It's unknown what role Hunter may have, adds Staple, but the 55-year-old also served as head of the scouting department during his tenure with the Leafs.
Shortly after Toronto chose Kyle Dubas to take over Lamoriello's role as GM, Hunter, who was also in the running for the job, left the team. However, his agreement with the Maple Leafs prevents him from joining a new team until July 15.
The Islanders have endured plenty of turnover so far this offseason, starting with the hiring of Lamoriello. The club also brought in Stanley Cup champion head coach Barry Trotz, and lost captain John Tavares during free agency.
For the Ottawa Senators and their fans, disaster has been inescapable over the past 12 months.
Through the hardships, one final blow remains, as captain Erik Karlsson's departure from the organization via trade before the start of the 2018-19 season is inevitable. The deal, one would think, will help stock the cupboards for the Senators' future with a handful of nice assets, which is about all Ottawa can hope for at this point.
Beyond the ongoing Karlsson saga, which, in fairness, is a colossal league-wide storyline, the Senators have another key piece of business to take care of this summer: signing Mark Stone.
Stone was one of 44 restricted free agents to file for arbitration Thursday, and is by far the most talented member on the list. At 26 years old, Stone is only one year away from becoming an unrestricted free agent, meaning he can only get a one-year contract if he goes to arbitration.
Surely, the Senators want to avoid that scenario, and while a high number of players filed this offseason, it's rare for these cases to ever reach the point of arbitration. Last year, Nate Schmidt and the Vegas Golden Knights were the only case out of 30 to require a third-party negotiator.
With that in mind, let's assume Stone and the Sens strike a long-term deal, and try to map out what kind of salary the star winger just might fetch.
The player
Injuries limited Stone to just 58 games in 2017-18, yet he finished tie atop the Senators' scoring list alongside Karlsson with 62 points, and averaged more than 20:40 of ice time per contest - the highest mark of all right wingers across the league.
Stone's high usage can be attributed to his effectiveness at both ends of the ice, as he's evolved into one of the best two-way forwards in the NHL. Despite missing 24 games, Stone ranked fourth at his position with 59 takeaways.
On offense, 62 points is just two off his career high, set in 2014-15. Among all Senators skaters, Stone ranked third with a 4.68 Corsi relative to his teammates at five-on-five despite Ottawa ranking 30th in possession at 47.12 percent. Elsewhere, Stone ranked eighth in the league in five-on-five points per 60 minutes (2.68), and his primary point rate (goals and first assists) per 60 of 1.93 puts him in equal to Leon Draisiatl, and ahead of players like Alex Ovechkin, Steven Stamkos, Artemi Panarin, and MVP Taylor Hall. Certainly not terrible company to keep.
The team
What else is there really to say about the organization at this point? Be it Eugene Melnyk's threat to relocate the team during a weekend they were in the national spotlight, or harassment charges against assistant general manager Randy Lee, it's been an eternity since any good news came out of Ottawa.
A new deal for Stone is a chance to get things turning in the right direction. Once Karlsson is out of town, Stone is the best player on the Sens' roster, and will serve as the main piece of the team's core. In February, Stone said he wants to be part of Ottawa's long-term solution, but much has changed since then, and there's assuredly no quick fix to the hole the club has managed to dig itself into.
The Senators will ice a lousy roster in 2018-19, and any hopes at the Jack Hughes lottery were dashed when they decided to hold onto this year's pick, No. 4 overall, to take Brady Tkachuk - who will likely spend another season at Boston University come fall.
Ottawa can't sell him on the strength of his surrounding personnel, but Stone has been carrying an incredibly team-friendly cap hit of $3.5 million for the past three seasons, and it's unlikely he'll be willing to forego loads of guaranteed money at his age just for the chance to walk as a UFA next summer. General manager Pierre Dorion can use promised dollars to his advantage, as the Senators are nowhere near the cap ceiling, but doing so in a manner that keeps Stone happy should be priority No. 1 once negotiations get underway.
Comparables
Here's a look at some prominent right wingers to sign long-term contracts (not including those coming off entry-level deals) over the last three years, and how Stone stacks up.
Player (Team)
Career P/GP
Contract Length (AAV)
Patric Hornqvist (PIT)
0.63
5 years ($5.3M)
Jonathan Marchessault (VGK)
0.72
6 years ($5M)
Alexander Radulov (DAL)
0.73
5 years ($6.25M)
T.J. Oshie (WSH)
0.69
8 years ($5.75M)
Jakub Voracek (PHI)
0.74
8 years ($8.25M)
Through 307 games in his NHL career, Stone stands at 0.81 points per game, out-producing all players on the list above. With the exception of Voracek, he'll also be younger than each of his comparables at his time of signing.
The number
Considering Stone's career production and value at both ends of the ice, the Senators' financial flexibility and need for something positive inside the organization, along with the market of winger contracts across the league, it's fair to assume Stone will soon be paid among the league's elite.
Only six right wingers currently have a cap hit of over $7 million, and Stone is poised to become the seventh. A multi-year deal with an annual payment of anywhere between $7.5 million to $8.5 million would be more than suitable for both sides as they embark on a new era in Ottawa.
