With the run of transactions last week, I never commented on Valentin Zykov’s contract. In the time that has passed since, the Hurricanes have also re-signed Lucas Wallmark and Greg McKegg.
Today’s Daily Cup of Joe catches up on these contracts and discusses the team’s NHL contract status in general.
Valentin Zykov
Despite having only 12 games of NHL experience, Zykov parlayed a strong AHL season with 33 goals in 64 games and a strong 10-game audition at the NHL level into a two-year, one-way contract that pays $650,000 in 2018-19 and $700,000 in 2019-20. With limited NHL experience, the Hurricanes could maybe have pushed for a safer two-way contract with a higher AHL salary. Instead, the Hurricanes offered a one-way contract to get two years at pretty close to the league minimum. The deal also sees Zykov signing his next contract as a restricted free agent and significantly without arbitration rights.
The one-way deal increases the chance that Zykov will stay at the NHL and also provides a strong indication that that is what management expects.
My 2 cents: While there is some risk signing an unproven players to a two-year, one-way contract, there is also some risk mitigation in the other direction for the Hurricanes by locking Zykov into a bargain basement salary.
Lucas Wallmark
Coming off of a strong season in the AHL in 2017-18, Lucas Wallmark signed a two-year deal that is a two-way contract in the first year and a one-way contract in the second year.
Like Zykov, Wallmark has minimal NHL experience, but also like Zykov, Wallmark had a strong 2017-18 campaign at the AHL level. That strong season netted Wallmark a guaranteed NHL salary in the second year. He will earn $650,000 in 2018-19 and $700,000 in 2019-20.
My 2 cents: The one-way deal for year two has a similar risk/reward as Zykov’s contract. If Wallmark sticks at the NHL level, he will be a bargain salary-wise.
Gregg McKegg
McKegg hit the ground running and made immediate contributions to the Hurricanes’ success. Signing McKegg bolsters the forward group in Charlotte and in the process sends a message that success will be rewarded.
My 2 cents: The core of the Checkers roster is young, but there is always room for a quality AHL veteran or two to provide leadership and help the team win. McKegg earned his slot with his play after being acquired at the trade deadline.
Daniel Renouf
The Hurricanes also added a veteran AHL defenseman to help fill the roster spots on the blue line in Charlotte. I was a little surprised, that the Hurricanes did not re-sign any of Brenden Kichton, Jake Chelios or Phillip Samuelsson, or Dennis Robertson. As of right now, the team has only six AHL defensemen. With only Jake Bean and newly-signed Michael Fora added to the defensive corps, the Hurricanes will need to add another AHL defensman or two.
My 2 cents: I know only what I read on the other free agents, but at a basic level, Renouf is a replacement for one of the Charlotte veterans.
What say you Canes fans?
What do you think of price and term for Lucas Wallmark and Valentin Zykov and the one-way component in each contract?
Go Canes!
Both Walmark and Zykov definitely earned their contracts. Even if one of them works out as an NHL player this deal is a bargain, if both do it is a seriously awesome bargain.
I’m glad the Keg is still onboard. He put on quite a show after JJ was traded.
As I see it there are only 3 players on the Canes current roster that had any sort of extensive time playing in the AHL with Charlotte not including Zykov and Wallmark. Those players are Fleury, DiGuiseppe, and McGinn.
This looks to me to be a pitiful contribution to the Canes NHL roster. It is about time we start developing more of our own young players and moving them onto the Canes roster. If we don’t, it would appear that we will be relegating ourselves each year to signing 3rd and 4th line free agents to plug holes, or scan the European market to find young talent developed there (Necas, Aho, Teravainen, etc.), or look to the colleges. It appears our AHL affiliation has produced very little NHL talent.
With that in mind I say its about time to start seeing more top six forward and top four defensemen as well as at least one goalie come up to the Canes roster after gaining at least a year’s (at a minimum)experience in the AHL. I am glad to see management make more of a commitment to giving our AHL developed players bonafide chances to make the Canes roster in meaningful roles.
I agree RR. GMRF liked to let our guys sit forever while other teams played their young talent and found some gems. Good things take time and maybe what GMRF was doing will start paying off. I know its about time, I have been impatient. These are good signings. It looks like no room for Wallmark potentially this season but he is clearly in the plans moving forward.
