Player agent Lewis Gross is a busy man these days.
Gross has been going hard negotiating contracts for a couple of his clients and one of those - Brian Dumoulin - is reaping the benefits after inking a six-year, $24.6-million deal on Monday.
With Dumoulin now inked to a deal, Lewis' priorities will now shift to fellow Pittsburgh Penguin, forward Conor Sheary, who also remains a restricted free agent seeking a deal.
"We've been working on Conor for a while," Gross said, according to Jason Mackey of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. "We'll get back at it (Tuesday). Hopefully we'll be able to make a deal on Conor as well."
Lewis doesn't necessarily believe the process will go down the same way Dumoulin's did, but in the end he believes both sides would like to avoid arbitration.
"Each one is so different," Gross said. "Ultimately, though, team and player would like to avoid going in that room. It's not a pleasant experience."
Sheary has quickly become an important cog in the Penguins' offense, helping the team in its back-to-back Stanley Cup runs. This past season - his first full campaign in the NHL - he tallied 23 goals and 53 points in 61 games.
The Penguins and Sheary are scheduled to have an arbitration meeting on Aug. 4.
Pat LaFontaine was one of the best forwards of his generation, racking up 1,013 points in 865 games over his 15-year NHL career. And like many other players, his best work came during the 1992-93 season, when he amassed 148 points with the Buffalo Sabres - one of the top 20 single-season totals in NHL history. I recently spoke with LaFontaine about that historic performance:
So that 1992-93 season was incredible, not just for you, but for a lot of guys. Do you find yourself talking about it much these days?
I do. When I run into hockey fans, they either want to talk about the Easter Epic (when LaFontaine scored the winning goal for the New York Islanders at 8:47 of the fourth overtime period in a playoff win over Washington) or the 1992-93 season. The stars seemed to align for so many players and teams that year. Obviously it was a career year for me from a stats perspective.
Let's start with the season before. Without getting into the specifics of the nature of the trade, how did you feel about leaving Long Island and starting the next stage of your career in Buffalo?
Obviously I have strong ties to Long Island. My wife is from there, my oldest daughter was born there ... it is near and dear to my heart. I really enjoyed my time with the Islanders; I had the privilege of playing with five Hall of Famers, I played for the Stanley Cup, and I learned a lot from guys who had won multiple championships.
I prided myself on consistent, high-level play - and I had enjoyed some success playing with (Brian) Trottier, (Mike) Bossy, Bob Nystrom, and Denis Potvin. And with Al Arbour as the coach, I learned so much at a young age. There was a great foundation there. But then we went through a dismantling; the team was trying to rebuild.
The trade was about principle for me (LaFontaine and the Islanders were embroiled in a contract dispute that led to him sitting out the start of the season.) But between Alexander Mogilny and Dave Andreychuk, and other guys like Dale Hawerchuk, Doug Bodger, and Donald Audette, I felt there were a lot of great players in Buffalo. And we found chemistry right off the bat.
You had enjoyed some offensive success with the Islanders, but in your first year in Buffalo, you hit a whole other level. What changed?
I think for me, I was just fortunate. (The Islanders) were going through a period of transition; reloading didn't work, so they went with a rebuild, focusing on younger players. They were going in a different direction. I was in the middle of my career when I arrived in Buffalo, and I was fortunate to be put between two terrific players in Andreychuk and Mogilny.
It must have been exciting to be flanked by two elite goal scorers.
I remember thinking, "Mogilny has so much talent." I have never seen anyone faster between the blue lines. So I tell him, "Let's do some give-and-gos. You're so quick between the lines, just let me get the puck to you." I also encouraged him to shoot more; he had a great shot, but didn't shoot enough.
There's a story I like to tell. Alex had three areas of the ice where he liked to shoot from. I told Alex, "Trust me to get you the puck there. If you do, I guarantee you'll score 50 goals." And when he skated away, I told the trainer "If he does that, I bet you he'll score 70." The trainer laughed and walked away. And sure enough, Alex scored 76.
