Category Archives: Hockey News

Sabres sign Johansson to 2-year, $9M contract

One of the top remaining unrestricted free agents is off the market.

The Buffalo Sabres have signed forward Marcus Johansson to a two-year deal with an average annual value of $4.5 million, the team announced Saturday.

Johansson tallied 30 points in 58 games split between the New Jersey Devils and Boston Bruins last season. The 28-year-old added 11 points in 22 postseason contests during Boston's run to the Stanley Cup Final.

The Swedish winger has been plagued by injuries during the last two seasons, but the last time he was healthy for a full campaign - 2016-17 with the Washington Capitals - he set career highs with 24 goals and 58 points.

The Sabres will hope Johansson can add some secondary scoring to an offense that relied heavily on its top line of Jack Eichel, Jeff Skinner, and Sam Reinhart this past season. All three of these players had at least 63 points, but no other forward recorded more than 34 points.

With a projected $6.7 million in cap space remaining, according to CapFriendly, and no major RFAs left to re-sign, the Sabres still have the flexibility to make more moves.

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Binnington, Trouba among players filing for arbitration

Stanley Cup-winning goaltender Jordan Binnington of the St. Louis Blues and New York Rangers defenseman Jacob Trouba are among a group of players who filed for salary arbitration, the NHLPA announced Friday.

The vast majority of players ultimately sign new deals before their hearing takes place, but here's the full list of NHLers whose contract will be determined by a third-party arbitrator should they fail to agree on a deal with their respective teams beforehand:

Team Player
Anaheim Ducks Chase De Leo
Boston Bruins Danton Heinen
Buffalo Sabres Remi Elie
Sabres Jake McCabe
Sabres Evan Rodrigues
Sabres Linus Ullmark
Calgary Flames Sam Bennett
Flames Ryan Lomberg
Flames David Rittich
Flames Rinat Valiev
Carolina Hurricanes Anton Forsberg
Hurricanes Brock McGinn
Colorado Avalanche J.T. Compher
Avalanche Sheldon Dries
Avalanche Ryan Graves
Dallas Stars Jason Dickinson
Florida Panthers MacKenzie Weegar
Los Angeles Kings Alex Iafallo
Montreal Canadiens Joel Armia
Canadiens Charles Hudon
Canadiens Artturi Lehkonen
Nashville Predators Rocco Grimaldi
Predators Colton Sissons
New Jersey Devils Will Butcher
Devils Connor Carrick
Devils Mirco Mueller
New York Rangers Pavel Buchnevich
Rangers Jacob Trouba
Philadelphia Flyers Scott Laughton
Pittsburgh Penguins Zach Aston-Reese
St. Louis Blues Jordan Binnington
Blues Joel Edmundson
Blues Zach Sanford
Blues Oskar Sundqvist
Vegas Golden Knights Malcolm Subban
Washington Capitals Christian Djoos
Capitals Chandler Stephenson
Winnipeg Jets Andrew Copp
Jets Neal Pionk

Tampa Bay Lightning forward Cedric Paquette also filed but signed a two-year contract shortly thereafter.

The player-elected salary-arbitration deadline was Friday at 5 p.m. ET. The club-elected deadline is Saturday at the same time.

Arbitration hearings will be held in Toronto from July 20 through Aug. 4.

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Sens owner Melnyk claims local politician called him ‘a f—–g loser’

Warning: Story contains coarse language

Ottawa Senators owner Eugene Melnyk is alleging a member of Ontario's provincial Parliament spewed a profanity-laced rant to his face at a Rolling Stones concert just outside of Barrie, Ontario on Saturday, according to the Ottawa Sun's Blair Crawford.

"So I'm just there, we've got families and friends in a small group and I'm surrounded by people from Ottawa - and I see from the corner of my eye somebody trying to bust through," Melnyk told the Sun in a phone interview Thursday.

"I'm thinking, 'OK, might be a crazed fan' and that's fine. I've gotten used to it. And all of a sudden it's this woman and she yells at me, 'Do you know who I am?'

"I can't place her so I said, 'I'm sorry. No.' And she yells, 'I am your minister and you're a fucking piece of shit and you're a fucking loser.'"

Lisa MacLeod, the Conservative party Ottawa-based MPP who approached Melnyk, did not provide an account of the exchange to The Sun, but she did take to Twitter on Friday morning to address it.

