2017 Free agency thread.

I think this was another great move by COL. If you're selecting a guy in the second round, having him end up like Toews would be a good result. So depending on the contract, this looks like a good add for COL without giving back too much in return. Not sure why NYI got into this mess in the first place, because Toews looks like a good middle / great bottom defender, to me.

 

I agree this was a great move by the Avs and that 2nd round pick will be somewhere between #50-62.
gotta assume the money was the issue. that Boychuck deal was destined to F them over.

hate to say it dline but Toews couldve been a good add to the blueline for the Panthers.

 

TELL ME ABOUT IT. That took up a few minutes of therapy session time. I watched them acquire a couple defensemen, and I was just waiting for the name "Toews" to come up. The fact that it never did has me pissed. The new GM dumping Matheson bought him some good will, but losing out on what was an easy deal for Toews still has me upset.

 

a literal lol from me.
kids- "dad what are you laughing at"
me-"a buddy saying that Devon Toews not going to Flor........... forget it and get back to your math"

 

i wonder if Toews will be worth that money though. my instincts say yes but he's still pretty new to the league and has been playing on a very D-friendly team and system.
I like him cuz he went to Quinnipiac. no one comes from Quinnipiac.

 

Same, but swap "laughing" with "crying".

Toews might end up being overpaid, and you're right about the reasons you cited. I do want to see what he actually ends up getting paid. But it's not often that you acquire a guy at that age with such solid defensive performance, that should reliably play at least a middle pair role. Given the team around him in COL, you would expect a similar output presuming no personal changes.

 

https://www.spotrac.com/nhl/colorado-avalanche/devon-toews-18935/

$4.1 x 4, backloaded. havent seen any signing bonus or movement clauses, sometimes those things leak out after the initial report.
id assume he has some kind of protection against the Seattle draft.
Makar is on the last year of his ELC, does anyone know if that automatically protects him from the expansion draft?

 

I think anyone with 2 years or less experience (NHL or AHL) are exempt and technically Makar is on his first year.... Im not positive tho.

 

Makar played a couple playoff games in 2018 and that counts as a season accrued against his deal so I believe that he is technically starting his 3rd season.
gonna have to dig in to this.

 

Sorry, i may have misunderstood what i read. I thought the playoffs he played in did NOT count, im probably wrong there. Contractional stuff not my 4-tay.

 

Makar is draft-eligible because he played in the playoffs when he moved from UMass. That counted as a full season.

CapFriendly has a good feature: look for the Seattle Expansion Draft tool under the Interactive tab.

The Avs will have to protect E. Johnson (NMC) and obviously Makar. I think it's a hard choice between Girrard and Toews assuming the Avs go 7-3-1. And, they have too many good F's to seriously consider the 8-1 scheme.

 

thats awesome Dan, thanks for sharing. gonna spend some quality time on this.

 

Galchenyuk signs one-year, $1.05 million contract with Senators
Forward scored 24 points with Wild, Penguins last season

 

Galy has his personal demons. I wish him well, but history suggests he will drop into oblivion.

 

Ryan Strome, Rangers avoid arbitration, work out two-year, $9M deal

Ryan Strome and the Rangers have agreed to a two-year, $9M extension, per the New York Post’s Larry Brooks, before a scheduled Thursday arbitration hearing.

The 27-year-old Strome had asked for $5.7M per season while the team was seeking a $3.6M salary. He will be an unrestricted free agent when the deal expires after the 2021-22 NHL season.

Since coming over from the Oilers, Strome has scored 36 goals in 133 regular season games for the Rangers. The 2019-20 season was his best with 18 goals and 59 points. That production was boosted playing on a line with Hart Trophy finalist Artemi Panarin.

Strome won’t be winning the Selke Trophy anytime soon, but he’s shown an ability to produce in a secondary scoring role. Playing with Panarin and Jesper Fast this past season helped a Rangers offense that will be adding top pick Alexis Lafreniere to its top nine.

NHL.com

 

I love the Ryan Strome signing.... for the Bruins. Jake DeBrusk still unsigned and a comparable, at best, to Strome at this point. Hoping a 2 or 3 year deal in the $4 per neighborhood is on the horizon for DeBrusk. If he can be more consistent in pushing the play it's inevitable that more opportunities and grapes will be in his future. at that point, cha-ching, he gets paid.

 

Also in FA news... per NHL.com

MacKenzie Weegar signed a three-year contract with the Florida Panthers on Friday. Financial terms were not disclosed.

The 26-year-old defenseman, a restricted free agent, avoided an arbitration hearing scheduled for Sunday.

"MacKenzie is a solid two-way competitor who brings tenacity and skill to our lineup," general manager Bill Zito said. "He has developed into a key member of the Panthers both on and off the ice and we look forward to him taking the next step in his career."

Weegar had NHL career highs in goals (seven), points (18), plus/minus rating (plus-6) and average time on ice (20:07) in 45 games last season. He had one assist in four games during Florida's loss to the New York Islanders in the best-of-5 Stanley Cup Qualifiers.

The Ottawa native was selected by the Panthers in the seventh round (No. 206) of the 2013 NHL Draft and made his NHL debut against the Montreal Canadiens on April 3, 2017. He has scored 41 points (13 goals, 28 assists) in 172 NHL games, all with Florida.

 

I read the same thing. They want or believe a shorter term contract would be ideal. Sometimes you have to do this to better evaluate the player and drive/push him to excel or at least reach potential.

 

So, are the Bruins in the hunt for a FA defenseman or do they roll with the youth movement? They appear to be solid up front and in net, but some say the defense may be suspect.

 

exactly. id think the kid would want a shorter term deal because he needs to prove himself and because the flat cap has screwed so many FAs this year and he could set himself up for a nice payday down the road.
team wants short term because he's a bit of a question mark.