Andreychuk was that big body who tipped a lot of pucks. He was great at creating traffic in front of the net. We had such great chemistry; things just took off. We had a lot of fun playing together. I felt like I had a sixth sense out there, and it made for some fun synergy.
You wound up losing a heartbreaking seven-game series to the Boston Bruins in the opening round of the 1992 playoffs. Did that sit with you?
It was tough. We were still learning, evolving, and growing as a team. So it was a good learning experience. It was definitely frustrating, but it was a stepping stone for us.
John Muckler took over behind the bench during that season, and 1992-93 represented his first full campaign in Buffalo. What did he bring to the team that year?
John is a really brilliant systems guy. He's so good at breaking down film and coming up with a game plan for the best way to attack an opponent through puck pursuit and other areas. He was part of a high-tempo offensive attack in Edmonton, and he brought a lot of that with him to Buffalo.
I saw him recently, and thanked him for bringing such high-tempo, high-IQ hockey to that team. The focus on puck pursuit, faceoffs, tempo ... it made the game a lot more fun to play. I really enjoyed it.
You had an opportunity to play with Hawerchuk, one of the greatest passing centers in history. What did you learn from him?
He was Gretzky-like in his hockey IQ. I remember watching him in Windsor for the Memorial Cup when he was playing with Cornwall; I followed him. His ability to see the ice, his amazing hands ... he had his own style, very high thinking, high IQ. We made such a great 1-2 punch in Buffalo.
You look at some of the best teams in history, you have Gretzky-Messier, you have Crosby-Malkin. Great teams often have multiple threats up the middle. Dale and I also played on the power play together that season, and there are times the puck would just appear on my stick. It was amazing.
So you get off to a great start, and the Sabres put together a nice run heading into February. And then, the trade: Andreychuk and Daren Puppa to Toronto for Grant Fuhr. What was your reaction?
It was tough. Dave brought size, goal-scoring, and that ability to cause traffic in front of the net. He had amazing hands, and was great as the third guy high in the slot. He was a huge presence, a huge contributor to our success.
You have to trust management - and in this case, it was a win-win trade. We paid a price, but I had the privilege of being inducted into the Hall of Fame with Grant Fuhr. He's a great player and an unbelievable person. You can think about what would have happened had the trade not taken place, but the deal worked out for us.
You take the scoring lead and hold it into March, sitting with a double-digit advantage over Mario Lemieux upon his return from treatment for Hodgkin's disease. Did you think you might win the scoring title?
I wasn't personally following it. I was focused on our chemistry and going about my business - but the guys brought it up. And I remember Mario going on an amazing tear to end the season. But the guys made more of it as the season went along. I remember being on the bus after a win, and I had four points in that game, and someone shouted, "Mario had five!" (laughs)
Mario and I have history going back to junior. Laval-Verdun was the marquee matchup (in the QMJHL); he played for Laval, and I played for Verdun. I was 17, he was 16. He had a huge lead on me at Christmas, and our team went out and got Gerard Gallant. The two of us clicked, and I came back to beat him by 50 points. I think he remembered. (laughs)
Were you disappointed at not coming out on top?
I have the greatest respect for Mario. What he did that season was not only important for hockey, but it was important for Hodgkin's awareness. I was happy to finish second, happy to ride his coattails. It was special.
So it was a sensational year for you, obviously, but the Sabres went into the postseason on a sour note, losing their last seven regular-season games. Were you concerned?
It's funny ... this was back when parity wasn't prevalent, and teams were securing playoff spots in January. You knew the season would go in waves and phases, where you'd face a bunch of hot teams in a row, and then get hot yourselves. Things kind of peaked at that point, where we lost seven straight and Boston entered the playoffs on fire (16-2-0 over its final 18 games). And then we went on to sweep them.
It was a big deal for us, since it had been 10 years since the team had made it to the second round. We wanted to go a lot further, too. You see these eight seeds, Nashville, the Kings (from 2014) ... who would have thought these teams would compete for the Stanley Cup? It's all about momentum.
