Virtanen spent six seasons in Vancouver after the Canucks selected him sixth overall in 2014. He enjoyed a career year in 2019-20, tallying 18 goals and 18 assists over 69 games. However, he recorded just five points across 38 contests last season.
The 25-year-old was sued for sexual assault in May. The Canucks placed him on leave for the rest of the season before buying out the remainder of his contract in July.
Bergevin added that the lucrative one-year deal Kotkanemi signed with the Carolina Hurricanes also played a role.
"Would we have loved to have kept (Kotkaniemi)? Of course," Bergevin said, according to Sportsnet's Eric Engels. "But not at $6.1 million and not with Christian Dvorak available to us."
Bergevin added that matching the offer sheet would've affected the team's future cap management with "players we wanted to keep" moving forward, TSN's John Lu reports. Kotkanemi's qualifying offer for next season will be $6.1 million.
The Canadiens received a first-round pick and third-rounder from the Canes for not matching the one-year, $6.1-million offer sheet for Kotkaniemi. Montreal then flipped a first- and second-rounder to the Arizona Coyotes for Dvorak.
Dvorak, 25, has four years remaining on his contract carrying a $4.45-million cap hit. He recorded 17 goals and 14 assists in 56 contests last season while averaging 18:24 of ice time per game.
Bergevin is excited to see how Dvorak's reliable, two-way game translates to the Canadiens.
"He won't wow you but he's detailed, plays an honest game," Bergevin said. "He'll have 'different wingers' (that is, more skilled) than he did in Arizona."
Bergevin also said the club was proposing a two-year bridge deal to Kotkaniemi at a price lower than the offer sheet.
Kotkaniemi, 21, tallied just five goals and 15 assists in 56 games this past season. He's failed to meet expectations since being taken third overall in the 2018 draft.
Bergevin added that, in hindsight, it would've been beneficial to let Kotkaniemi play another year in Finland instead of bringing him to the NHL as an 18-year-old in 2018-19.
Eichel's agents Peter Fish and Peter Donatelli released a statement Friday night in response to general manager Kevyn Adams' comments, in which the executive said he "doesn't feel any pressure" to trade the superstar center.
Eichel's representatives explained their displeasure with the organization for not moving their client nor allowing him to have his preferred method of surgery to treat a herniated disc in his neck.
"The process is not working. As previously stated, we fully anticipated a trade by the start of the NHL free-agency period," the statement reads. "After the agreed-upon and prescribed period for conservative rehabilitation lapsed in early June 2021, it was determined by the Sabres medical staff that a surgical procedure was required.
"The recommendation by Jack's independent neurosurgeon, other spine specialists consulted, and the surgery Jack feels most comfortable having in order to correct a herniated disc in his neck is to proceed with artificial disc replacement surgery. A further point of concern is that our camp was initially under the impression that the Sabres specialist was in agreement with the artificial disc replacement surgery until that was no longer the case.
"What is being left out of the discussion is that Jack would be able to play in the NHL for the start of the season pending medical clearance if he were allowed to have the surgery he desires even as of this date. Repeated requests have been made to the Sabres since early June to no avail. This process is stopping Jack from playing in the NHL and it is not working."
Eichel missed the final 33 games of the 2020-21 campaign due to the herniated disc. He discussed his position with the front office in his end-of-season press conference, saying "I’ve been a bit upset about the ways things have been handled" and "there's been a bit of a disconnect (between) the organization and myself."
As stated by his agents, Eichel wants to have the surgery, but the Sabres appear cautious of the idea, possibly since it's a relatively new procedure and hasn't been performed on an NHL player before.
Eichel also added during that presser he wants to get healthy and play next season "wherever that may be."
Adams responded two days later, saying the team will move forward "with the people who want to be here."
Trade rumors have circulated since the exchange, but nothing has come to fruition as of yet.
The 25-year-old will be a restricted free agent after the 2021-22 campaign.
Concussions limited Kase to just three games last season before the Boston Bruins non-tendered him ahead of free agency.
In his last full campaign in 2019-20, Kase tallied 24 points in 55 games. However, he displayed plenty of promise in the two seasons prior with the Anaheim Ducks, averaging 27 goals and 23 assists per 82 contests.
Kase posted strong underlying numbers across his last three healthy seasons, particularly at even strength.
Evolving-Hockey.com
The Czech Republic native, who's primarily played right wing, is looking to revive his career in Toronto. Given the Maple Leafs' lack of forward depth, Kase could conceivably play on one of the team's top two lines with either Auston Matthews or John Tavares.
However, the biggest key surrounding Kase will be his health. He played in two games in January, missed nearly four months, returned for less than seven minutes in May, and hasn't played since.
Reaves has a reputation as the league's toughest customer. The 6-foot-1, 225-pound heavyweight appeared in 37 games with the Golden Knights last season, tallying one goal, four assists, and 27 penalty minutes. The latter was low by his standards, but he's typically so feared it can be tough for him to get a fight.
The 34-year-old has one season left on his contract with a $1.75-million cap hit.
Newly minted Rangers general manager Chris Drury has made a clear effort to add sandpaper to his club in his first offseason at the helm. The team has already brought in checking wingers Barclay Goodrow and Sammy Blais, as well as towering defensemen Patrik Nemeth and Jarred Tinordi.
Wilson and Reaves have fought each other twice before, according to HockeyFights.com. Reaves manhandled Wilson in their last bout in 2014. Wilson wrestled Reaves to the ice in their first tilt in 2013.
The Caps and Rangers are set to meet in the 2021-22 season opener.
Smith, 32, spent parts of the last five seasons with the New York Rangers. He registered five goals and five assists in 48 games last campaign.
"Brendan is a veteran defenseman who will add physicality and toughness to our lineup," Hurricanes general manager Don Waddell said.
Smith has shown versatility throughout his career, spending most of the 2019-20 season playing forward.
The Detroit Red Wings drafted Smith in the first round in 2007. He spent parts of six campaigns in the Motor City before being dealt to the Big Apple in 2016-17.
The Hurricanes have undergone multiple changes on their blue line this offseason. They lost Dougie Hamilton in free agency and traded away Jake Bean but acquired Ethan Bear, Ian Cole, Tony DeAngelo, and now Smith - who projects to serve as the club's seventh or eighth defenseman.
Ryan Suter may be 36 years old, but he believes he's entering his prime.
"I think I can play until I'm 45 if I want," the newest Dallas Stars defenseman said Thursday, according to NHL.com's Tracey Myers. "I just think the way I play. My play hasn't gone down over the last 10 years. I think it's actually gotten better."
Suter signed a four-year deal with the Stars on Wednesday at $3.65-million per season. The contract takes him through his age-40 campaign. The Minnesota Wild bought out the final four seasons ($7.54-million AAV) of Suter's deal on July 13.
The former Nashville Predator is coming off arguably his worst campaign in over a decade. His 0.34 points per game were his worst since 2006-07, and his average ice time of 22:11 was his lowest since 2007-08.
The analytics suggest Suter is declining:
Decent money for Suter, but that fourth year seems very misguided. Especially true if Suter's value here is heavily influenced by playing with Spurgeon pic.twitter.com/4yCsNNlRmh
— dom at the athletic (@domluszczyszyn) July 28, 2021
However, the Stars, and other teams Suter talked to, believe he'll age gracefully.
"It was a good conversation I had with all the teams, and a lot of them felt the same way I did, like, 'You can play as long as you want the way you play. You really don't get hit that often. You think the game, you make good hard passes, you're in shape, you take care of your body,'" Suter said. "So just kind of all those things give me a lot of confidence that I can play after this contract if I want to."
Stars general manager Jim Nill compared Suter to a certain Hall of Fame defenseman who displayed some uncanny longevity.
"He reminds me a lot of Chris Chelios when I was in Detroit, one of those guys who doesn't seem to age," Nill said Wednesday. "He's the type of player that can be on a minute-and-a-half shift, come back to the bench, and in 10 seconds, the coach can tap him on the shoulder, he's ready to go again. He's a heavy body, he's got iron lungs, and he's a great skater."