It is surprising some of the AHL D was not resigned. Brenden Kichton, Jake Chelios or Phillip Samuelsson, or Dennis Robertson. I guess we will see what the future holds. They must not have felt they would mature to the NHL level, so try some other talent. I did expect them to resign Samuelsson, surprised.
I was also surprised because Charlotte had such a good record – but digging beneath the record that was a team that had an elite offense but let in a TON of goals. Roberston was a regular from the year before and fell out of the lineup this year. Samuelsons numbers are off the charts kind of hard to see how he was a problem – Chelios and Kitchton both faced injury problems and when they played I’d say they played far below their ability.
Mckeown, Carrick, Fora, Renouf, Bean plus they will definitely need to add some more AHL dmen as Matt has mentioned.
Not Samuelsson. He is the son of Ulf. Watch young Samuelsson sign with the Icehogs.
Oooppss, Samuelsson was a UFA, not a RFA. In that case, no surprise. Yup, Ulf = Blackhawks = Icehogs.
After the Blackhawks unloaded Hossa’s contract, they are reaching out to us for both Faulk and Skinny. According to writers on two different blogs, we are asking for Nick Schmaltz and a 1st in 2019. That ask is just for Faulk. No indication of what we are asking for Skinny.
Interesting.
Oh!One more thing.
Edmonton is trying to get Nurse to sign a long term deal. Nurse wants short term.
Might we consider sending Darnell Nurse an offer sheet? I would have what I consider to be a good reason to renew my season tickets if, instead of having to watch Haydn Fleury wearing a Canes sweater, watching Darnell making life miserable for any enemy players trying to camp out in front of our net.
Dude, what’s with the Haydn Fleury hatin?
I agree I was hoping for better from him last year, but this is the kid’s first full season in the NHL and He is barely breaking 20. He was tearing it up down in Clt after he left the Canes.
There’s no reason not to give him another chance on our third pairing. If he messes up, give the other Checkers D prospects a shot.
If the Canes offer sheet Nurse it will be a. expensive and b. give the Canes bad rep (or worse rep) around the league. While the NHL rep may barely be worth giving a rat’s behind about, I think such an aggressive move should be reserved for a bigger need than a third pairing d. If nothing else, I’m sure there are UFAs out there that could take on the challenge if needed.
If we trade Skinner and Faulk to the Blackhawks we need Saad back, not some middle of the road prospect and a pick.
Dallas is reported to have showed interest in Skinner, even put out a top offer, but I don’t know what Dallas could offer that the Canes would be excited about.
Robertson was re-signed by Charlotte, I think!
We have several weeks to make trades, or free agent signings, but either Wallmark or Roy, or Kuokkanen are in the mix for a forward spot (to be decided, likely, at training camp).
I do agree with RR that some reinforcements are needed in the AHL…ESPECIALLY GOALIES! I doubt I’m the only one who has ZERO CONFIDENCE in our GKs- here or there!
I don’t hate Haydn. I just don’t think he deserves ice time with the Canes. Because management (RF) wanted to keep him in the lineup, we lost a good d-man in Klas Dahlbeck.
I really like Nurse’s style. But you are correct. We already have a second pairing of d-men in Dougie and Cal. And you are right about UFAs. Alexi Emelin is still available. But you are also correct in that we have talent in Charlotte. Trevor Carrick is our best player for pairing with TVR.
So I guess your question is fair. Why do I hate Haydn? I cannot stand having him wandering around the ice with that maddening deer-in-the-headlight stare. Let him do great in the AHL. And if we experience a rash of injuries and that includes Carrick and McKeown and Fora and anybody else, then bring Haydn up to play. OJT in the NHL is not a good plan. Haydn proved that last year.
No team in the NHL has expressed interest in our Hayden. Unless I have missed something.
Is it any wonder?
I love these guys who say, “Sure. Haydn had a bad year. But he’ll do better this year. Let’s put him in for another season.” Yet the same guys want to draw and quarter Scott Darling.
Does that make any sense? It doesn’t make any sense to me.
About goalies, I’m amazed at how the team is so weak at acquiring extra guys in the draft (OR FREE AGENCY), particularly in the late rounds…considering the dearth (total absence really) of exceptional keepers, historically? You would think that after having so many sub-par GKS “things would change”…but, alas, NO!
