The Philadelphia Flyers have announced that the team will buyout goaltender Ilya Bryzgalov.
The organization signed him to a nine year deal worth $51 million on June 26, 2011, after acquiring his right from the Phoenix Coyotes. He only played two seasons in Philadelphia.
The Flyers will have to pay him two-thirds of his remaining salary owed or $23 million. It will be paid over the course of 14 years and won't count against the Flyers cap. Teams can't officially buyout players until 48 hours after the Stanley Cup Finals, which would be Wednesday around 11 p.m. eastern time. ( http://www.nhl.com/ice/news.htm?id=675174&navid=DL|NHL|home).
In two seasons with the Flyers, Bryzgalov went 52-33-10 with a 2.61 GAA and .909 save percentage in 99 games played. In 11 playoff games, he was 5-6 with a 3.46 GAA and a .887 save percentage.
He didn't play too bad last season sporting a 19-17-3 record with a 2.76 GAA and a .900 save percentage.
The Flyers used its other compliance buyout on forward Danny Briere. The two buyouts will free up about $12.1 million in cap space over the next two seasons.
The projected starter now for the Flyers is Steve Mason. He was acquired last season from the Columbus Blue Jackets for backup goaltender Michael Leighton and a draft pick.
Tuesday, June 25, 2013
Monday, June 24, 2013
Minnesota Wild Agree to Terms with Niklas Backstrom
The Minnesota Wild have agreed, in principle, to re-sign their starting goaltender Niklas Backstrom. Backstrom was set to become an unrestricted free agent this summer.
The deal is reportedly three years worth $10.25 million and the cap hit is $3.42 million per season, which is a reasonable price for the Wild.
Since Backstrom is 35-years-old his contract would fall under the 35+ rule of the collective bargaining agreement. If a player is 35 or older when they sign their contract then their salary counts towards the cap, no matter if they are playing with the team or not. If Backstrom were to retire before the length of the contract was up then the Wild would be stuck with his $3.42 million still counting towards the cap.
Backstrom played in 42 games last season for the Wild. He started in 41 of those games. The goalie posted a 24-15-3 record with a .909 save percentage and a 2.48 GAA. He also had two shutouts.
The Wild made the playoffs but backup goalie, Josh Harding, had to start because Backstrom was injured in a pre-game skate before game one of their first round series with the Chicago Blackhawks.
The 35-year-old is 184-124-45 in 369 career games played with a .917 save percentage, 2.43 GAA, and 28 shutouts. He was signed by the team in 2006 as a free agent.
The Wild only have about $3.3 million in cap space this season and could use one or both of their compliance buyouts to free up some cap space. One choice would be Dany Heatley, who has one year left on his contract at $7.5 million. The other choice could be defenseman Tom Gilbert, who has a cap hit of $4 million for next season.
Among the restricted free agents that the Wild will have to try and re-sign are forward Cal Clutterbuck, and defensemen Justin Falk and Jared Spurgeon. They are all under contracts but can sign an offer sheet from other teams that the Wild would have to match in order to keep them.
The deal is reportedly three years worth $10.25 million and the cap hit is $3.42 million per season, which is a reasonable price for the Wild.
Since Backstrom is 35-years-old his contract would fall under the 35+ rule of the collective bargaining agreement. If a player is 35 or older when they sign their contract then their salary counts towards the cap, no matter if they are playing with the team or not. If Backstrom were to retire before the length of the contract was up then the Wild would be stuck with his $3.42 million still counting towards the cap.
Backstrom played in 42 games last season for the Wild. He started in 41 of those games. The goalie posted a 24-15-3 record with a .909 save percentage and a 2.48 GAA. He also had two shutouts.
The Wild made the playoffs but backup goalie, Josh Harding, had to start because Backstrom was injured in a pre-game skate before game one of their first round series with the Chicago Blackhawks.
The 35-year-old is 184-124-45 in 369 career games played with a .917 save percentage, 2.43 GAA, and 28 shutouts. He was signed by the team in 2006 as a free agent.
The Wild only have about $3.3 million in cap space this season and could use one or both of their compliance buyouts to free up some cap space. One choice would be Dany Heatley, who has one year left on his contract at $7.5 million. The other choice could be defenseman Tom Gilbert, who has a cap hit of $4 million for next season.