So then you face Montreal, and ... heartbreak again. Every game 4-3, the last three settled in OT. How much did that sting? Does it still sting?
When I look back ... you need to be lucky enough to stay healthy, and you have to be deep. And we were a deep team, for sure, but we had too many key guys get hurt at the same time. I had to have knee surgery after the season. Alex broke his ankle (in the Canadiens series). Dale was banged up. Grant had something wrong with his knee.
Everything has to come together at the right time - and (Patrick Roy) was on a roll. And who could have predicted that the Canadiens would win 10 straight overtime games and go on to win the Cup? That's just kind of the way it goes.
I owe so much to the game of hockey; I look back with fondness, not thinking about what could have been. I choose to focus on the positives of the game. Even after we retire, the game lives on through us. And we take that into everything we do in our life. It would have been great to win a Stanley Cup, but to look back on my career, I feel very fortunate.
Here was this kid born in St. Louis, playing on an outdoor rink in Kirkwood, Missouri, moving to Detroit when I was seven ... if you had told me then that there was an opportunity to play hockey, it was unheard of. I never thought I would be here talking to you about this incredible season I had 25 years ago.
Well said, Pat. So will we ever see a season like 1992-93 again?
It'll be hard. With the video and technology, with the speed and size, with the systems ... it's going to be very hard. I think 1992-93 was really the peak, where everything came together. Never say never, but it's highly unlikely.
James Bisson celebrates the 25th anniversary of the 1992-93 season with a look back at the most memorable moments of the greatest campaign in NHL history. This edition focuses on Buffalo Sabres superstar Pat LaFontaine, who reached a point plateau few others have ever visited:
You could easily forgive Pat LaFontaine for feeling like a bit of a forgotten man whenever the 1992-93 season is mentioned.
Between Mario Lemieux's astounding run to the scoring title, Teemu Selanne obliterating rookie scoring marks, and even LaFontaine's own teammate Alexander Mogilny scoring an otherworldly 76 goals, it can be easy to overlook the fact that LaFontaine became just the sixth player in history to record at least 148 points in a single season.
LaFontaine had earned a reputation as one of the league's most dangerous offensive threats well before arriving in Buffalo. The St. Louis native was selected third overall by the New York Islanders in the 1983 draft following a sensational junior career that saw him rack up 234 points in just 70 games with Verdun of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League.
Expectations were high for an Islanders fan base that was struggling with a rebuild after seeing its team win four consecutive Stanley Cup titles in the late 1970s and early 1980s. And LaFontaine made good on his immense potential, recording back-to-back 40-goal seasons in his early 20s before erupting for career highs in goals (54) and points (105) in 1989-90.
But things didn't stay rosy for long. LaFontaine and the Islanders found themselves in a contract dispute following the 1991-92 season, and LaFontaine stayed home rather than report to the team. That spurred the Islanders to make one of the biggest trades in history, shipping him to Buffalo for a package that included former No. 1 overall pick Pierre Turgeon.
Blessed with a fresh start following a sour finish to his Long Island tenure, LaFontaine became an instant hit with the Sabres. He scored 46 goals and added 47 assists in just 57 games with his new team, guiding Buffalo to a playoff spot in the Adams Division. But the run was short-lived, as the Sabres fell in seven games to the rival Boston Bruins.