There’s a difference between a team’s #1 goaltender who is hired to be the #1 goaltender, paid as a #1 goaltender and a young kid who is making minimum NHL salary given a chance to prove himself on a team’s third pairing defense.
Fleury did not score enough but I don’t share your negative perception of his play otherwise (but I am not claiming my perception of him is right and yours is wrong, only that I just don’t see what you’re seeing).
But, as we agree, there are plenty of cheaper options to backfill his slot if he doesn’t perform, and the audition can start in training camp.
I don’t see your point. Or, let’s say I don’t agree. I don’t much care what players are paid.
Scott Darling paid his dues as a backup for the Blackhawks. He did a good job for them. There was a Stanley Cup on his resuume’. Ronny offered him good money and term for his services as a No. 1 goalkeeper for the Canes.
When a player negotiates with a team, one of the considerations the player makes is how good or bad the team is.
Eddie Lack also signed a deal with Ronnie a couple of seasons before.
Each young man came to us expecting to backstop a decent team with what everyone expected to be a superb defense.
But the team was not decent and the defense was a mistake-prone disorganized mob of rookies.
Lack suffered unfair criticism by fans and media who really don’t know the game. It has taken him a couple of years, but he has played himself into a position with his present team whereby he can put his horrible experience here behind him.
Darling’s experience was somewhat worse. The Canes in front oh him were worse than ever. As Jared Clinton of the Hockey News said in his article’s title, “Hurricanes’ Goalkeeper Problems Are not Darling’s Problem Alone”.
Our Haydn was a big part of our problem last season. He was terrible. He didn’t score and he didn’t defend. He was reputed to be gritty. He wasn’t.
Perhaps he suffered for a lack of a veteran mentor. Too bad and too sad. We didn’t have any veteran d-men. Justin Faulk suffered from the same lack.
Haydn is a boy trying to play a man’s game. He isn’t very good at it. If he is good in the AHL, maybe he is one of the many players who make the AHL their home. Good for him.
Poweless, I agree with breezy’s assessment of Fleury and think you are being a little harsh in your assessment. Fleury is a 21 or 22 year old defenseman and IMO really didn’t set the world on fire last season, but was improving as the season progressed. He ended up a minus 2 (no small achievement on last year’s team) and didn’t show much offense at all. His defensive stats probably were helped somewhat by playing some what they call sheltered minutes. Still his over 16 minutes per game with very little power play or penalty kill minutes indicates to me he has the ability to become an excellent top four defenseman given some good coaching and on ice mentoring that all young defensemen need. Slavin and Pesce had Smith (coach) off the ice and Hainsey on the ice to help them. Fleury had Smith without any real on ice mentor IMO. For sure, you may be right in your assessment and I may be wrong in mine. I never been labelled as an expert in these types of matters. But I’ve given your my view and if I end up being wrong I will at least have protected my near perfect record in that regard (it’s nice to be good at something even if it is being wrong if that is the only thing one is good at).
Hey, we all want the Canes to have the optimal roster. None of us have the perfect insights and answers, but it’s fun to speculate.
I don’t care if I prove to be right or wrong. I just want to see our local hockey team bring the wonderful place that is Raleigh North Carolina into the national and international spotlight.
If not, I want to have fun speculating how the team could have done it (if they fail to do it). That’s how you get through the tough times.
I am of the opinion that Fleury will be fine this season. I do think last season tested all of the D (yes Dahlbeck was steady when he played) except TVR. Honestly, Slavin and Pesce were not as good (and this is one instance where +/- holds some validity) as in 16-17. Remember all the talk before last season that Slavin was a dark horse for the Norris. He didn’t really improve at all. Darling struggled and the D struggled–it seemed like a true chicken/egg issue.
This year a new system, new head coach, and new assistant to coach the D should create better results. I am confident that will include Fleury.
I surrender. On the one hand, Scotty doesn’t deserve a second chance. On the other hand, our Haydn does deserve a second chance. Why? Because he only makes the league’s minimum?
$650,000 per year is a princely sum. I find it difficult to feel sorry for our Haydn. Poor baby. He only makes $650,000 per year for skating around watching a hockey game.
