Bogosian split the 2019-20 campaign between the Buffalo Sabres and the Tampa Bay Lightning, tallying seven points in 27 games. He skated in 20 playoff contests during the Lightning's Stanley Cup title run, chipping in with four assists while averaging nearly 18 minutes per game.
The 30-year-old will add a much-needed imposing presence to Toronto's blue line. The right-handed defenseman stands 6-foot-3 and weighs 221 pounds, and he racked up 44 hits this past postseason.
Bogosian was drafted third overall in 2008 and has been widely considered a bust, but he's battled numerous injuries during his 12-year career.
However, while healthy and on a playoff team for the first time, Bogosian was a valuable contributor for the Lightning. He spent much of the playoffs paired with Victor Hedman and posting strong underlying numbers, including a 59% Corsi For percentage and a 52.5% expected goals percentage - although the former Norris Trophy winner certainly helped prop up Bogosian.
Toronto also added TJ Brodie to its back end on Friday.
The Maple Leafs needed to clear cap space after signing TJ Brodie on Friday, and Johnsson was the odd man out. He's inked for three more years with an annual cap hit of $3.4 million, according to CapFriendly.
Johnsson, 25, racked up 20 goals and 23 assists in 2018-19, finishing eighth in Calder Trophy voting. He took a step back during an injury-riddled 2019-20 campaign, though, recording eight goals and 13 assists in 43 games.
Anderson, the Devils' third-round pick in 2016, has tallied 13 points in 52 career NHL games. The 22-year-old is currently a restricted free agent.
Fast had spent all of his 422-game NHL career thus far in the Big Apple. The 28-year-old was on pace for a career-year offensively last season before the shutdown, tallying 12 goals and 29 points in 69 games.
The speedy winger will add a physical component to the Hurricanes' attack, as he's logged 99-plus hits in each of the last six seasons.
The Calgary Flames landed another former member of the Vancouver Canucks, signing defenseman Chris Tanev to a four-year contract carrying an average annual value of $4.5 million, the team announced Friday.
Calgary signed former Canucks goaltender Jacob Markstrom to a six-year, $36-million contract earlier Friday.
Tanev tied a career high with 20 points in 69 games during the 2019-20 season while averaging 19:32 of ice time per contest. He's posted strong defensive metrics for the majority of his career but took a step back in 2019-20, according to HockeyViz's isolated five-on-five impact.
Red is good in the offensive zone (top row), blue is good in the defensive zone (bottom).
hockeyviz.com
One of the knocks on Tanev has been his inability to stay healthy, as he's never played more than 70 games in a season (though he likely would have this season if it weren't for the pause).
The 30-year-old will help replace the departed TJ Brodie, who signed a similar four-year, $20-million contract with the Toronto Maple Leafs earlier Friday. Travis Hamonic, another key cog on the Flames' blue line for the past few seasons, also remains an unrestricted free agent.
As it stands, the Flames' blue line projects to look something like this:
LD
RD
Mark Giordano
Rasmus Andersson
Noah Hanifin
Chris Tanev
Juuso Valimaki
Oliver Kylington
The Flames are left with a projected $6.4 million in cap space, according to CapFriendly, and still need to re-sign RFAs Kylington and Andrew Mangiapane.
Brodie is left-handed but he's spent the majority of his career playing the right side with Mark Giordano on Calgary's top pairing. The 30-year-old tallied 19 points in 64 games last season while averaging over 20 minutes per night.
The Maple Leafs are now $1.1 million over the salary cap and still have a pair of restricted free agents to re-sign in Ilya Mikheyev and Travis Dermott, per CapFriendly.
Keeping all three RFAs will be no easy task. Though teams can exceed the cap by 10% in the offseason, general manager Julien BriseBois must shed significant salary before he can hand out contracts to his three important youngsters. If he doesn't lock them into new deals before free agency opens Friday at noon ET, they'll be free to sign offer sheets from cap-rich teams, putting BriseBois in a pickle.
Offer sheets are extremely rare - mainly because it typically takes an absurd proposal to keep an RFA's team from matching. But that's not the case this offseason. Another club could potentially sign Cirelli, Sergachev, or Cernak to a reasonable offer sheet that still leaves BriseBois unable to match.
What will the RFAs cost?
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Before we dive into the deals the Lightning's RFAs could command, it's important to keep offer-sheet compensation in mind:
Here is the updated offer sheet compensation tiers for the 2020 off-season (it is still possible that these values can slightly change).
Let's start with Cirelli. Centers are extremely difficult to come by in the NHL. There's none of significance hitting unrestricted free agency this offseason and few available via trade. Cirelli is no ordinary pivot, either. He's one of the best defensive centers in the game - he finished fourth in Selke Trophy voting this past season - and is only 23 years old.
With favorable weather, minimal media attention, and no state income tax, Tampa is arguably the most desirable location for NHL players. But even on a bridge deal, Cirelli would likely cost the Bolts at least $4.5 million per season. He shouldn't approach the $6.75-million average annual value teammate Brayden Point secured last offseason, but he's certainly worth far more than Jakub Vrana's $3.35-million annual cap hit - even after accounting for Tampa's tax advantage.
