Friday Offseason Checkup (NHL)

 Simon B

I was thinking that I could do a weekly offseason checkup for the NHL and the NBA during the summer. Since the NBA finals are still in full swing, I'll start with the NHL and take a dive into the moves that have happened since the finals ended last week. 

With both the expansion draft and player entry draft coming up next week, this can serve a bit as a preview for that as well.

First Big Trade

The Chicago Blackhawks traded Duncan Kieth to the Edmonton Oilers along with winger Tim Soderlund in exchange for defensemen Caleb Jones and a conditional third-round pick in next summer's draft. 

There's a lot to unpack here.

Edmonton:

First of all, Kieth will go down as one of the best defensemen to ever play in Chicago and he was a major part of the three Stanley Cups that were won in the Windy City from 2010 until 2015. He won the Conn Smythe as playoff MVP in 2015 as well. Although there isn't really much space for the 38-year-old on the Hawks roster. 

Chicago is a team in the middle of a rebuild (or retool) and they're trying to become a younger and faster team. Kieth isn't the player he was a decade or so ago but he has a different type of value. He brings experience and leadership to his team. That's why I think he might be a good fit for the Oilers who desperately need help once they get to the postseason. 

Kieth will most likely be a second-pair defenseman. His partner will most likely depend on the expansion draft and if the Kraken decides to pick a defenseman from Edmonton or not. 

Tim Soderlund was a fourth-round pick by Chicago in 2017 and has spent most of his time since his draft in Sweden in this SHL. He doesn't have any NHL experience. However, he has been described as a "speedy skater with an excellent work ethic and who plays with intensity" according to EliteProspects. I don't know if Soderlund is exactly a perfect fit in Edmonton as the Oilers certainly don't need more speedy forwards as that's the asset that they have the most. 

If Oilers GM Ken Holland decides to keep him, the Oilers would need to finish developing him as an NHLer, and then ideally he could become a consistent fourth-line winger. If that were to happen, it's a big win for the Oilers. If not, I can see Holland shipping him off in a trade somewhere down the line. Most likely at the trade deadline. 

Chicago:

At first glance, you might look at this trade and think to yourself that the Oilers got the better end of the deal because they've got the big-name guy. However, Hawks GM Stan Bowman thought this through with long-term and immediate success, and not in the way you might think either. 

Caleb Jones is a young defenseman who's got a lot of potential and he is blossoming into a really nice player. Bowman is adding youth to a Blackhawks team that is on the rise and is still not expecting to be contending this season so Jones will be getting lots of valuable NHL experience before Chicago's next window opens. That could be as soon as next year depending on how aggressive Bowman will be in the upcoming offseasons. 

Another reason that the Hawks acquired Jones is a reason that might not be as obvious at first. Caleb's brother Seth is an all-star defenseman who played last season in Columbus and will be a free-agent target for Bowman and Chicago after his contract is up at the end of the upcoming season. Having Caleb on their team will mean that this could attract Seth to come to Chicago. 

Pre-Expansion Preparations

A lot of team have players and contracts that they can no longer afford to have or that they need to get rid of so that they will fit under the cap hit for 2021-22. Two major things that teams may be doing are either buying out players or asking them to waive their no-move clause. 

The first option is when a team pays the rest of the salary that a player is due for his current contract so they don't have to deal with his cap hit in the future and this player will automatically become a free agent. 

This is what the Minnesota Wild did to long-time players Zach Parise and Ryan Suter who were both signed to enormous 13-year deals back in the summer of 2012. These two players have meant a lot to the organization and were basically the leadership core of the team (along with Mikko Koivu before he retired). This was a difficult deal for GM Bill Guerin to make I'm sure, but it was also a necessary one. If they wanted to keep star defensemen Matt Dumba and Nico Sturm (who will most likely be integral parts of this team's future) they needed to get rid of players so they had room to protect them in the expansion draft. 

The Florida Panthers also bought out veteran Kieth Yandle's remaining two years of the contract. Just like the Guerin, Panthers GM Bill Zito wants to make room on the protected list for young and upcoming players who were pushing Yandle for playing time all throughout this past season. 

The second option I mentioned is removing a no-movement clause. This is basically allowing a team to trade a player whose contract wouldn't let him. At the time a player signs a contract with a new team he can choose to negotiate a no-movement clause with the team which would mean that they couldn't trade him unless he agrees to waive the no-movement. 

Dallas Stars goalie Ben Bishop decided to waive his no-movement clause and so did Colorado's Erik Johnson. These moves give GMs more flexibility during the offseason and especially one that has an expansion draft involved. I'm sure there are more of these moves to come soon and I'll talk about them next week.

The Wrap

Next week is a big one for the NHL. There's the player entry draft and there's the expansion draft two days prior. I'll write after both those drafts and give my take. Next week's offseason checkup will be moved to Saturday depending on how the NBA finals go and when I will write my review for that. 

Shoots Left and Writes is also doing Radio Updates on Dave's Faves, the Saturday afternoon show on CKOL FM in Campbellford. You can check out the latest episodes on their Facebook page!

Leave a comment down below and let me know what you thought of this post! If you wish to contact me, please head to the sidebar and hit follow while you're there! Also, follow me on Twitter @sports_slaw for updates!

Thanks for reading!