Hopes were high in Buffalo the following season - and why not? With a forward core featuring LaFontaine, veteran playmaker Dale Hawerchuk, towering scorer Dave Andreychuk, and speedy sniper Mogilny, the Sabres boasted an impressive attack. And LaFontaine wasted no time showcasing that in 1992-93, racking up 29 points in his first 10 games:
DATE
OPP
SCORE
G
A
P
Oct. 8
vs. QUE
L 5-4
1
3
4
Oct. 10
at HAR
W 5-2
0
2
2
Oct. 11
vs. MTL
W 8-2
1
0
1
Oct. 13
at PIT
L 6-5
0
2
2
Oct. 16
vs. TB
W 5-4 (OT)
1
1
2
Oct. 21
at WAS
L 6-4
1
1
2
Oct. 23
vs. CHI
W 4-1
1
2
3
Oct. 28
vs SJ
W 5-4
2
3
5
Oct. 30
at TOR
T 4-4
0
3
3
Oct. 21
vs. OTT
W 12-3
2
3
5
LaFontaine went on to finish October with 30 points in 11 contests, putting him on the same level as the league's top scorers. His November pace slowed considerably - he recorded just 17 points in 14 games for the month - but the 27-year-old caught fire again in December and January, piling up 45 points over 27 contests. And the Sabres (26-20-6) were benefiting greatly.
February saw a significant roster shakeup, as the Sabres dealt Andreychuk and goaltender Daren Puppa, along with a first-round pick, to the Toronto Maple Leafs in exchange for veteran netminder Grant Fuhr. The deal sent shockwaves through the division, providing the Sabres with some much-needed stability in goal but carving a major swath through their offense.
Yet, despite the loss of Andreychuk, LaFontaine continued chugging along, scoring eight goals and chipping in 14 assists across 10 February contests. By the beginning of March, he'd built up a double-digit lead in the scoring race over Lemieux, who'd been forced out of action for two months after being diagnosed with non-Hodgkin lymphoma in early January.
There wasn't much more LaFontaine could have done in March to improve his Art Ross chances; he scored 10 goals and added 18 assists in 15 games, but actually lost ground to Lemieux, who returned to amass an absurd 37 points over that span. And Le Magnifique saved his best for last, adding 19 points in April to LaFontaine's seven, winning the scoring title by 12.
But LaFontaine could hardly be disappointed about the end result: He set franchise records for assists (95) and points (148), while helping Mogilny establish a new team mark for goals. LaFontaine finished third in Hart Trophy voting - behind Lemieux and Doug Gilmour - while also placing third in Lady Byng voting and making the NHL's All-Star second team.
The Sabres, despite losing the final seven games of the regular season, saw a 12-point improvement over the previous campaign - and that earned them a rematch with the Bruins in Round 1. The result was quite different in 1993, as the Sabres swept their rivals out of the postseason behind a one-goal, six-assist performance from LaFontaine.
But that's as far as the Sabres would get, as they ran into a charmed Montreal Canadiens team that won four straight 4-3 decisions - the final three in overtime - to complete a second-round sweep. LaFontaine did his part with five points in the first three contests, but missed Game 4 with a knee injury and wouldn't get another chance to keep Buffalo's playoff hopes alive.
Concussions cut LaFontaine's career short; he played just 194 more games before being forced to call it quits at 33. But with 1,013 points over 865 regular-season contests, he was deservedly inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 2003 - and he'll forever have a place in hockey annals after producing one of the greatest seasons in NHL history.
Spooner, who is a restricted free agent, is asking for $3.85 million from the Bruins, while the team is countering with $2 million, according to Sportsnet's Elliotte Friedman.
The 25-year-old is coming off his second full season in the league during which he tallied 11 goals and 39 points in 78 games. Spooner is also coming off his second contract with the Bruins that saw him earn $1.9 million over two years.
Spooner and the Bruins are scheduled to go before a third-party arbitrator Wednesday.
The Nashville Predators signed restricted free-agent forward Austin Watson to a three-year contract with an annual average value of $1.1 million, the team announced Monday.
In his first full NHL season, Watson tallied 17 points, 99 penalty minutes, and 143 hits in 77 games while averaging 12:26 minutes of ice time per night.
The 25-year-old hasn't quite lived up to his first-round pick billing (he was chosen 18th overall in 2010), but he proved to be a valuable bottom-six forward during Nashville's run to the Stanley Cup Final, tallying nine points and 106 hits (!) in 22 postseason games.