With an offer sheet, however, it wouldn't be shocking if a center-needy team offered a seven-year pact with an AAV of around $8.5 million. Such an offer would cost the submitting club a first-, a second-, and a third-round pick. That may seem pricey now, but as a potential perennial Selke Trophy candidate, Cirelli could easily end up being worth the commitment.
Chase Agnello-Dean / National Hockey League / Getty
Sergachev has had the luxury of playing behind Victor Hedman and Ryan McDonagh to begin his career, but the former ninth overall pick has flashed potential as a No. 1 blue-liner despite facing softer matchups. A bridge deal would likely cost the Lightning at least $3.5 million per season, appropriately slotting Sergachev somewhere between Charlie McAvoy's $4.9-million cap hit and Brandon Carlo's $2.85-million AAV (both players signed their current deals in 2019).
Considering Sergachev's upside, a seven-year contract in the range of $8 million a season is realistic as far as offer sheets go. Like the hypothetical Cirelli offer sheet, that deal would cost the poaching team a first-, a second-, and a third-round pick - and would be next to impossible for the Bolts to match in their current state.
Cernak is clearly not on the same level as Cirelli or Sergachev, but physical right-handed defensemen like him are highly coveted around the league. He would likely only cost around $2 million per season - slightly less than Carlo - for the Lightning to retain on a bridge deal. But another team could value him at a $4.36-million AAV on a five-year offer sheet, which would only cost the suitor a second-round pick. If the Lightning prioritize new deals for Cirelli and Sergachev before turning to Cernak, such a contract could become too rich for Tampa Bay.
Who will be traded to make cap room?
Mark Blinch / National Hockey League / Getty
Even if the Lightning manage to re-sign Cirelli, Sergachev, and Cernak to our conservative bridge-deal estimates, they'll be roughly $6.5 million over the cap - while carrying just 18 skaters and two goalies. That means Tampa Bay must move out at least two rather large contracts.
Fortunately for the team, Johnson has reportedly provided a list of several clubs he'd be willing to join in a trade. Lightning fans can basically say their farewells at this point.
Alex Killorn also seems likely to be dealt. He's the only non-core player with a high AAV ($4.45 million) who doesn't have a full no-trade clause. He can submit a 16-team no-trade list, though.
Moving those two players would give Tampa Bay just over $1 million in cap space. And again, that's with conservative RFA contracts and only 18 skaters. To create a bit more wiggle room, the team could trade Cedric Paquette. Even with a modest $1.65-million AAV, he's a luxury the Lightning may not be able to afford for their fourth line. Perhaps BriseBois could ship out veterans Braydon Coburn ($1.7 million) and Curtis McElhinney ($1.3 million) in the final year of their deals, though there may not be many takers.
In addition to potentially losing Johnson, Killorn, Paquette, Coburn, and McElhinney, it will also be extremely difficult for the Bolts to re-sign key pending UFAs Kevin Shattenkirk and Zach Bogosian. Tampa will likely have to fill out the roster using organizational depth or bargain free agents.
Bottom line: If the Lightning can't shed some serious salary before free agency begins, there's a real opportunity for teams to poach Cirelli, Sergachev, and Cernak from the reigning champs. No pressure, BriseBois.
The Ottawa, Ontario native has now been dealt three times in the last year and a half. In February 2019 the Vancouver Canucks traded Gudbranson to the Pittsburgh Penguins for Tanner Pearson, and the Pens shipped the 28-year-old to Anaheim for Andreas Martinsen and a seventh-round pick in October 2019.
The 6-foot-5 blue-liner tallied nine points in 51 games this past season with 89 hits and 95 penalty minutes.
"Erik Gudbranson provides another sizable presence to our defense corps," Senators general manager Pierre Dorion said. "He's a reliable veteran who plays an intimidating style of game and someone who will add a combination of grit, energy, and most importantly, leadership to our lineup."
Gudbranson carries a $4-million cap hit next season before he becomes a free agent in 2021. The deal creates precious cap room for the Ducks and will help the Senators reach the cap floor.
The Florida Panthers drafted Gubranson third overall in 2010.
The 26-year-old rearguard is signed for two more seasons with an annual cap hit of $2.7 million, per CapFriendly. He'll help fill a hole on the left side of Florida's blue line following Mike Matheson's departure, who the team traded to the Pittsburgh Penguins on Sept. 24.
Nutivaara tallied nine points in 37 contests last season and has played 244 career NHL games.
The Buffalo Sabres originally picked Pu in the third round in 2016. He notched a pair of assists in 10 AHL games last season.
Dallas Stars forward Tyler Seguin suffered a torn labrum in his hip during the playoffs, the team announced Thursday. He's currently exploring options for surgery, which could carry a recovery time of four months.
If the 2020-21 NHL campaign begins on its target date of Jan. 1, Seguin would likely miss the first month of the season.
The injury explains why Seguin was held in check for most of the postseason. He tallied just two goals and 11 assists in 26 games during Dallas' run to the Stanley Cup Final.
General manager Jim Nill revealed a long list of injuries the rest of his team battled throughout the playoffs, though Seguin's ailment is likely the only one that will carry over into next season:
