"We are very pleased to sign Kevin to a contract extension," general manager John Chayka said. "Kevin is a versatile defenseman with a great work ethic. He had an excellent season last year and he adds depth to our blue line. We're happy to have him back."
Connauton, 28, is coming off a very respectable season for the Desert Dogs, as the underrated rearguard registered a career high in goals (11) and chipped in with 10 assists in just over 15 minutes of ice time per night.
Sheahan didn't receive a qualifying offer from the Pens before Monday's deadline, making an unrestricted free agent, and he could've signed with any team on July 1.
Coming off a season in which he scored just two goals with the Detroit Red Wings, Sheahan rebounded nicely in 2017-18 with the Penguins, tallying 11 goals and 32 points.
Smith-Pelly, who was previously set to be a restricted free agent, was not given a qualifying offer by the Caps prior to Monday's deadline, granting him unrestricted status. He therefore could've signed with any team he wanted on July 1, but apparently chose to remain in D.C.
His decision to stay came in spite of multiple offers - including a two-year deal - that were worth more, according to The Athletic's Pierre LeBrun.
Smith-Pelly had just seven goals in 75 regular-season games in 2017-18, but matched that total in only 24 playoff contests. The 26-year-old will likely fulfill a fourth-line role with the Caps once again next season.
He might not be generating the kind of attention that another highly sought-after center is, but Sabres pivot Ryan O'Reilly's name has been in the mix regarding a potential deal out of Buffalo over the last couple weeks.
Most recently, reports indicated the team had a deal in place during Friday's draft that would have sent O'Reilly to the Montreal Canadiens in exchange for a first-round pick. However, that deal did not exist, according Buffalo general manager Jason Botterill.
"There are a ton of rumors our there about Ryan and I think a lot of them are very creative," Botterill told Mike Harrington of the Buffalo News.
Botterill was then asked whether there was a deal in place at the draft, to which he responded, "No."
O'Reilly has been drawing interest from a number of clubs recently, including the Canadiens, who have an obvious need at the center position. The 27-year-old enjoyed a solid offensive campaign for the Sabres last season, racking up 24 goals and 37 assists in 81 games.
He has five years remaining on his current contract, which carries an annual average value of $7.5 million.
Berube split this past season between the Blackhawks and the AHL's Rockford IceHogs, posting an .894 save percentage in 13 NHL games.
Schroeder spent most of the campaign with the Cleveland Monsters, racking up 36 points in 48 AHL contests while adding a pair of points in 21 NHL appearances in 2017-18.
It was a compelling deal that, as general manager Jim Rutherford noted, is par for the course in the modern NHL.
"This is just part of the system now," Rutherford told reporters, via Jonathan Bombulie of the Tribune Review. "It makes it hard to keep all the players. If you're going to free up cap space these are the things you have to do."
With the deal, the Penguins were able to shed $5.25 million in cap space which could be used on a defenseman. And as Rutherford admits, adding another D-man is his priority going into the offseason.
Rutherford: “Our priority in this offseason is to add another defenseman.” He adds that creating balance through the entire lineup is also important.
TSN's Darren Dreger reported a trade call was pending Wednesday, and Penguins general manager Jim Rutherford confirmed the move to The Athletic's Josh Yohe shortly thereafter.
The pick is a 2019 fourth-round selection that can become a third-rounder, according to Dreger.
There is no salary being retained in the deal, Sportsnet's Chris Johnston reports. Sheary is on the books for $3 million over the next two seasons, and Hunwick is also under contract for two more years at a cap hit of $2.25 million.
Sheary potted 18 goals this past season and 23 goals in 2016-17, often playing on Sidney Crosby's wing. He was a member of the Penguins' back-to-back Stanley Cup championship squads, and played parts of three seasons with the club after being signed as an undrafted NCAA free agent out of UMass-Amherst.
This latest news comes after it was originally reported that Tavares would take additional calls from two to three other clubs, possibly meeting with one or two of them in person.
The Los Angeles Kings' star defenseman was already in line for a sizable raise on his next deal, but Carlson's eight-year, $64-million agreement bodes even better for Doughty, who has one year left at $7 million and can begin negotiating an extension on July 1.