Given that the 6-foot-4 Watson has three 20-goal seasons under his belt in the AHL, more offensive contributions at the NHL level could be right around the corner.
Ryan Johansen is the last remaining RFA in need of a new contract on David Poile's to-do list, and according to Cap Friendly, the team's longtime general manager has just under $14 million in cap room to play with.
Some team, somewhere has room for Jaromir Jagr, or so the veteran believes.
The 45-year-old is an unrestricted free agent, and while he had a slightly down year in 2017 - posting 16 goals and 46 points in 82 games with the Florida Panthers - Jagr still feels he is good enough to earn a spot in the NHL.
This past season, Jagr passed Mark Messier to move into second place on the NHL's all-time points list. The former Hart Trophy winner is also 35 goals shy of becoming just the third player in history to tally 800 career goals, and 36 away from matching Gordie Howe for second place all-time.
The Pittsburgh Penguins signed restricted free-agent defenseman Brian Dumoulin to a six-year contract with an average annual value of $4.1 million, the team announced Monday.
Dumoulin, who will be 26 years old by the beginning of the coming season, has been an integral part of Pittsburgh's back-to-back Stanley Cup victories. He logged a team-high 21:59 minutes of ice time per game during their most recent playoff run.
The 6-foot-4 blue-liner has scored just two career regular season goals and three career playoff goals, but he has proven to be one of the league's better shutdown defensemen, and is now getting paid like one.
This contract leaves the Penguins with $6.28 million in cap space, according to Cap Friendly. Forward Conor Sheary is the team's last remaining RFA without a contract.
James Bisson celebrates the 25th anniversary of the 1992-93 season with a look back at the most memorable moments of the greatest campaign in NHL history. This edition deals with the Eric Lindros saga, which ended with the No. 1 overall pick being involved in one of the biggest - and most controversial - trades in professional sports:
To get a sense of just how much of an impact the Eric Lindros controversy had on the NHL, imagine if any of these things happened in today's sports fan environment:
A 6-foot-4, 230-pound cement shed of a hockey player dominates major junior hockey, recording 149 points and 189 penalty minutes in 57 regular-season games and adding 38 points in 16 playoff games;
He becomes the consensus No. 1 pick in the 1991 draft, but refuses to report to the team that selects him and waits out a trade;
He lands a spot on his country's entry at the 1991 Canada Cup - joining Wayne Gretzky, Mark Messier, and other Hall of Famers - despite being just 18 years old and having played zero games at the NHL level;
He winds up being the centerpiece of not one, but two, blockbuster deals - a development that results in the NHL enlisting the help of an outside arbitrator to determine which trade will be accepted.
Any of these four developments might have broken social media had it been around at the time, so imagine navigating through the memes, GIFs, and hot takes that would've emerged from all four having happened.
You could hardly blame teams for falling over themselves to try and land Lindros, who was considered a transcendent talent the league hadn't seen since Mario Lemieux. And unlike Le Magnifique, Lindros welcomed the opportunity to steamroll any opponent in his path.
As a 17-year-old, the London, Ontario, native scored 71 goals and added 78 assists in 57 games for the Oshawa Generals; he finished 21 points ahead of the next-closest scorer and still managed to finish fifth in the OHL in penalty minutes. He added 17 points in just seven games as part of Canada's gold medal-winning entry at the World Junior Hockey Championships.
No player had ever combined slick stickhandling, a lightning-quick release, a pillowy-soft passing touch, and brutal physicality the way Lindros did. And so, when it came time for the Quebec Nordiques to make the first pick in the 1991 entry draft, they did as expected:
Lindros said all the right things, but when it came time to wear the Quebec sweater, he declined - just as he said he would prior to the draft. Lindros said he wanted to explore all of his options, but the Nordiques were steadfast, refusing to deal the pick in the days prior to the draft. So, Lindros went with Plan B - returning to the Generals before joining the Canadian national team.
