Granlund inked his three-year, $17.25-million deal Tuesday, and on Wednesday spoke to the media via a conference call.
"I'm glad we got this done," Granlund said, according to Dane Mizutani of the St. Paul Pioneer Press. "I think we have a really good group of guys and we can (do) some damage in the playoffs. ...
"It’s been a pleasure to play in Minnesota and I'm really glad I can do that next season too," he went on to say.
On the heels of a season in which he led the Wild in assists (43) and points (69), Granlund recognizes that his head coach will rely on him even more to score for a Minnesota club that failed to produce a single 30-goal player.
"He gave me a lot of responsibility," Granlund said of Bruce Boudreau. "I took a step as a player. Hopefully we can keep that going."
The Wild have qualified for the playoffs in five consecutive seasons, and, if that number is going to hit six, Minny will need another strong year from its No. 1 offensive weapon.
Tampa Bay Lightning winger Nikita Kucherov finished last season tied for fifth in league scoring with 85 points, but he also ended the year by calling out his teammates and organization.
Despite him burying 99 goals over the last three seasons, the comments didn't go over well. However, he attempted to remedy the issue by speaking with Lightning GM Steve Yzerman recently, according to his agent, Dan Milstein.
"They got on the same page. There's no disagreements," Milstein told Joe Smith of the Tampa Bay Times. "Everything is good. What was said is done, stays in the past."
Milstein added that Kucherov knows he has to continue to improve next season, and is excited about Tampa's chances.
"He knows what's expected and wants to be great," he said. "He wants to keep working, improving, and building on last year's performance. He hopes to have a redo this year, and that everyone stays healthy. He feels this is the year for them to win the Cup. He's very excited."
De Haan will make $3.3 million in 2017-18, according to Mike Kelly of TSN.
The agreement came at the last minute, as an arbitration hearing was scheduled for Wednesday morning.
Last season, the former first-round draft pick was an anchor on the Islanders' blue line, logging just under 20 minutes per game while blocking 190 shots and dishing out 139 hits. De Haan also chipped in on the offensive end, registering 25 points.
With De Haan's contract now settled, the Islanders' roster is set for 2017-18 while the team has $3.634 million in remaining cap space, according to Cap Friendly.
When healthy, few in the game today can produce like Islanders captain John Tavares.
In 587 career regular-season games for New York, Johnny T has tasted plenty of regular-season success, tallying 235 goals and 305 assists for 537 points. So, it's understandable that the 26-year-old soon-to-be free agent wants to stay in N.Y.
"It's obviously a great place to play," Tavares told TSN on Tuesday. "I've really enjoyed my time being an Islander and I want that experience to continue. I'm just trying to focus and get ready for Day 1 of training camp, approach it like I have every year."
Despite dealing with several nagging injuries last season, including a hand issue that required surgery, Tavares was still able to contribute and logged yet another solid offensive campaign - a fact that Tavares remembers when training for the upcoming season.
"For me personally, I don't know why I would change my approach. I think I keep learning, keep getting better," he said.
"You're always tweaking things, seeing where some things have worked well and parts of your game have come a long way. I'm just trying to get better and be the best player I can be for the Islanders."
Tavares has one year remaining on his six-year, $33-million deal signed in 2011. He will become an unrestricted free agent at the completion of the 2017-18 season.
Colorado Avalanche center Matt Duchene has been arguably the most talked-about player of the 2017 offseason. Columbus, Nashville, and even Boston have been mentioned as potential future destinations for the 26-year-old.
For now, Duchene remains in Colorado. And despite the continued rumors of his impending departure, the Haliburton, Ontario native is seemingly at peace. "I think right now I'm pretty relaxed," Duchene told TSN, according to NHL.com.
"I know whatever's going to happen is going to happen and I don't really have control of it. I'm just worried about being at the top of my game and kind of getting to where I was the first half of last season before everything kind of fell apart for everybody in Colorado."
Duchene is coming off the most disappointing season of his eight-year career, as he registered only 18 goals and 23 assists in 77 games while finishing with an ugly minus-33 rating.
Regardless, he remains an elite talent with tremendous speed and offensive upside that most teams would love to get their hands on. But, Duchene understands that at this point, he can only focus on himself.