Among the restricted free agents that the Wild will have to try and re-sign are forward Cal Clutterbuck, and defensemen Justin Falk and Jared Spurgeon. They are all under contracts but can sign an offer sheet from other teams that the Wild would have to match in order to keep them.
Sunday, June 23, 2013
Jonathan Bernier to Toronto Maple Leafs
The Toronto Maple Leafs acquired goaltender Jonathan Bernier from the Los Angeles Kings.
In return the Kings got goaltender Ben Scrivens, forward Matt Frattin and Toronto's second round pick in either the 2014 or 2015 draft.
Bernier is 24-years-old and has been the backup for Jonathan Quick for the past couple of seasons. He was taken in the first round of the 2006 draft by the Los Angeles Kings. He was 9-3-1 last season with a 1.88 GAA and a .922 save percentage.
Bernier has never played more than 25 games in a season so no one knows if he could handle an 82 game schedule. He will most likely be splitting time between the pipes with James Reimer, who is the starting goalie for Toronto. Bernier's best season came in the 2010-11 season, when he played in 25 games, had an 11-8-3 record, a 2.36 GAA and a .912 save percentage.
Bernier was set to become a restricted free agent but the Maple Leafs signed him to a two year, $5.8 million contract with a $2.9 million salary cap hit per season.
Ben Scrivens, who was the backup goalie for James Reimer in Toronto, is 26-years-old. He also doesn't have much NHL experience, but will be backing up Quick in Los Angeles.
He went 7-9-0 last season with a 2.69 GAA and a .915 save percentage. He has only played in 32 games in his career and is 11-14-2 with a 2.86 GAA and a .910 save percentage.
Matt Frattin is a 25-year-old winger, who was taken in the fourth round by the Maple Leafs in the 2007 draft. He played 25 games last season with seven goals, six assists, 13 points, and was a +6. In the playoffs, he only had two points and was a +1.
Bernier is 24-years-old and has been the backup for Jonathan Quick for the past couple of seasons. He was taken in the first round of the 2006 draft by the Los Angeles Kings. He was 9-3-1 last season with a 1.88 GAA and a .922 save percentage.
Bernier has never played more than 25 games in a season so no one knows if he could handle an 82 game schedule. He will most likely be splitting time between the pipes with James Reimer, who is the starting goalie for Toronto. Bernier's best season came in the 2010-11 season, when he played in 25 games, had an 11-8-3 record, a 2.36 GAA and a .912 save percentage.
Bernier was set to become a restricted free agent but the Maple Leafs signed him to a two year, $5.8 million contract with a $2.9 million salary cap hit per season.
Ben Scrivens, who was the backup goalie for James Reimer in Toronto, is 26-years-old. He also doesn't have much NHL experience, but will be backing up Quick in Los Angeles.
He went 7-9-0 last season with a 2.69 GAA and a .915 save percentage. He has only played in 32 games in his career and is 11-14-2 with a 2.86 GAA and a .910 save percentage.
Matt Frattin is a 25-year-old winger, who was taken in the fourth round by the Maple Leafs in the 2007 draft. He played 25 games last season with seven goals, six assists, 13 points, and was a +6. In the playoffs, he only had two points and was a +1.
Friday, June 21, 2013
Teams Starting to Fill Coaching Vacancies Before Draft
Alain Vigneault is headed for the bright lights of New York to coach the Rangers. Vigneault was fired by the Canucks after his team was swept right out of the first round of the playoffs by the San Jose Sharks. He made the playoffs six of the seven years he coached the team reaching the Stanley Cup Finals in 2011, where the Canucks lost to the Bruins.
Vigneault is taking over for John Tortorella, who was fired by the Rangers after the team lost their second round playoffs series in five games to the Boston Bruins. Tortorella is thought to be more of a defensive-minded coach while Vigneault is more of an offensive coach. The Rangers only gave up 2.25 goals per game, which was fourth best in the regular season. The only scored 2.62 goals per game in the regular season and that put them in the middle of the pack. (NHL.com story on Vigneault heading to New York)
The Dallas Stars have found their next coach in Lindy Ruff. Ruff was fired by the Buffalo Sabres on March 20 after a disappointing year by his team. He coached for 15 seasons in Buffalo. He had eight appearances in the playoffs including three to the Eastern Conference Finals. Ruff took the team to the Stanley Cup Finals where they lost, ironically, to the Dallas Stars.