Lindros had 31 points in just 13 games with Oshawa the following season, thriving despite risking potential long-term injury - a development that would not only limit his earning potential, but would devalue him on the trade market. With both sides digging in, every hockey fan had an opinion on what the Nordiques should do, including legendary ranter Don Cherry:
Finally, in late June 1992, Quebec moved forward on a deal for the disgruntled star. But in a stunning twist, Nordiques ownership group managing partner Marcel Aubut agreed in principle to two separate deals, with the New York Rangers and Philadelphia Flyers. NHL rules prohibit a player from being traded to two different teams (duh), and the league suddenly had a problem.
The NHL enlisted the help of labor lawyer Larry Bertuzzi, who had previously worked with the league on contract negotiations. Bertuzzi told the Globe and Mail's Eric Duhatschek in a 2016 interview how then-NHL vice president Jim Gregory presented the case to him:
They told me, ‘Here’s the deal: We have these clubs and they have a dispute and we’d like you to resolve it.' I said, ‘Fine, give me all the written material on the arbitration process and the trade rules.’ They said, ‘Well, it’s pretty simple.’ There were two lines under the bylaws that said, ‘If there’s a dispute involving a trade, the matter shall be resolved by the president, or, if not the president, by an arbitrator.’ And when I asked them to tell me the rules on a trade, they said, ‘Well, we don’t have any.'
Bertuzzi accepted the challenge, and spent 10 days with representatives from the three teams to come up with a solution. The end result: Bertuzzi concluded that the Nordiques and Flyers had reached an agreement prior to Quebec and New York hammering out a deal, and green-lit the first trade.
And what a deal it was: In exchange for Lindros, the Nordiques acquired the rights to future Hall of Fame forward Peter Forsberg, star netminder Ron Hextall, four other players, a pair of first-round draft picks, and a whopping $15 million. The first-round pick Quebec kept became goaltender Jocelyn Thibault, who carved out a 14-year NHL career.
The trade altered both teams' fortunes for years. The Nordiques became a powerhouse - though, in a cruel twist of fate, fans in Quebec didn't get to enjoy the peak years. The franchise moved to Colorado in 1995 and would go on to win Stanley Cup titles in 1996 and 2001, with Forsberg playing a significant role on both teams.
Lindros, meanwhile, carved out his own Hall of Fame career. He recorded 75 points in 61 games as a rookie in 1992-93, finishing fourth in the Calder Trophy voting. He was even better during the lockout-shortened 1994-95 campaign, finishing with a league high-tying 70 points in 46 games en route to the Hart Trophy as league MVP.
Lindros was one of the city's most beloved athletes during his time in Philadelphia, amassing 659 points in 486 games and a berth in the 1997 Stanley Cup final; he led all playoff scorers with 26 points but ultimately fell short of the title. A contract dispute led to him being dealt - ironically - to the Rangers, where he had 158 points over parts of three seasons.
Concussions and other assorted injuries limited Lindros to just 82 more games after that - 33 with the Toronto Maple Leafs in 2005-06, and 49 with the Dallas Stars in his final NHL season. Lindros was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 2016, making good on the immense promise he flashed as the most dominant power forward of his generation.
With a quarter-century now elapsed since the end of the Lindros soap opera, it's fair to say that most parties involved made out for the best. The Flyers acquired one of the top players in the world and reached the Stanley Cup, while the Nordiques-turned-Avalanche used the trade return to win two titles. And the Rangers? They didn't need him, ending their Cup drought in 1994.
Hellebuyck becomes the latest in a growing list of pending RFAs to come to terms on a new contract ahead of their arbitration hearing. Hellebuyck's hearing was scheduled for Aug. 1.
The 24-year-old is coming off his first full season in the NHL after splitting the 2016 campaign between the Jets and the American Hockey League. In 56 games, Hellebuyck went 26-19-4 with a .907 save percentage and a 2.89 goals-against average.
In 82 career games, Hellebuyck is 39-30-5 with a 2.71 goals-against average and a .910 save percentage.
