The last couple days have been quite a rollercoaster ride in the NHL. If you missed anything we have you covered. We will be recapping all the big news that happened in the last two days. Lets get into this!
Filip Hronek Resigns With The Canucks
Now this is the only transaction in this article that happened on June 18th. Filip Hronek has signed an 8 year, 58 million dollar deal with the Vancouver Canucks. Which carries an AVV of 7.25 million a year. The trade control does not kick in until 2025 where it is a full no move until 2028. After that it is a 15 team no trade until 2032 where his contract expires. The Canucks will have about 16 million left to work with this off season.
While many people expected Hronek to resign with Canucks, it was rumored that he would make over 8 million. Coming in just over 7 million is a good deal right now, as long as he can continue at the pace he set last season. A comparable for this deal would be Mikhail Sergachev, who makes 8.5 million and is similar in age. Hronek has 205 points in 390 games so far while Sergachev has 257 points in 475 games. When looking at those stats Hronek at 7.25 million is a great deal.
Jacob Markstrom Moves To New Jersey
Jacob Markstrom was rumored to be moved at the deadline to the Devils. Fast forward 3 months and it is finally a reality. The Flames move Markstrom to New Jersey with 31.25 percent of his salary retained. In exchange they got Kevin Bahl and 2025 first round pick. If you want a more in depth look into the trade, check out Braden Istace’s article on the move here.
Ty Dellandrea Heads To California
Ty Dellandrea was a player that was pushed out of the Dallas Stars lineup due to the emergence of players like
Logan Stankoven and Mavrik Bourque. While he is obviously an NHL player, where his ceiling is unknown at this point. Where he will find out is on the San Jose Sharks, as he was acquired by the Sharks for a 2025 fourth round pick.
While the Sharks may be a basement dweller, Dellandrea should get a fair chance to show what he has at the NHL level. He is an RFA so the negotiations probably will start now, but he could be a low risk, high reward player for San Jose. On the other side, Dallas moves out a player that had kind of lost his role to the rookies coming up. He was the surplus that the Stars had up front.
The tidy piece of business the Sharks did to acquire Dellandrea, stems back to a waiver claim last year. January 6th, 2023 was when the Winnipeg Jets placed Michael Eyssimont on waivers. The move was a surprise but a necessary one for Winnipeg. San Jose claimed Eyssimont and he went on to play 20 games for the Sharks. On March 1, 2023 was when he was traded to Tampa for Vladislav Namestnikov. Namestnikov was then flipped to the Jets for a 2025 fourth round pick. The same pick that was used to acquire Ty Dellandrea.
Pierre-Luc Dubois Changes Conferences
Pierre-Luc Dubois is moving again. This time he is heading east to the Washington Capitals in exchange for Darcy Kuemper. The Dubois experience in LA was not a successful one. Dubois put up 40 points in his time there while really being the whipping boy for most fans, media, and by the end his teammates. He will be looking for another fresh start next to the greatest goal scorer in the modern era in Alex Ovechkin.
Now on the LA side, they are actually getting a player they are familiar with, as Kuemper spent half a season with the Kings in 2016-17. He is a much different goalie now as he has a Stanley Cup ring and is making about 4.6 million more than the last time he was in LA. Kuempers’ time with the Capitals was also short lived and uneventful. He did not post a save percentage better than .907 and was seen as a bit of a wild card when it came to which version of him you were going to get on a night to night basis.
The Kings will be looking to move on from the debacle that was the Dubois tenure. They gave up significant assets to acquire him in Gabriel Vilardi, Alex Iaffalo, Rasmus Kupari, and a second round pick. On top of that they gave him a 8 year, 68 million dollar deal last off season. They do save 3.25 million in cap space with moving PLD off the books. They can use that to hopefully sure up other areas of their team.
Mark Friedman Is Staying One More Year
Not as big of a signing for the Canucks as Filip Hronek, but still a serviceable defenseman to the Canucks. While this will not make headlines or waves across the NHL like these other moves did, the Canucks found a guy that they can trust. He signed a one year 775,000 deal to stay with the Canucks. Friedman may not add anything offensively, but he also does not give up anything. He played a total of 23 games for Vancouver this year and was a plus 4. For a third pairing guy, being a plus anything is great.
He doesn’t move the needle for the Canucks, and if he is in your top 6 to start the season you may have an injury or a problem. He is a good seventh defenseman that can step into the lineup and just be a guy the coach does not need to worry about. More signings to come from the Canucks on the backend as they have several UFAs and are in need of an upgrade to their lineup.
Barclay Goodrow Leaves The Big Apple
Now this one was a little surprising. Not because Goodrow is leaving the Rangers, but with how they did it. The Rangers needed to move money off their books for next year, and paying your fourth line center 3.6 million for the next three years is not ideal. Especially since he only put up 12 points in 80 games this past season. Now how do you move off a fourth line guy making that money to a team and not have to give anything up? The simple answer is you can’t. Enter the San Jose Sharks.
The San Jose Sharks have the cap space and the need to fill their lineup with NHL players. The assumption is that Goodrow had San Jose on his 15 team now trade list and was not willing to budge on it. Hence why he was placed on waivers to be picked up by the Sharks. Win win for everyone…. except Goodrow who was unhappy with how everything unfolded with the Rangers. It will be interesting to see how this all unfolds and if Goodrow ends up stay on the Sharks.
Crazy times are ahead in the NHL. We have the Stanley Cup playoffs Game 6 happening tomorrow. The draft is on the 28th and free agency opens up on July 1st. An exciting to be a hockey fan! Make sure you stay connected on Area 51 Sports Network as we move into the off season for most sports while others are ramping up!
Salary information was provided by Puckpedia