The Stars fired their coach, Glen Gulutzan, after another disappointing year. The team has high hopes coming into the season with the emergence of Jamie Benn, and the free agent signing of Jaromir Jagr. The team eventually traded Jagr to the Boston Bruins after it realized it wouldn't be making the playoffs. The Stars haven't been to the playoffs since 2008. (NHL.com story on Ruff hiring)
The Phoenix Coyotes have re-signed their coach, Dave Tippett, to a long-term contract. His contract was set to expire on July 1st. He took over in 2009 after the Coyotes fired Wayne Gretzky. In 2011, the Coyotes won the Pacific Division for the first time and made a run deep into the playoffs before losing to the Los Angeles Kings, the defending champions. The Coyotes have been to the playoffs three of the four years that Tippett has been the coach. (NHL.com story on Tippett staying in Phoenix)
Vigneault is taking over for John Tortorella, who was fired by the Rangers after the team lost their second round playoffs series in five games to the Boston Bruins. Tortorella is thought to be more of a defensive-minded coach while Vigneault is more of an offensive coach. The Rangers only gave up 2.25 goals per game, which was fourth best in the regular season. The only scored 2.62 goals per game in the regular season and that put them in the middle of the pack. (NHL.com story on Vigneault heading to New York)
The Dallas Stars have found their next coach in Lindy Ruff. Ruff was fired by the Buffalo Sabres on March 20 after a disappointing year by his team. He coached for 15 seasons in Buffalo. He had eight appearances in the playoffs including three to the Eastern Conference Finals. Ruff took the team to the Stanley Cup Finals where they lost, ironically, to the Dallas Stars.
The Stars fired their coach, Glen Gulutzan, after another disappointing year. The team has high hopes coming into the season with the emergence of Jamie Benn, and the free agent signing of Jaromir Jagr. The team eventually traded Jagr to the Boston Bruins after it realized it wouldn't be making the playoffs. The Stars haven't been to the playoffs since 2008. (NHL.com story on Ruff hiring)
The Phoenix Coyotes have re-signed their coach, Dave Tippett, to a long-term contract. His contract was set to expire on July 1st. He took over in 2009 after the Coyotes fired Wayne Gretzky. In 2011, the Coyotes won the Pacific Division for the first time and made a run deep into the playoffs before losing to the Los Angeles Kings, the defending champions. The Coyotes have been to the playoffs three of the four years that Tippett has been the coach. (NHL.com story on Tippett staying in Phoenix)
Thursday, June 13, 2013
Stanley Cup Finals: Game 1: Bruins/Blackhawks
The Stanley Cup Finals between the Chicago Blackhawks and the Boston Bruins started off with a bang. The game started on Wednesday night and didn't end until early Thursday morning. Andrew Shaw finally ended the game about midway through the third overtime. It was the fifth longest game in Stanley Cup Final history.
The Bruins top line of Milan Lucic, David Krejci, and Nathan Horton got off to a great start. The line teamed up for the Bruins first two goals and the Blackhawks just didn't seem to have an answer on how to stop them.
Lucic and the Bruins got on the board first. The Bruins dumped the puck into the Blackhawks zone, and Horton took a hit from Niklas Hjalmarsson to make a play. Horton got the puck free, then Krejci picked up the puck along the boards, and put it right on the tape of Lucic's stick. Lucic fired a wrister past goaltender Corey Crawford for a 1-0 Bruins lead.
The Lucic line then went to work again early in the second. This time Lucic won a puck battle in the corner, and got the puck to Krejci, who slid it right back onto the stick of Lucic, who one-timed the puck past Crawford for a 2-0 Bruins lead.
The Blackhawks came back about three minutes later to cut the lead in half. Brandon Saad scored his first goal of the playoffs and Marian Hossa got the assist. Then Michael Frolik tripped up Zdeno Chara and was sent to the penalty box. The Bruins capitalized on the ensuing power play with Patrice Bergeron scoring the goal. Lucic got the puck to Tyler Seguin, who made a cross ice pass to Bergeron, who restored the Bruins two-goal lead.
The Blackhawks wouldn't give up and scored two more goals in the third period. Andrew Shaw got the puck at the blue line and skated it into the Bruins zone. He spotted Dave Bolland coming down the wing and fed him the pass, which Bolland put into the back of the net. Johnny Oduya scored to tie the game 3-3 with about eight minutes remaining in regulation.