"I feel good right now, probably as good as I've ever felt at this time during the year," he said. "It is what it is, (so) we'll let it happen."
The Hurricanes have been one of the most interesting teams of the summer. They went out and found themselves a more dependable netminder in Scott Darling, brought back proven winner Justin Williams, and made it a priority to lock up their budding young stars, handing out extensions to defensemen Jaccob Slavin (seven years, $37.1 million) and Brett Pesce (six years, $24.15 million).
On paper, both deals could be bargains if the duo continues to develop at their current pace, but with all the money given out by Ron Francis and Co. this offseason, the team could be in a bit of a cap conundrum come 2019.
As it stands now, the Hurricanes will have just over $26 million in cap space heading into the 2018-19 season, which is a nice chunk of change, but as always, there will be free agents in need of new contracts.
The most notable players who will need to be paid after next season are Noah Hanifin and Elias Lindholm.
This is where the deals for Slavin and Pesce could come back to bite the Hurricanes. Slavin will be making an average of $5.3 million per season, while Pesce will earn $4.025 million annually.
(Photo courtesy: Action Images)
Based on those salaries, Hanifin could command at least $4 million per season on his deal. After all, the 2015 first-round pick produces at a similar offensive clip as Slavin and at a higher rate than Pesce, while only Justin Faulk tallies more power-play points among Carolina blue-liners.
As for Lindholm, over the past three seasons he has tallied 39 goals and 123 points, tied for third-most on the Hurricanes during that span, while hitting a career-high 45 points this past year. He's tallied the second-most power-play points in that stretch, seven game-winning goals, and a 53.18 percent Corsi For rating.
So, it wouldn't be out of the realm of possibility for Lindholm to command at least $4 million per season as well.
Having both Hanifin and Lindholm presumably making $4 million per season would leave the Hurricanes with just $18 million for the rest of their pending free agents.
Here are the other players who need to get paid after next season:
Player
Status in 2018-19
Current AAV
Lee Stempniak
UFA
$2.5M
Derek Ryan
UFA
$1.425M
Joakim Nordstrom
RFA
$1.275M
Klas Dahlbeck
RFA
$850K
Trevor van Riemsdyk
RFA
$825K
Josh Jooris
UFA
$775K
Cam Ward
UFA
$3.3M
Even if Stempniak, Ward, and other fringe players walk or go unsigned, there are still positions that need to be filled, with only $18 million in which to be spread around.
The potential saving grace to this looming cap crunch is that Carolina still has some high-end prospects that could slide into the lineup on entry-level deals such as Jake Bean, Haydn Fleury, and Julien Gauthier.
In the meantime, the Hurricanes will take to the 2017-18 campaign with the hopes of taking a big jump in the standings and potentially making the postseason for the first time since 2009. A successful season would undoubtedly make the team feel better about spending big to keep its core together well into the future.
A move from Denver to Las Vegas means Calvin Pickard needs a new look.
The former Colorado Avalanche goaltender, who was snapped up by the Vegas Golden Knights in the expansion draft, is inviting his new supporters to put their artistic skills to work in designing his next mask.
Calvin Pickard has a message to fans in Las Vegas.
"All I really want to see is some creativity. Knights, horses, castles, dragons? Drawbridges? I'm open," Pickard wrote on the Golden Knights' website. "I might even take different elements of different people's suggestions and combine them and turn them over to my artist. Although if someone really knocks it out of the park with one sketch, I might do that, too."
Fans can enter the contest through the team's official website. The winning entry will be given the opportunity to take a picture with Pickard.
While it's unknown how much ice time Pickard will see next season behind expected starter Marc-Andre Fleury, fans of the Golden Knights should get at least a few opportunities to witness the winning design.
The Golden Knights' first home game comes Oct. 10 against the Arizona Coyotes.
Granlund led the Wild in scoring last season, producing 26 goals and 43 assists in 81 games.
Minnesota originally selected the Finland native with the ninth overall pick in 2010. He has appeared in 321 NHL games, recording 57 goals and 144 assists.
Granlund's signing comes two days after the Wild signed fellow forward Nino Niederreiter to a five-year extension.