I am confident that he will be evaluated properly at training camp. If, as you insist, he improves drastically and Roddy wants to go with him rather than the real hockey players he will be competing with for ice time, then so be it.
But if that takes place, I will be astonished.
Haydn survived last season only because RF was not willing to admit that he made a wrong choice when he drafted our Haydn. RF is not here anymore to protect him.
It has been said that our Haydn did very well in the AHL last year. 3 games? 2 or 3 points? Okie dokie. At least he scored a goal.
As I said before, I surrender. I will be silent on our Haydn henceforth. If he does earn a spot in the Canes lineup, I will be the first to admit that I am wrong.
Now, if Scotty makes a comeback, I don’t expect anybody to admit they were wrong. But I will know you were wrong. And so will you.
No need to be silent on Hayden. You know as it is with everything concerning the Canes who knows what is right. We all are expressing our views from the vantage point of a fan. Keep up the writing. Your input is important and always interesting.
If Scotty plays great we’ll all be happy to admit we were wrong about him. If Fleury plays great I expect you to happily admit you were wrong about him. If both play great many of us have to eat our words and watch the Canes do well, so what’s the problem?
There’s a difference between a goalie making 4 million and a third pairing defenseman making 650K, just like there is a difference between manager making 200K and the receptionist making 30K, both are important but there’s nothing wrong with placing considerably higher expectations on the manager, ultimately both have to do their job for the business to succeed.
I think something you overlook with Fleury is where he had to play. Hanifan was a disaster with Faulk, so they moved him to third pairing, with TVR, to give him protected minutes. That put Fleury in the second pair, with Faulk, and less protected minutes. He was expected to be the “defensive ” half of the pairing, with a partner who, to say the least, struggled. I expect much better of him this year paired with TVR.
I don’t get the negativity on Fleury.
He was actually pretty good in the role he was expected to play as a 3rd pairing defenseman both early and then again sometimes late in the year. The issue was that Hanifin never played his way up into the 2nd pairing and Faulk struggled in that role. Sure, Fleury was in a bit over his head as a top 4 defenseman, but then what rookie wouldn’t be at times especially when his defense partner was struggling.
With Fleury on the ice at even strength, the team was minus 2 goals in over 1,000 minutes of ice time. That was hardly the problem last year, and I think it represents a rookie year that was more positive than negative.
That’s interesting on Fleury and the team plus/minus, especially given that he didn’t produce offense himself. I was surprised that Fleury came out of the preseason as the #6 D when I thought he was outplayed by Carrick and McKweon (although McK may not have been an option because he’s RD). I feel like Fleury is a big guy but isn’t physical at all.
I do think there needs to be a real competition for that #6 slot. But maybe Fleury isn’t the weak link that I thought he was.
I am still reading reports that our asking price to Chicago for either Faulk or Skinner is Schmaltz and a 1st. I heard someone write Schmaltz off as a middle of the road prospect. Say what?
When approached by the Blackhawks about Max, Montreal insisted on the middle of the road prospect, Schmaltz.
Looking at a recent depth chart of the Blackhawks, one sees this middle of the road prospect as the No. 2 center. The Blackhawks must be in serious trouble, eh?
Schmaltz finished his sophomore year with 21 goals and 31 assists. Not bad. What were Fishy’s numbers for his sophomore year? Hmmm.
All right, I lowballed him a bit, but his numbers look pretty similar to Lindholm’s (averaged 48 points per season so far), that we traded away. The Flames will probably sign him to a 5+ year deal at 5 mill per.
Chicago is light on centers and would be trading one need for another, I doubt it.
Faulk for Schmalz, sure, but not Skinner for a first round pick (unless Chicago bombs it would be a low first round pick, the canes can collect that at the deadline).
Good article on Scott Darling in the N&O today.
I have been wracking my brain for a reason Ronnie kept Haydn in the lineup as long as he did when he had Dahlbeck in the press box.
Dahlbeck was picked up off waivers. Fleury was the #7 pick in the 2014 draft.
Guess who was #8? That’s right. William Nylander. And #15? Right again! Dylan Larkin. How about #20? Nick Schmaltz. And #25? David Pastrnak. Wow!
I’ll bet he kept hoping that Haydn would sprout wings. But he didn’t.
C’est la vie.