent.
Khan also reports defenseman Alexey Marchenko underwent a procedure on his wrist during the offseason, and is expected to be healthy for puck drop on the 2016-17 campaign.
Marchenko signed a two-year, $2.9-million contract extension on July 1.
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The St. Louis Blues have signed restricted free agent Magnus Paajarvi to a one-year contract, the team announced Tuesday.
It's a one-way deal worth $700,000, according to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch's Jeremy Rutherford.
The 25-year-old forward appeared in 48 games for the Blues last season, scoring nine points.
Drafted 10th overall by the Edmonton Oilers, Paajavri has struggled to produce at the NHL level, amassing 80 points over 276 contents.
With Paajarvi now locked up, St. Louis' only remaining restricted free agent on the pro roster is forward Jaden Schwartz.
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Thomas Chabot made an impression at development camp, but it wasn't a good one.
The Ottawa Senators' prized defensive prospect drew criticism from assistant general manager Randy Lee after the summer sessions concluded Monday.
"I thought Thomas should have been a bit more intense, I thought Thomas should have dominated,” Lee told Ken Warren of the Ottawa Sun, adding he felt Chabot had an "average" camp.
"I think Thomas should look at the landscape and see we’ve got six signed defencemen (to NHL contracts)," Lee said. "Thomas and I have talked about it.”
Erik Karlsson, Marc Methot, and Dion Phaneuf are signed to long-term deals, while both Mark Borowiecki and Chris Wideman are locked in for two more seasons. Cody Ceci, a defensive prospect in his own right, is mulling a qualifying offer from the club.
Chabot, the Senators' 18th overall pick in 2015, knows he missed an early opportunity to prove he belongs in the NHL.
“I’m their first pick from last year, they expect a lot from me," he said. “I don’t think I did what they expected from me. They only have six defencemen signed, so, for sure, I want to work as hard as I can this summer to work for a spot (next season).”
Senators GM Pierre Dorion said last week that Chabot will have a shot to make the team out of training camp in the fall, but his development camp performance doesn't do him any favors.
“I think he realizes it,” Lee said. “He’s a very special player and he worked so hard last year. I just thought the impact he would have made on this camp would have been a bit more.”
Chabot posted nearly a point per game in his third season with the QMJHL's Saint John Sea Dogs, adding 21 points in 17 playoff contests.
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It appears the Calgary Flames couldn't be happier with their first-round draft pick.
Matthew Tkachuk - selected sixth overall in June's draft from the London Knights - is hopeful to make an impact as Calgary's development camp gets underway.
"I want to show where I've come as a player and how much I'm willing to buy into the fact that I want to play soon and just make sure I'm ready," Tkachuk said, according to Aaron Vickers of CalgaryFlames.com.
As for Calgary's brass, it believes the addition of Tkachuk to an already skilled, youthful lineup will provide a great benefit, as the 18-year-old brings a different complexion to the team.
"When you talk about sandpaper, great around the net, and a proven winner ... that's one thing," Flames assistant GM Craig Conroy said. " Everybody says, well, he's got to play with all these other guys. It's hard to play with good players. Not everybody can play with good players. He's a great compliment ... if you want to call him that. A lot of nights he does a lot of dirty work in front of the net, in the corners, to free up space for other guys.
"To have a guy like that ... we have have a lot of guys with skill but we don't have a Tkachuk-like guy on our team right now."
Tkachuk scored the Memorial Cup-winning goal in overtime for the Knights in May, and is coming off a 107-point season. Although he still needs to earn a roster spot on the Flames, it looks like he's off to a good start.
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July 1 was a busy day in the NHL, with more than 100 players signing new contracts and a number of unrestricted free agents finding new homes in the hours after the signing period began.
But several teams are still yet to lock up their restricted free agents, and Tuesday marks another important point in the offseason, as it's the final chance for players to file for salary arbitration.
While many notable players are eligible, here are three to keep an eye on before the 5 p.m. ET deadline:
Coming off a career-best 29-goal, 59-point season, the 26-year-old forward could be headed to salary arbitration for the second consecutive year with the Senators.
Last year, Hoffman was awarded a one-year, $2-million contract, and he is sure to get a significant raise once again with his continued improvement. With this in mind, the Senators are hoping to get a contract done prior to arbitration, according to Bruce Garrioch of the Ottawa Sun.
Though Avalanche general manager Joe Sakic had expressed his hope to sign the 24-year-old defenseman to a long-term deal last month, it appears the two sides will be heading to arbitration.
With trade rumors swirling around the blue-liner for weeks, Tuesday's deadline may be the last chance for Sakic to make a deal before Barrie is awarded a contract for one more year. Last season, he recorded 13 goals and 36 assists, with almost half of his production coming on the power play.
There's no doubt who the goaltender of the future is in Detroit, and, after losing the starting job at the end of the season only to grab it back from Jimmy Howard in the postseason, Mrazek is ready to earn a starter's salary.
If Mrazek heads to arbitration, it's likely he'll be awarded a salary close to that of new Toronto Maple Leafs goalie Frederik Andersen, with whom he shares similar career numbers. Andersen signed an extension following his trade from the Anaheim Ducks that will earn him $5 million per year through 2021.
| Goalie | Age | GP | Record | GAA | Sv% | SO |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mrazek | 24 | 83 | 46-30-8 | 2.29 | .920 | 9 |
| Andersen | 26 | 125 | 77-26-12 | 2.33 | .918 | 6 |
Other notables: Kyle Palmieri, New Jersey Devils; Brayden Schenn, Philadelphia Flyers; Chris Kreider, New York Rangers
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