The regular season is now underway with plenty of news off the ice as expected. We recap the most notable in our key stories.
Four For Ullmark: After originally planning to give Linus Ullmark some time to settle in before focusing on a contract extension, the Senators changed course, handing the netminder a four-year, $33MM deal that will begin next season. Perhaps not coincidentally, the $8.25MM AAV matches the one his former teammate Jeremy Swayman received from Boston not long before that. Ullmark, the 2022-23 Vezina Trophy winner, was acquired by Ottawa just before the draft in the hopes that landing him would help solve their long-standing struggles between the pipes. With this agreement in place, the net will be his for the foreseeable future.
Five For Daccord: Another netminder put pen to paper on a new deal this week as the Kraken inked Joey Daccord to a five-year, $25MM extension. The 28-year-old had his first full-time NHL season last year but it was a strong one. He quickly passed Philipp Grubauer on the depth chart and wound up getting into 50 games, posting a 2.46 GAA with a .916 SV%, numbers that were well above the league average. Even so, it’s a bit surprising to see this get done so quickly given his limited track record (just 69 career NHL appearances heading into the season) which suggests that Seattle felt Daccord was going to have another strong showing this year, one that would have only upped his asking price later on.
Shesterkin Says No: While Ullmark and Daccord signed new deals, another netminder turned one down. Rangers goaltender Igor Shesterkin reportedly declined an eight-year, $88MM extension, one that would have made him the highest-paid goalie in NHL history. However, the cap percentage at that price point would be lower than Price’s back when he signed in 2017 (13.21%) so it wouldn’t be surprising to see Shesterkin’s camp looking to best that while also looking to make him the highest-paid Ranger. The 28-year-old has been one of the top goalies since coming to the NHL in 2019-20, putting up a 2.43 GAA and a .921 SV% in his first 215 games, bettering those in postseason action. Accordingly, even if the two sides can’t agree on a record-breaking deal, there’s a good chance other teams will be willing to give one to him in free agency.
Lavoie’s Waiver Wire Adventures: It’s extremely rare for a player to be involved in a waiver-related transaction for six days in a row but that’s…
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