Marcus Kruger dropped a pass back to Frolik, who was poke checked along the boards. Kruger picked up the loose puck and pushed it back to Oduya. The defenseman then skated to the middle of the ice and loaded up and took a slap shot. The Blackhawks had plenty of traffic in front of Rask distracting him from making the save.
The first overtime period saw quality scoring chances for each side and the goaltenders stealing the show. Horton left the game in the first overtime and didn't return for the rest of the game. He appeared to shove Hjalmarsson out of his way, and they was grimacing as he skated back to the Bruins bench. The Bruins never released his injury to the press.
If Horton misses any significant time that would be a big blow for the Bruins. The Blackhawks didn't seem to have an answer for his line and the Bruins are already down Gregory Campbell, who broke his fibula in game four of the Eastern Conference Finals.
The second overtime was much like the first but with the Blackhawks getting the better of the chances but again both goalie seemed to be up to the task of stopping the puck.
The third overtime seemed to be a little sloppy with players getting fatigued as the overtime wore on. At 12:08 of the third overtime Shaw deflected the puck off of a Michael Rozsival shot from the point, and sent everyone at the United Center home happy.
The series continues in Chicago on Saturday night on NBC. The Bruins will be looking to even the series at one game a piece, while the Blackhawks will be looking to take 2-0 series lead.
The Bruins top line of Milan Lucic, David Krejci, and Nathan Horton got off to a great start. The line teamed up for the Bruins first two goals and the Blackhawks just didn't seem to have an answer on how to stop them.
Lucic and the Bruins got on the board first. The Bruins dumped the puck into the Blackhawks zone, and Horton took a hit from Niklas Hjalmarsson to make a play. Horton got the puck free, then Krejci picked up the puck along the boards, and put it right on the tape of Lucic's stick. Lucic fired a wrister past goaltender Corey Crawford for a 1-0 Bruins lead.
The Lucic line then went to work again early in the second. This time Lucic won a puck battle in the corner, and got the puck to Krejci, who slid it right back onto the stick of Lucic, who one-timed the puck past Crawford for a 2-0 Bruins lead.
The Blackhawks came back about three minutes later to cut the lead in half. Brandon Saad scored his first goal of the playoffs and Marian Hossa got the assist. Then Michael Frolik tripped up Zdeno Chara and was sent to the penalty box. The Bruins capitalized on the ensuing power play with Patrice Bergeron scoring the goal. Lucic got the puck to Tyler Seguin, who made a cross ice pass to Bergeron, who restored the Bruins two-goal lead.
The Blackhawks wouldn't give up and scored two more goals in the third period. Andrew Shaw got the puck at the blue line and skated it into the Bruins zone. He spotted Dave Bolland coming down the wing and fed him the pass, which Bolland put into the back of the net. Johnny Oduya scored to tie the game 3-3 with about eight minutes remaining in regulation.
Marcus Kruger dropped a pass back to Frolik, who was poke checked along the boards. Kruger picked up the loose puck and pushed it back to Oduya. The defenseman then skated to the middle of the ice and loaded up and took a slap shot. The Blackhawks had plenty of traffic in front of Rask distracting him from making the save.
The first overtime period saw quality scoring chances for each side and the goaltenders stealing the show. Horton left the game in the first overtime and didn't return for the rest of the game. He appeared to shove Hjalmarsson out of his way, and they was grimacing as he skated back to the Bruins bench. The Bruins never released his injury to the press.
If Horton misses any significant time that would be a big blow for the Bruins. The Blackhawks didn't seem to have an answer for his line and the Bruins are already down Gregory Campbell, who broke his fibula in game four of the Eastern Conference Finals.
The second overtime was much like the first but with the Blackhawks getting the better of the chances but again both goalie seemed to be up to the task of stopping the puck.
The third overtime seemed to be a little sloppy with players getting fatigued as the overtime wore on. At 12:08 of the third overtime Shaw deflected the puck off of a Michael Rozsival shot from the point, and sent everyone at the United Center home happy.
The series continues in Chicago on Saturday night on NBC. The Bruins will be looking to even the series at one game a piece, while the Blackhawks will be looking to take 2-0 series lead.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)