Erik Karlsson is in the same boat as Doughty, with one more season left on his current contract at $6.5 million, but his future remains unclear (and his payday could balloon significantly if he lands with a team with significant cap flexibility like the Vegas Golden Knights), so that deal is a bit more difficult to predict.
As for Doughty, the Kings will have their work cut out for them in terms of clearing cap space, especially after signing Ilya Kovalchuk - but they'll clearly do whatever it takes to get their franchise blue-liner locked in long term.
Let's take a look at the factors that what will undoubtedly impact Doughty's negotiations:
The comparables
Player
Age
Cap Hit
Years
Total Value
Years Left
P.K. Subban
29
$9M
8
$72M
4
Brent Burns
33
$8M
8
$64M
7
John Carlson
28
$8M
8
$64M
8
Erik Karlsson
28
$6.5M
7
$45.5M
1
Oliver Ekman-Larsson
26
$5.5M
6
$33M
1
P.K. Subban's contract is the richest among NHL defensemen, and Carlson's new one puts him into a tie with Brent Burns for second-richest.
Karlsson is obviously in line for a mega-deal of his own at some point, either in the form of an extension before the summer of 2019, or as an unrestricted free agent.
All of these players' contracts will only serve to strengthen Doughty's case, and his camp might be wise to wait out the Karlsson situation to see what the Ottawa Senators star gets, whether it be with them or a new team that acquires him.
If Karlsson gets traded to a team with oodles of cap space like the Golden Knights and subsequently cashes in at $10 million to $11 million or more, Doughty's gap-toothed grin will only get wider, because that would obviously set a new market standard and he could then argue he's comparable to Karlsson and therefore deserves the same, if not more.
Doughty could also decide it's not worth waiting around for the Karlsson situation to be resolved. Even if he does that, he's still likely to command a contract that's larger than Subban's nearly four-year-old agreement.
The resume
While the Kings' 2012 and 2014 championships might not be incredibly relevant to the present, and while claiming the Stanley Cup is obviously a team effort, Doughty's two rings still put him ahead of the aforementioned comparables in the winning department.
More importantly, though, his immense individual impact is inarguable.
Doughty led all NHL skaters in ice time this season while logging 2,200:31 overall (no one even had 2,100) for an average of 26:50, and suiting up for all 82 regular-season games.
The ice-time figures were actually his lowest since 2013-14, but at age 28, there's no reason for concern, especially considering his elite offensive production.
Doughty notched career highs in assists (50) and points (60) in 2017-18, and those totals were especially impressive considering the Kings ranked 16th in the league with 2.89 goals per game.
He drove possession with a 53.2 percent even-strength Corsi For percentage this season, his lowest since 2009-10, but he has hit 50 percent or greater in all of his 10 NHL campaigns.
Doughty won the Norris Trophy as the league's best defenseman in 2016, and he was also a finalist for the award in 2010, 2015, and 2018.
Will the King stay a King?
There's also the matter of whether he opts to test the free-agent market a year from now.
He has said he wants to remain with the Kings, and for what it's worth, the club's president, Luc Robitaille, said he's confident Doughty will.
The rearguard has spent his entire career in L.A., and this contract might be his last.
Another rather important matter will be how the Kings manage to squeeze Doughty in under next year's cap. The Kovalchuk signing put them within about $3 million of the cap ceiling for the upcoming season without much scheduled to come off the books next summer.
At least one key piece or declining veteran up front may have to be shipped out to accommodate a new contract for Doughty, so it will be interesting to see if the Kings make any pre-emptive moves before July 1, or if they use their summer cap flexibility (when there is no ceiling, for all intents and purposes) to figure it out after getting Doughty's signature on the dotted line.
No matter how they approach it, retaining Doughty as soon as they're able to is going to be their top priority.
The verdict
Regardless of how it all unfolds, an eight-year deal with an average annual value in the neighborhood of $10 million wouldn't be too far-fetched.
Based on the deals his contemporaries are getting and likely will get before next season is over, he's well positioned to exceed that.