The Detroit Red Wings locked up prized prospect and 2018 sixth overall pick Filip Zadina to a three-year, entry-level contract, the club announced Saturday.
Detroit was declared an early winner of the draft by many pundits for nabbing Zadina after he surprisingly fell out of the top five, and it didn't take long for him to prove he was a worthy selection, as he repeatedly dazzled at the team's development camp:
Zadina entered the draft as the third-ranked North American skater after recording 82 points in 57 games with the Halifax Mooseheads of the QMJHL, and adding eight points in seven contests for the Czech Republic at the world juniors.
Longtime NHL winger Alex Burrows has called it a career, announcing his retirement after 13 seasons.
"I’m happy with my career and have some great memories," Burrows told NHLPA.com. "I met some wonderful people over the years. I’ll miss my teammates the most. The amount of fun we had working on our craft, the time we spent together away from the rink, the time we went through adversity together - those are things that I’m going to miss."
Burrows was placed on waivers for the purpose of a buyout by the Ottawa Senators earlier in the offseason after signing a two-year deal with the club in 2017.
Shortly after the announcement, the Montreal Canadiens revealed Burrows will join their AHL affiliate, the Laval Rocket, as an assistant coach.
The 37-year-old wasn't drafted, and he broke into the league with the Vancouver Canucks during the 2005-06 season after bouncing around in the ECHL and AHL. His best season came in 2009-10 when he recorded 35 goals and 32 assists.
Overall, Burrows appeared in 913 NHL contests, registering 409 points and 1,134 penalty minutes.
The Toronto Maple Leafs have traded winger Matt Martin to the New York Islanders in exchange for goaltender prospect Eamon McAdam, the teams announced Tuesday.
The Humboldt Broncos have named former NHL player Nathan Oystrick as their new head coach, the club announced Tuesday.
Oystrick takes over for Darcy Haugan, who was killed in the bus crash that took the lives of 16 members in the Broncos organization. Haugan was later the first-ever recipient of the Willie O'Ree Community Hero Award at the NHL Awards in June.
"I am very grateful for the opportunity to be the Humboldt Broncos head coach, and look forward to joining this tremendous community and leading this historic organization, all the while never forgetting the circumstances which have brought me here," Oystrick said.
Oystrick was drafted in the seventh round by the Atlanta Thrashers in 2002, and played 65 games in the NHL. The native of Regina, Saskatchewan, was previously an assistant coach with the ECHL's Atlanta Gladiators.
There's no indication of how Karlsson reacted to the offer, but a report from Larry Brooks of the New York Post on Monday revealed the Senators have given clubs across the league permission to negotiate an extension with the two-time Norris Trophy winner.
Karlsson's current contract is set to expire after the 2018-19 season, and he could've been joined in a star-studded class of unrestricted free agents by Drew Doughty, arguably the only blue-liner held in the same regard. However, the Los Angeles Kings stalwart agreed to terms on an eight-year deal worth a reported $11 million annually, which would make him the NHL's highest-paid defenseman.
In November, Doughty said he and Karlsson would discuss what kind of money they'd be looking for in an extension.
With the big names off this summer's free-agency board, Karlsson's future is the offseason's top story, and his potential departure from Ottawa after nine seasons with the club would significantly alter the team's trajectory.
Nail Yakupov is heading home to Russia, as the 24-year-old winger signed a two-year deal with SKA St. Petersburg of the KHL, the league announced Tuesday.
After recording nine goals and seven assists with the Avs, Yakupov was never given a qualifying offer, making him an unrestricted free agent.
Yakupov was drafted first overall in 2012 by the Oilers, and after registering 31 points in 48 games in a promising debut season, he never lived up to expectations afterward, maxing out at 33 points in 2014-15. If the trip overseas signals the end of his NHL career, he departs as one of the most disappointing No. 1 picks in recent memory, with 136 points in 350 games.
Martin has two years remaining on his contract at $2.5 million per. He was paid a $1.5-million signing bonus by the Maple Leafs on Sunday, according to Sportsnet's Chris Johnston, reducing the amount of actual money he'd cost a team that acquired him.
After suiting up in all 82 games through his first season in Toronto in 2016-17, Martin's role seriously diminished last season. Mainly a healthy scratch for the second half of the schedule and into the playoffs, the 29-year-old appeared in just 50 contests, registering three goals and nine assists in under eight minutes per night.
Neal was one of the biggest names on the free-agent market, but he went through the first day of the signing period without finding a suitor.
After three seasons with the Nashville Predators, he was chosen by the Vegas Golden Knights in the expansion draft and went on to record 25 goals and 19 assists in 71 games. The 30-year-old is one of the top snipers in the league, eclipsing the 20-goal plateau in each of his 10 NHL seasons.
Neal would be the latest signing in a busy offseason for Flames general manager Brad Treliving, as the club brought in Noah Hanifin and Elias Lindholm in a trade for defenseman Dougie Hamilton, and bolstered its offensive options by signing Derek Ryan and Austin Czarnik on Sunday.