Melnyk claimed he didn't recognize MacLeod but said he was familiar with Susan Truppe, MacLeod's director of public affairs and deputy chief of staff, standing a few meters behind her. Truppe had introduced herself to Melnyk and handed him her card just an hour before the incident.

"So I said, 'Are you Lisa MacLeod? I just met your…' I didn't even get to finish my sentence and she said 'Fuck you' and turned around and walked away," Melnyk continued.

"I see Susan Truppe and she just kind of shrugs and puts her hands up, and they all just walked away," he said.

"I'm 'Whoa. What just happened?'"

Truppe told the Sun she saw Melnyk and MacLeod talking but didn't hear what was said.

"I don't even know what he's talking about," Truppe said. "I certainly didn't hear that. I remember watching what it was, but I didn't hear that whatsoever."

Melnyk said he wrote a letter to Ontario Premier Doug Ford, telling him he has a "loose cannon out there," referring to MacLeod. Melnyk added he later received a call from Ford regarding the incident.

The Senators' outspoken owner has made headlines for all the wrong reasons as his team has toiled in the NHL's basement over the last couple of seasons. MacLeod, meanwhile, hasn't been perfect herself. She was criticized for her handling of the provincial autism file and was recently demoted in a shuffling of Ford's cabinet.

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Avalanche sign Zadorov to 1-year deal reportedly worth $3.2M

The Colorado Avalanche are bringing back their most physical defenseman.

Nikita Zadorov agreed to a one-year contract to remain with the Avalanche, the club announced Friday. The pact carries a cap hit of $3.2 million, according to The Athletic's Ryan S. Clark.

Zadorov ranked sixth among NHL blue-liners with 228 hits in 70 games last season and tied for third in the league in hits per contest (3.3) among rearguards with at least 50 games played.

The 24-year-old was a restricted free agent coming off a two-year, $4.3-million contract he signed with Colorado in September 2017, according to CapFriendly.

Zadorov spent the last four seasons with the Avalanche, who acquired him from the Buffalo Sabres in the Ryan O'Reilly trade in 2015.

The Sabres selected him 16th overall in 2013.

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Penguins sign head coach Sullivan to 4-year extension

The Pittsburgh Penguins have signed head coach Mike Sullivan to a four-year contract extension, the club announced Friday.

The deal will begin after the upcoming season and run through the 2023-24 campaign.

"Mike has done a great job delivering four 100-plus-point seasons with our team," general manager Jim Rutherford said. "To win back-to-back Stanley Cups in this era speaks volumes of him as a coach. His instincts in managing the interworkings of our team both on and off the ice has been impressive."

Along with winning two Stanley Cups, Sullivan has posted a regular-season record of 174-92-34 across four years in Pittsburgh.

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Report: Lightning ink Paquette to 2-year contract

The Tampa Bay Lightning have signed restricted free-agent forward Cedric Paquette to a two-year deal with an average annual value of $1.65 million, a source told The Athletic's Joe Smith.

Paquette is an Energizer Bunny of sorts for the Bolts. He finished sixth in the NHL with 269 hits last season and managed to chip in offensively with a career-high 13 goals. He also had his best season in the faceoff circle, winning 52.6 percent of his draws at even strength.

The Lightning now have $5.57 million remaining in projected cap space with three RFAs - including 41-goal scorer Brayden Point - left to sign.

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Blue Jackets re-sign Harrington to 3-year deal

The Columbus Blue Jackets have re-signed restricted free-agent defenseman Scott Harrington to a three-year contract, the team announced Friday.

The deal carries an average annual value of $1.63 million, according to Aaron Portzline of The Athletic.

Harrington is known more for his contributions on the defensive side of the puck rather than the offensive side. He had 17 points and 81 blocked shots while averaging just over 13 minutes per game in a career-high 73 contests last season. He skated in all 10 of Columbus' playoff games, tallying four assists.

The 26-year-old is arguably the team's best penalty-killing blue-liner. Among the five defensemen who regularly killed penalties for the Blue Jackets last season, Harrington was on the ice for the fewest high-danger scoring chances against and fewest goals against per 60 minutes when the team was shorthanded, according to Natural Stat Trick.

Originally a second-round pick of the Pittsburgh Penguins in 2011, Harrington was traded to the Toronto Maple Leafs in 2015 as a part of the Phil Kessel trade. He was sent to the Jackets a year later in exchange for Kerby Rychel.

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