NHL Contract Talks

The Blue Jackets gave a four-year contract worth 4M$ annually to Erik Gudbranson, whose highest scoring season was last year (6G, 11A, 17PTS) with Calgary, after 11 seasons in the NHL.

Let's analyze this contract. When we look at Gudbranson, we see a big defenceman, with decent NHL experience. Despite his basic statistics (Goals, Assists, Points) not being as high to justify his salary, he was signed mainly because of his defensive tenure. He can spend lots of minutes on the ice every game and he is a reliable player in critical moments for a team.

On the other side, he is able to put up some points and he is a good second pair defenceman. Now with the management side...

The market for defencemen was a bit modest this summer. On the restricted side we have some incredible players, but no team will realistically submit an offer sheet. Therefore, it is an advantegeous market for players to pass GO and collect their due. Columbus was desperately in need of a good second-pair right-handed defenceman. The market price for a second-pair defenceman turns around 3M$-3.5M$, but a little subtelty that many don't notice is that the proportion of RHD's is way lower than LHD's. Only around 40% of the defencemen are right-handed in the NHL, making it harder to have one of quality on your team. Instead of trading for a player and loosing assets, you can get one for free and sign him to a contract at your own terms.

Furthermore, his contract is decent, since he's only 30 years old. The money is divided almost evenly throughout the contract, making it easier to buyout if needed in two years. 🤝

Why did John Klingberg, a free agent in demand all over the league, decide to sign for only a year?

As we now, many teams that were looking to sign him long-term are teams aiming to become cup contenders in the next few years. But there is one issue... The salary cap is flat for another year and salaries that were expected to dilute with a cap expansion became a hustle for certain teams aiming for the cup.

Therefore, with a potential weak market for right-handed defencemen again next summer, it was better for Klingberg to bet on himself and sign for one year only at his market value and hope for teams to work some money away from their books to pay him long term next summer. In addition to that, the cap will start boosting sooner than later with "Hockey Related Revenues" expected to multiply dangerously as the NHL is expected to sell sponsorship deals for logos on jerseys and many other things🤝

Today I'll explain why Cayden Primeau will be on the Montreal Canadiens' Pro Roster permanently within the next four years, due to a particularity of the Collective Bargaining Agreement.

As of today, Primeau is a 22 year-old Restricted Free Agent, with three professional seasons under the belt and 18 NHL games played. He is set to become an unrestricted free-agent at the age of 27 or after playing seven professional seasons (one or more game in NHL, AHL, ECHL or Europe, since he signed his ELC at 20).

But, Primeau could become unrestricted by the age of 25, if the Canadiens don't respect a certain clause to keep him under his restricted status.

If, by the age of 25, a goalie under contract with an NHL team hasn't played at least 28 NHL games (more than 30 minutes played per game), after completing at least three professional seasons, he will become an unrestricted free-agent, even if he is only supposed to be unrestricted at 27.

This is why the Canadiens will have to let him play at least 10 games in the next four years or else, they will lose his restricted status and other teams will be able to sign him for free🤝

Let's discuss Mike Hoffman's Professional Try-Out given by the Blues in 2020. Stephane Leroux, from RDS dug out Hoffman's PTO with the Blues to criticize his $4,500,000 AAV over 3 years given by Marc Bergevin.

He didn't sign a PTO in a context where the team wanted to evaluate him before signing. It was due to the Blues' cap situation. As I explained in previous posts, teams get a 10% cap extension to spend during the offseason and if they go over, they have penalties. In St-Louis' case, they had two LTIR eligible players in Tarasenko and Steen, potentially freeing up to $13,250,000 in LTIR cap ($7,500,000 and $5,750,000 respectively). Another reminder that ALL contracts are on the cap during the offseason. If they were to go over the 10% limit, they would have to place them on LTIR during the offseason and have their relief recalculated at the start of the year, potentially causing troubles if they are still above the LTIR relief amount.

Instead, they waited for the first day of the season, to send down players and recall some to get as close as they can to the cap set to $81,500,000 that year, to get the maximum relief they could out of the $13,250,000. After doing so, they signed Hoffman to the one-year/ $4,000,000 AAV deal they previously negotiated, as well as Vince Dunn to a one-year/ $1,875,000 AAV. Furthermore, they anticipated Tarasenko to return during the season, so the total of both contracts is just above Steen's cap hit of $5,750,000 (total of $5,875,000) staying on LTIR all year, for them only having to send down one contract to be cap compliant.

This text is no means to criticize anyone, it just sheds extra light on the situation. Hoffman's performances were not what the Canadiens expected when they signed him to an AAV of $4,500,000 but a Professional Try-Out isn't a valid argument, in this case where the Blues managed their tight cap effectively🤝

Why did the Panthers trade Huberdeau in return of Matthew Tkachuk?

Well Huberdeau is entering his last contract year before becoming an unrestricted free-agent in July of 2023.

There were some rumours stating he wanted to leave the Panthers after his deal.

Therefore, the Panthers were definitely looking to shop him around in return of a similar player and not sell him at the trade deadline at a potential rental price.

Furthermore, his No-Movement Clause was replaced by an Eight-Team No Trade Clause on July 1st, potentially making trades at the deadline more difficult.

Trading Huberdeau for a player wanting to sign in Florida like Tkachuk is definitely a win-win. Let’s add that Tkachuk’s pricetag was high, due to the fact that he was leaving as a “sign and trade” player🤝