Day 1 of the NHL's free-agent frenzy is in the books, and what a day it was. According to CapFriendly, more than $783 million was spent on over 160 signings Wednesday.
Below, we dive into the winners and losers from Wednesday's festivities. Moves made in the days leading up to free agency were also considered for this exercise.
Winners
New Jersey Devils
Gregg Forwerck / National Hockey League / Getty
The Devils made the biggest splash of the day, signing prized free-agent defenseman Dougie Hamilton to a seven-year contract with an average annual value of $9 million.
Hamilton, a true No. 1 blue-liner, was the best free agent available. He's 6-foot-6, shoots right, skates well, and has tallied 82 points in his last 102 regular-season games. He also perennially posts excellent underlying numbers and projects to age well over the course of his deal.
Dougie Hamilton, who is better than Seth Jones and is somehow being paid $500K less, signs the best deal of the day. pic.twitter.com/Mo1vOUM2hH
— dom at the athletic (@domluszczyszyn) July 28, 2021
The fact that the Devils locked him in for $500,000 less per season than the Chicago Blackhawks recently paid Seth Jones is a huge win.
New Jersey's blue line is shaping up to be pretty solid. The team already had enough decent rearguards but really needed an anchor like Hamilton to elevate those around him and push others down the lineup. Here's the Devils' projected depth chart:
LD
RD
Ryan Graves
Dougie Hamilton
Jonas Siegenthaler
Damon Severson
Ty Smith
P.K. Subban
The club still has over $20 million in cap space, and Subban's contract comes off the books after next season. In addition to the 21-year-old Smith, who's coming off a stellar rookie campaign, the Devils also have Kevin Bahl and 2021 fourth overall pick Luke Hughes coming through the system.
When the Devils are ready to contend in a year or two, Hamilton should still be elite.
Tampa Bay Lightning
Icon Sportswire / Icon Sportswire / Getty
It was inevitable that the Lightning would get worse this offseason, but general manager Julien BriseBois is doing everything in his power to give his club its best chance at three-peating.
The Lightning are now cap compliant after losing Yanni Gourde in the expansion draft and tradingTyler Johnson, along with a second-round pick, to the Chicago Blackhawks in exchange for Brent Seabrook's LTIR-headed contract (a deal that will actually help the Bolts gain $1.8 million in cap space).
The cost of a second-round pick to get rid of Johnson's deal isn't all that bad.
BriseBois' best piece of work was inking superstar center Brayden Point to an eight-year extension with a $9.5-million cap hit that kicks in for the 2022-23 campaign. Point's cap hit is identical to fellow team pillars Nikita Kucherov and Andrei Vasilevskiy.
The Lightning also shored up the edges of their roster with three solid deals. Rock-solid defender Zach Bogosian joined on an ultra team-friendly, three-year deal that carries a cap hit just above the league minimum at $850,000. Pierre-Edouard Bellemare, a superb penalty-killing, fourth-line center comes in on a two-year contract with a $1-million cap hit. Lastly, veteran backup goalie Brian Elliott signed a one-year, $900,000 pact.
Tampa Bay could make more depth signings but can also rely on bigger roles from youngsters like Ross Colton, Mathieu Joseph, and Boris Katchouk. Based on the Lightning's excellent player development track record, all three could be impact players in the team's bottom-six forward group next season.
The Avalanche already accomplished the two biggest items on their offseason to-do list. The third - re-signing Philipp Grubauer - did not come to fruition, but it may be a blessing in disguise.
Grubauer inked a six-year deal with the Seattle Kraken, which pays him $5.9 million per season. That's a hefty price for a 29-year-old who was propped up mightily by the excellent team in front of him. Grubauer was a Vezina finalist but only ranked 13th in the league in goals-saved above expected.
The Avs replaced Grubauer with Darcy Kuemper. Yes, they had to give up a first-round pick and Conor Timmins to acquire him, but he's arguably better than Grubauer and will only count for $3.5 million against the cap next season. Colorado has a clear Stanley Cup window for the next two years before Nathan MacKinnon's bargain contract expires.
Kuemper is coming off a down year but was fantastic in 2019-20, posting a .928 save percentage and a 2.22 goals-against average while finishing second in the league in goals-saved above expected. If he can return to that form in front of Colorado's elite team defense, look out.
Losers
Edmonton Oilers
Andy Devlin / National Hockey League / Getty
Ken Holland helped build the Detroit Red Wings' dynasty of the late '90s and early 2000s, but the Oilers general manager's reputation has taken a turn for the worse over the past couple of weeks.
The Oilers made a handful of questionable moves Wednesday, leaving them with one of the most suspect blue lines in the league.
Edmonton brought back Tyson Barrie on a three-year contract with a $4.5-million cap hit, signed Cody Ceci to a four-year pact that carries a $3.25-million hit, and traded defenseman Ethan Bear for forward Warren Foegele.
The Bear-for-Foegele trade isn't entirely bad in itself, but the fact that the Oilers shipped out a promising, homegrown blue-liner to make room for Barrie and Ceci is bad optics. Here's Edmonton's projected blue line:
LD
RD
Darnell Nurse
Tyson Barrie
Duncan Keith
Cody Ceci
Kris Russell
Evan Bouchard
Outside of Nurse, this back end is littered with question marks. Barrie is gifted offensively but is a defensive liability. Keith is in serious decline. Ceci is a No. 6 D-man at best. Russell is 34. Bouchard has plenty of potential but is still unproven.
Whichever twosome that head coach Dave Tippett decides to deploy as his shutdown pairing will get exploited by opposing top lines.
Holland did do well to improve Edmonton's forward depth, bringing in Foegele, Derek Ryan, and Zach Hyman, but the latter's seven-year deal worth $5.5 million per season is a massive overpay. The 29-year-old has had two knee surgeries, and workhorses tend not to age well.
The Oilers also didn't address their issues between the pipes, missing out on all the top free-agent options and failing to pull the trigger on a deal for Kuemper. The possibility of another season with a Mike Smith-Mikko Koskinen tandem inspires little confidence.
Vegas Golden Knights
Ethan Miller / Getty Images Sport / Getty
The Golden Knights are having the worst offseason in team history. They traded franchise icon and reigning Vezina Trophy winner Marc-Andre Fleury for virtually nothing Tuesday.
While many assumed the newfound $7 million in cap space would be used to make a big splash - as the club has been known to do in its brief existence - nothing of that nature came to fruition.
Instead, Vegas brought in Laurent Brossoit to back up Robin Lehner, re-signed deadline acquisition Mattias Janmark, and traded for Evgenii Dadonov. The latter move is especially puzzling considering the 32-year-old appears to be in decline coming off a dreadful 20-point campaign and has two years left on his deal with a $5-million cap hit.
Dadonov is, at best, Vegas' sixth-best winger, meaning he's destined for the third line. The Golden Knights' biggest need was at center, but they failed to address it.
Grubauer, the former Avs starter, signed a six-year deal with the Seattle Kraken on Wednesday.
Kuemper is in the final year of his contract, which carries a $4.5-million cap hit, but the Coyotes are retaining $1 million, per Sportsnet's Chris Johnston.
The 31-year-old is coming off a down year by his standards, as he posted a .907 save percentage and a 2.56 goals-against average in 27 games. He also battled injuries throughout the campaign.
However, in the three seasons prior, Kuemper owned a .924 save percentage and a 2.35 goals-against average in 113 appearances. He finished fourth in the league in goals saved above average in 2018-19 and 2019-20, receiving down-ballot Vezina Trophy votes each year.
The 6-foot-5 Saskatchewan native also helped Canada win gold at the 2021 World Championship, posting a .916 save percentage and a 2.17 goals-against average in eight games.
Timmins, meanwhile, was chosen 32nd overall by the Avalanche in 2017. The 6-foot-2 right-handed blue-liner has registered seven assists in 33 career NHL games.
Coyotes have now acquired two first-round picks, six second-rounders, a third-round selection, and a pair of seventh-round picks so far this offseason as they continue to rebuild.
